Asked by: Earl of Effingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government why the inspection cycle for initial teacher education providers has been extended from three years to four; and what assessment they have made of the effect of this on the quality of provision.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Accredited initial teacher training (ITT) providers play a critical role in the education system and it is right that they are inspected by Ofsted to ensure high quality. The previous inspection cycle was accelerated from 6 to 3 years, following the introduction of the Core Content Framework in 2020 which marked a significant change to ITT.
All ITT providers passed a rigorous accreditation process against new quality requirements in September 2024. In September 2025, 100% of continuing ITT providers had been rated ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ in the previous cycle, with new providers to be inspected in their second year of delivery.
Given the starting point of high quality in the ITT market, a 4-year inspection cycle ensures government has appropriate oversight over the quality of ITT, whilst also ensuring value for money. The department continues to monitor the quality of ITT and inspections undertaken so far indicate the continuation of a strong ITT provider market.
Asked by: Earl of Effingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to require accredited initial teacher training providers that are part of larger institutions to publish annual accounts at the level of the academic unit delivering accredited courses, showing income by source and expenditure.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department has no plans to require accredited initial teacher training (ITT) providers to publish annual accounts at the level of individual departments, faculties, academic units or other delivery units.
Accredited ITT providers operate through a range of organisational structures, including higher education institutions, schools, multi-academy trusts and private organisations. These organisations are subject to relevant financial reporting, company, charity and regulatory requirements, as applicable.
Accredited ITT providers must also continue to meet the department's requirements for accreditation and continued quality assurance of ITT.
Asked by: Earl of Effingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government when Ofsted last inspected the University of Cambridge as an initial teacher education provider; what the outcome was; and when the next inspection is scheduled.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The University of Cambridge’s initial teacher education provision was last inspected by Ofsted from 29 April to 2 May 2024. The university received a grade of ‘outstanding’ for all aspects of its primary phase and secondary phase initial teacher education.
The timing of inspections is for Ofsted to decide. Ofsted inspects all providers of initial teacher education on a four-year inspection cycle and does not confirm the exact timings of future inspections until it formally notifies the provider. Ofsted also uses its risk assessment methodology when determining when to inspect providers. This means inspections for some providers may occur more than once during a four-year inspection cycle.
Asked by: Earl of Effingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the total public funding, including loan-financed tuition fees, quality-related research funding, and Department for Education grants, received in each of the last three years by (1) the University of Cambridge Faculty of Education, and (2) each other university-based accredited initial teacher training provider in England.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department does not routinely collect or publish data in a form that would enable the total public funding received by each university based accredited Initial Teacher Training (ITT) provider in England to be identified on a comparable basis for each of the last three years.
The department is unable to estimate the amount received by the University of Cambridge, or any other university based accredited ITT providers, through loan financed tuition fees or research funding. Tuition fee loans are administered through the student finance system and published data is not available at a teacher training provider level. Research funding is allocated and published separately by Research England. Department for Education grant funding is provided through a range of separate programmes, including grants to support the delivery of ITT. Details of the department‘s grant schemes are recorded on the Government Grants Information System in accordance with government grant transparency requirements.
Asked by: Earl of Effingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether Research England has assessed the effect on quality-related research funding of any retraction of, or misconduct finding in respect of, outputs submitted to the 2021 Research Excellence Framework by any provider; and what assessment they have made of any such cases.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
Research England (RE) has not undertaken a specific assessment of the effect on quality-related (QR) research funding of any subsequent retraction of, or finding of research misconduct relating to, outputs submitted to the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF2021).
QR allocations from 2022-23 onwards are based on the outcomes of REF2021, which assessed the quality of the research carried out in UK universities.
Responsibility for investigating research misconduct rests primarily with the research organisations concerned, which are expected to maintain appropriate arrangements for ensuring research integrity.
Asked by: Earl of Effingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many children in England have or have had an Education, Health and Care Plan, for each year since 2015.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department publishes figures on the number of education, health and care (EHC) plans. This is available on GOV.UK and the table below.
