Education for 11 to 16 Year-olds (Committee Report)

Baroness Twycross Excerpts

Friday 26th July 2024 Lords Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Baroness Twycross) (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Johnson of Marylebone, for opening this debate so well, and the Education for 11-16 Year Olds Committee for its thoughtful and detailed inquiry and report under his chairmanship. I am hugely sorry for the fact that I seem to have lost my voice since I got up this morning. Please bear with me.

I am grateful for the excellent contributions today from the committee’s members and others across your Lordships’ House on the important areas covered by the report on the education received by 11 to 16 year-olds in schools in England. It is a particular pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Barran, whose personal commitment to improve education in England and social mobility was clear throughout her time as Minister. My noble friend Lady Smith was hugely sorry not to be able to attend today. It has been an excellent debate and I have enjoyed hearing noble Lords’ contributions. As the noble Earl, Lord Clancarty, noted, there is relevance to my DCMS role throughout today’s debate and the report.

The report notes that the committee

“focused on whether the current education system effectively equips young people with the knowledge, skills and behaviours they need to progress to the next phase of their education, and to flourish in the future”.

The noble Lord, Lord Addington, asked what the central drive of the Government’s mission was. High and rising school standards are at the heart of this Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity for every child, no matter their background. We want an education system in which all children and young people can achieve and thrive in education, throughout work and life.

High and rising standards are the foundation of opportunity for all—the bedrock of great life chances. Our children deserve nothing less. As my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Education said in the other place on Wednesday:

“I want standards to be the story for every child in the country, not just in some of our schools but in all our schools. I want high and rising standards for each and every child”.—[Official Report, Commons, 24/7/24; col. 698.]


Before I turn to the report and noble Lords’ contributions to the debate, I want to acknowledge an important wider factor for many children and young people. The right reverend Prelate drew attention to the impact of poverty on attainment, and we know that disadvantaged pupils are more likely to fall behind and face barriers that hold them back from the opportunities and life chances they deserve. Following the pandemic, we have seen disadvantaged children fall further behind their peers, with the disadvantage gap for 16 year-olds at the highest level since 2011. Rightly, the noble Baroness, Lady Barran, points to looking at where these children are succeeding and what we can do to ensure that this is duplicated across the system. Removing barriers to opportunity and raising school standards are at the heart of our mission to transform life chances for the millions of children and young people in this country. In line with this, the Government have moved quickly to reset the relationship with our school workforce and to appoint Sir Kevan Collins, who has a deep understanding of and expertise in education effectiveness, and a wealth of experience, to advise them on driving high standards for all.

I turn to the committee’s report looking at the education system for 11 to 16 year-olds. The committee found various areas in need of action and made recommendations across the curriculum, assessment and performance measures. As noble Lords have noted, last Friday we launched an independent expert-led curriculum and assessment review, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE, an expert in education policy. The review will consider the national curriculum and statutory assessment system from five to 19, and pathways for learners in 16-19 education to drive high and rising standards for every young person. Many of its aims, terms of reference and working principles are very relevant to the committee’s recommendations and the matters raised by noble Lords in the debate. I am grateful for the broad welcome of the review from many of today’s speakers.

The review will contribute to the Government’s mission to break down the barriers to opportunity for every child and young person at every stage, and kickstart economic growth. We know the hard work that teachers have done to develop knowledge-rich syllabuses. The review will build on this to deliver the Government’s ambition for every child and young person to study a curriculum that is rich and broad, inclusive and innovative. It will support the professionalism of our teachers and school staff to adapt how they teach the curriculum to their pupils’ lives and life experiences.

In response to—and apologies if I misunderstood, but probably not in line with—the comments of the noble Earl, Lord Clancarty, we want the review to be evidence-based, and the evidence supports the importance of knowledge in helping children learn. But that should not be, and does not need to be, at the expense of developing skills or making sure that young people can thrive, whatever their aptitude or ambitions. I welcome the point made the noble Baroness, Lady Evans of Bowes Park, about the possibility of cross-party consensus on future changes as a result of the review. This was echoed by the noble Lord, Lord Baker. It is clear that children and young people would benefit from consensus, and I hope that this proves possible.

