Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the absolute numbers of specialist teachers in academies and maintained schools for each subject for each year from Key Stages 1 to 4 inclusive.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Data on the number of specialist teachers in state-funded secondary mainstream schools is published in the School workforce in England statistical publication. Figures for each subject for each year can be found below. This data has been available since 5 June 2025.
Information on subjects taught is not collected from primary schools.
Headcount of qualified specialist teachers holding a qualification in a related subject by subjects taught and Key Stage, in England for 2024/25:
Subject taught | Key Stage 3 | Key Stage 4 |
All subjects | 156,459 | 166,445 |
All Design and Technology | 8,632 | 6,422 |
All EBacc Subjects | 109,096 | 111,201 |
All Modern Foreign Languages | 9,349 | 9,351 |
All Sciences | 32,134 | 31,908 |
Art & Design | 8,913 | 7,062 |
Biology | 1,270 | 3,878 |
Business Studies | 539 | 4,029 |
Chemistry | 1,007 | 2,982 |
Combined Arts / Humanities / Social Studies | 54 | 28 |
Computer Science | 3,676 | 3,588 |
Design and Technology - Combined | 6,867 | 3,192 |
Design and Technology - Electronics/Systems and Control | 95 | 94 |
Design and Technology - Food Technology | 1,217 | 1,711 |
Design and Technology - Graphics | 250 | 425 |
Design and Technology - Other | 358 | 517 |
Design and Technology - Resistant Materials | 362 | 482 |
Design and Technology - Textiles | 416 | 653 |
Drama | 4,621 | 3,750 |
Engineering | 162 | 885 |
English | 26,792 | 26,624 |
French | 6,669 | 5,281 |
General/Combined Science | 27,488 | 24,455 |
Geography | 9,804 | 9,351 |
German | 1,593 | 1,410 |
History | 12,281 | 11,268 |
ICT | 1,768 | 1,269 |
Mathematics | 23,492 | 23,941 |
Media Studies | 121 | 729 |
Music | 4,962 | 4,173 |
Other Humanities | 249 | 249 |
Other Modern Foreign Language | 778 | 330 |
Other Social Studies | 249 | 1,536 |
Other science | 271 | 672 |
PE/Sports | 18,005 | 17,879 |
Physics | 745 | 2,060 |
Religious Education | 5,729 | 5,417 |
Spanish | 3,782 | 3,427 |
Source: School Workforce Census November 2024.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the relationship between (1) the level of initial teacher training bursaries, and (2) targets for teacher numbers, for each subject area; and what criteria are used to assess those targets.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Initial teacher training (ITT) bursaries are offered to incentivise more applications to ITT courses. Therefore, they are reviewed annually to take account of the need for trainee teachers by subject. Recruitment against the postgraduate ITT targets set by the Teacher Workforce Model is one factor that influences the level of bursaries, but we also take account of the impact of the economy and graduate labour market on ITT recruitment.
The Teacher Workforce Model is a national, stocks and flows model covering all state-funded primary and secondary schools, academies, and free schools in England. The model estimates the number of qualified teachers required for both primary and each secondary subject; and by considering the number of teachers that will leave or enter service in future, estimates the postgraduate ITT targets needed to supply sufficient teachers. The ITT Census is published in December each year to provide the numbers and characteristics of new entrants to ITT, and compares recruitment against the postgraduate ITT targets.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of rejoining Creative Europe on financial growth.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government has no plans to rejoin Creative Europe. This position is informed by indicative analysis of the value for money of associating with the programme.
We are working with our world-leading sectors to ensure that they can continue to promote growth and enrich lives, at home and abroad. This includes through the Creative Industries Sector Plan, which is key to driving long-term economic growth across the United Kingdom; the new £75 million Screen Growth Package; the scaled up £18 million per year UK Global Screen Fund (2026–2029); and by committing up to £30 million for our Music Growth Package.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the final report of the Curriculum and Assessment Review will be published.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review’s final report and recommendations will be published imminently. The government’s response will be published alongside this.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Curriculum and Assessment Review will take autistic children into account.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review is looking closely at the key challenges to attainment for young people and the barriers which hold children back from the opportunities and life chances they deserve.
Throughout the Review, the impact and experiences of children and young people, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds and with special educational needs, are being considered to ensure the curriculum works for all children.
The Review’s final report and recommendations will be published shortly. The government will then consider the recommendations and its response.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are considering opting into the creative thinking element of the PISA test.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The testing for the current cycle of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2025 study has now come to a close. The Creative Thinking domain was not offered as an option for countries and economies to participate in for the current cycle. The department will consider taking part in the options offered for the PISA study, including the Creative Thinking domain, in future PISA study cycles.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress is being made in the development of a youth mobility scheme between the UK and the EU; and when they expect such a scheme to be introduced.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We have agreed that we will work towards the establishment of a balanced youth experience scheme with the EU. We have agreed that any scheme will be capped as well as time-limited. We have also been clear that it should be in line with the UK’s existing schemes with countries like Australia and New Zealand. The exact parameters will be subject to discussion in the next phase of the negotiations.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Twycross on 12 June (HL Deb col 306GC), where the figures that the crafts subsector generated around £400 million in gross value added and employed around 7000 highly skilled artisans were originally sourced from; and how these these figures have been computed.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
These figures are sourced from accredited official statistics published by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) as part of the DCMS Sectors Economic Estimates series.
Our annual gross value added (GVA) statistics, based on data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), provisionally estimate that the crafts subsector contributed £400 million to the UK economy in 2023. Our employment statistics, based on data from the ONS Annual Population Survey, estimate that there were 7,000 filled jobs in the crafts subsector in 2023.
Detailed methodological information about these statistics is available in the accompanying technical report published in each statistics release.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of paragraph 15 of the UK-EU Summit Common Understanding stating that "the European Commission and the United Kingdom recognise the value of travel and cultural and artistic exchanges, including the activities of touring artists", how they intend to progress an agreement between the UK and the EU on touring by creative professionals, and whether it will form part of a wider cultural agreement.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We are proud of the international reputation of our arts and creative industries, which is why we committed to support the activities of touring artists in our manifesto. The summit was an important milestone towards a new strategic partnership where the UK and EU committed to support travel and cultural exchange, including the activities of touring artists. We will engage with the EU and Member States in discussions after the summit to support touring across the European continent. We will also work with music and arts industry stakeholders, trade bodies and organisations to engage their European counterparts.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Arts Council England's report Leading the Crowd published on 15 May.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government works closely with Arts Council England who support arts and cultural organisations to develop their fundraising skills and capacity to attract more private investment.
We welcome this report, and are committed to ensuring that the UK has the best framework for philanthropy, and that partnerships between government, philanthropists, businesses and civil society are maximised.