Number of EHC plans | Number of statements of special educational need | |
2014/15 | 4,203 | 235,980 |
2015/16 | 74,209 | 182,106 |
2016/17 | 175,233 | 112,057 |
2017/18 | 285,722 | 34,097 |
2018/19 | 353,995 | 0 |
2019/20 | 390,109 | 0 |
2020/21 | 430,697 | 0 |
2021/22 | 473,255 | 0 |
2022/23 | 517,048 | 0 |
2023/24 | 576,474 | 0 |
2024/25 | 638,745 | 0 |
2025/26 | 718,838 | 0 |
EHC plans were introduced in 2014, with all statements of special educational need either converted to EHC plans, or ceasing, by the 2018/19 academic year.
Asked by: Earl of Effingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many pupils were persistently absent from school in England for each academic year from 2018–19 to date.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department publishes figures from the school census on pupil absence in England. The latest data covers the academic year 2024/25 and is available on GOV.UK.
Published data for the percentage of pupils classified as persistent absentees (defined as missing 10% or more of possible sessions) since the 2018/19 academic year is shown below.
| Persistent absence rate | Number of persistent absentees |
2018/19 | 10.86% | 771,863 |
2019/20 | - | - |
2020/21 | 12.08% | 872,438 |
2021/22 | 22.51% | 1,643,876 |
2022/23 | 21.22% | 1,569,303 |
2023/24 | 19.95% | 1,487,022 |
2024/25 | 18.14% | 1,340,437 |
Source: School Census
Full-year absence statistics for 2019/20 were not published due to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked by: Earl of Effingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the principal causes of persistent absence from schools in England since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Tackling absence is at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. The pandemic had a significant impact on attendance across the country, with persistent absence rates roughly doubling. Attendance has been improving year on year, though persistent absence remains above pre-pandemic levels.
The causes of persistent absence are complex and often overlapping. They include physical and mental ill health, special educational needs and disabilities, disadvantage, insecure housing, transport difficulties and other practical barriers.
Persistent absence is substantially higher among disadvantaged pupils. In the 2024/25 academic year, 32.35% of pupils eligible for free school meals were persistently absent, compared with 12.10% for pupils who are not eligible.
Absence also has a significant effect on attainment. Departmental analysis found that pupils who miss just 10 days in Year 11 have around half the odds of achieving grade 5 in English and mathematics compared with otherwise similar pupils. However, measures taken by the government and the sector are having an effect. In 2024/25 pupils attended over 5 million more days than in the previous year, and around 150,000 fewer children were persistently absent.
Asked by: Earl of Effingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of measures introduced to reduce persistent absence from schools in England.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Tackling absence is at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. The pandemic had a significant impact on attendance across the country, with persistent absence rates roughly doubling. Attendance has been improving year on year, though persistent absence remains above pre-pandemic levels.
The causes of persistent absence are complex and often overlapping. They include physical and mental ill health, special educational needs and disabilities, disadvantage, insecure housing, transport difficulties and other practical barriers.
Persistent absence is substantially higher among disadvantaged pupils. In the 2024/25 academic year, 32.35% of pupils eligible for free school meals were persistently absent, compared with 12.10% for pupils who are not eligible.
Absence also has a significant effect on attainment. Departmental analysis found that pupils who miss just 10 days in Year 11 have around half the odds of achieving grade 5 in English and mathematics compared with otherwise similar pupils. However, measures taken by the government and the sector are having an effect. In 2024/25 pupils attended over 5 million more days than in the previous year, and around 150,000 fewer children were persistently absent.
Asked by: Earl of Effingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the difference in persistent absence rates between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils in England.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Tackling absence is at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. The pandemic had a significant impact on attendance across the country, with persistent absence rates roughly doubling. Attendance has been improving year on year, though persistent absence remains above pre-pandemic levels.
The causes of persistent absence are complex and often overlapping. They include physical and mental ill health, special educational needs and disabilities, disadvantage, insecure housing, transport difficulties and other practical barriers.
Persistent absence is substantially higher among disadvantaged pupils. In the 2024/25 academic year, 32.35% of pupils eligible for free school meals were persistently absent, compared with 12.10% for pupils who are not eligible.
Absence also has a significant effect on attainment. Departmental analysis found that pupils who miss just 10 days in Year 11 have around half the odds of achieving grade 5 in English and mathematics compared with otherwise similar pupils. However, measures taken by the government and the sector are having an effect. In 2024/25 pupils attended over 5 million more days than in the previous year, and around 150,000 fewer children were persistently absent.