The review will develop a cutting-edge curriculum, equipping children and young people with the essential knowledge and skills that will enable them to adapt and thrive in the world and workplaces of the future. This will include an excellent foundation in reading, writing and maths, and embedding life skills such as communication into all our children’s learning. I assure the noble Earl, Lord Effingham, that financial education will be included in the review, as will food as part of the design and technology curriculum.

Digital skills are essential for future work, life and prosperity. We are committed to ensuring that every child can benefit from a high-quality digital education. The review will therefore consider how to embed digital literacy and skills throughout children’s learning. As the noble Lord, Lord Baker, said, the skills required change rapidly in the current world.

The noble Earl, Lord Clancarty, and my noble friend Lady Blower focused particularly on arts. The review will ensure that this new curriculum provides breadth of opportunity for every child and young person, with access to subjects such as music, the arts, drama and sport, and that it reflects the issues and diversity of our society, so that all children and young people are represented.

A number of noble Lords, including the noble Lord, Lord Johnson, noted the significance of getting vocational learning right for those three in 10 children who do not go to university, and the review will cover this. It will also seek to ensure that the assessment system captures the strengths of every child and young person and the breadth of curriculum, with the right balance of assessment methods, while maintaining the important role of examinations.

My noble friend Lord Knight raised a specific point about education on climate change. Quite clearly, climate education is very important for helping young people prepare for the world they will grow up and work in. I have no doubt that the curriculum and assessment review will want to consider how best to support these. It will also look at the “golden threads” the noble Lord, Lord Holmes, referred to.

My noble friend Lady Morris spoke of the value of but also the barriers created by the current accountability system; this will be covered by the review. The review will look closely at the barriers which hold back children and young people, particularly those from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, including whether they have a special educational need or disability, or are otherwise vulnerable.

The key principles of the review are that it will be rigorously evidence-based and evidence-driven, and that it

“will be undertaken in close consultation with education professionals and other experts; parents; children and young people; and stakeholders such as employers, colleges, universities and trade unions”.—[Official Report, Commons, 19/7/24; col. 16WS.]

There will be extensive engagement with the sector throughout the entire review process, which will start in September with a call for evidence, taking written evidence from key stakeholders, and undertaking a national roadshow. Given the breadth of expertise in your Lordships’ House, I know the review will welcome input from Peers, and my noble friend Lady Smith is keen to meet noble Lords from across the House.

However, we recognise the pressure that schools and colleges are already under, and the further strain that wholesale reform can bring, so the review will seek evolution, not revolution. It will be alive to the trade-offs required to deliver high and rising standards alongside greater breadth; in particular, any recommendations that would or could increase workload.

Professor Francis will be supported by an expert group of individuals with experience from across the education system. The review will publish an interim report in the new year, setting out its interim findings and confirming the key areas for further work. The final review with recommendations will be published in autumn 2025. Clearly, there will be some alignment with the committee’s report and ambitions, but we will need to wait for the findings and recommendations of the independent review before taking on any particular recommendations that have been made. I assure your Lordships that our ambitions are not simply on pause while the review is under way. There is much this Government will be getting on with in the meantime.

We will start working towards our manifesto commitment to support more children to study a creative or vocational subject to 16 and ensure that accountability measures reflect this. Too many children, particularly from disadvantaged backgrounds, leave primary school with unresolved speech, language and communication needs that have a lasting impact on their life chances. We will provide more targeted support for development of early language in early years settings and primary schools to change this, because the ability to speak confidently and fluently is important for every young person throughout their time at school and as they approach adulthood.

As the noble Earl, Lord Clancarty, and other noble Lords said, cultural development should be an essential part of every child’s education, to develop their creativity and find their voice. The noble Lord, Lord Aberdare, noted the growing divide between private school students and state-funded school pupils in creative arts. To extend music opportunities, we will launch a national music education network to help parents, teachers and children to find courses and classes.

Our children’s well-being Bill will require all state-funded schools, including academies, to teach the new curriculum on which the review will advise, so that all children receive the same core education and opportunity to achieve and thrive. This measure’s core purpose is one of equality—ensuring greater consistency between academies and maintained schools, giving parents certainty over the core of their children’s education. It will be commenced after revised or new programmes of study are introduced.

I can assure noble Lords that the review will deliver a core curriculum that is designed to empower—not restrict—all schools, including academies. It will provide a strong foundation that will foster the innovative practice that thrives in the best academies and other schools. We want a national curriculum that all schools want to follow, and all parents will want their children to study, because it provides a richness and breadth that works for everyone: the starting point for an excellent education taught by motivated, empowered professionals.

With a reformed curriculum, we will need the accountability arrangements to reflect the broad and deep learning we want to see in schools. We are committed to improving the inspections system, reforming accountability and raising school standards. We will replace the single headline grade with a new report card system, telling parents clearly how schools are performing, and bring multi-academy trusts into the inspection system, because every part of our school system that can drive improvement should be considered to ensure it is doing so, in the best interests of all our children.

We want every child in England to be taught by excellent qualified teachers. We will raise the professional status of teaching by ensuring that all new teachers hold or are working towards qualified status. Our challenge through the opportunity mission is to break the link between young people’s backgrounds and their future success. We will prioritise creating opportunities for every child and young person in their community, including at school, with expert teachers and targeted interventions to help all our children thrive. This will be enabled by the Government’s pledge to recruit 6,500 additional expert teachers, because we know that it is the quality of teaching that makes the biggest difference to children’s outcomes at school. We will bring these teachers into the classrooms of our schools and FE colleges by the end of the Parliament, to fill critical gaps in our workforce and support our drive to raise standards.

The noble Lord, Lord Baker of Dorking, spoke about skills, technical education and digital. I know he has a long history of supporting and promoting the opportunities provided by technical education. He has continued to be a great influence in the education sector—although I am too old to have done GCSEs—including by developing and supporting the university technical colleges programme across the country. This point was highlighted also by the noble Lord, Lord Mair, in his speech. I am aware that the noble Lord, Lord Baker, submitted a proposal to the department under the previous Government to include the technical curriculum of UTCs in mainstream secondary schools. The noble Lord, Lord Aberdare, also eloquently raised this issue. The recently launched curriculum assessment review will include reviewing technical skills in our secondary schools and will allow us to consider this proposal as part of our overall approach.

The noble Lord, Lord Addington, and the noble Lord, Lord Holmes, raised special educational needs and disabilities. The Government are clear that the education and care system does not currently meet the needs of all children, particularly those with special educational needs and disabilities. The department has already restructured to ensure that improving inclusion in mainstream schools is at the heart of our plans to improve opportunities for those children with SEND. I will ask my noble friend Lady Smith to write to both noble Lords with respect to the questions they raised on technology.

In response to the question from the noble Earl, Lord Effingham, about smartphones, schools can, as many do already, ban smartphones during the school day. We fully support their right to do so. The noble Lord, Lord Addington, rightly said that education should keep more pupils interested longer, and my noble friend Lord Knight said that education should include joy, and that is a matter that previous debates in this House have also noted.

I could not agree more with the noble Baroness, Lady Barran, that we should not have predetermined routes for any child. Every child should believe that success belongs to them, that they can achieve their potential and get the knowledge, skills and experience they need to do so. This Government have committed to transforming our education system so that all young people get the opportunities they deserve. We have made a good start and I know noble Lords will quite rightly continue to shine a light on this important area as we continue to build a Britain where background is no barrier to opportunity. I assure my noble friend Lady Morris that we will not have a straitjacket around our aspirations.

The continued interest in the committee’s report is a testament to its quality and the considered way in which it has approached this vital yet complex part of the education landscape. As I hope I have demonstrated, the principles of what the Government are aiming to achieve across these policy areas reflect the areas of the committee’s conclusions and recommendations. I am confident that, when your Lordships’ House considers government policy in the future, noble Lords will see that the ambitions of the committee have been addressed with the great respect that they deserve.

In closing, I repeat my thanks to the noble Lord, Lord Johnson of Marylebone, for securing this debate, to his committee for its excellent work and report, and to all noble Lords for their contributions today. I will ensure that these are shared with the review and that the Minister writes to noble Lords whose specific points I have not been able to respond to today.