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Written Question
Teachers: Training
Thursday 28th January 2021

Asked by: Lord Bishop of Winchester (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they had with sector representatives (1) prior to, and (2) regarding, the announcement of the review of the Initial Teacher Training market and the creation of a new Institute of Teaching on 2 January; and what steps they are taking to ensure that new provision will exceed the Ofsted judgements on the quality of existing Institute of Technical Education providers.

Answered by Baroness Berridge

On 2 January 2021, the Department announced we were resuming our review of the Initial Teacher Training (ITT) market to identify improvements that reduce costs for providers and exploring how we can encourage high quality providers – including high-performing multi academy trusts – to extend their reach, deliver at scale and do more to support the wider system. We started work on this in early 2020 with a series of workshops with ITT sector representatives to understand the current market better. This work was paused so that government, and the ITT sector, could focus on the challenges caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

We are now resuming the ITT review, building on the opportunities afforded by our Teacher Development reforms, including the ITT Core Content Framework. The department will work with the sector as the review progresses. We expect further engagement to take place in the late spring, and the review to conclude in the summer.

Officials had informed ITT sector representative organisations, the Universities’ Council for the Education of Teachers and the National Association of School-Based Teacher Trainers, that the recommencement of the ITT review and the creation of the Institute for Teaching would be announced. The Chair of the ITT review has substantive discussions with the leadership of these organisations planned in the coming weeks.

The department has held a range of policy development conversations on the proposal for an Institute of Teaching with academics, teacher development providers, representative organisations and teaching unions. The department intends to run a robust procurement exercise to identify a strong organisation or organisations to establish the Institute of Teaching. The successful bidders will need to demonstrate an exceptional track record in delivery of teacher training and development. The new organisation will also be subject to a range of quality assurance measures during its set-up phase to ensure its delivery will be the highest quality.


Written Question
Teachers: Training
Thursday 28th January 2021

Asked by: Lord Bishop of Winchester (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the announcement made by the Department for Education on 2 January about the review of the Initial Teacher Training market, what plans they have, as part of that review (1) to ensure an increased supply of new teachers rather than displacement of trainee teachers between providers, and (2) to mitigate any risk of (a) complexity, and (b) disincentives, in the market.

Answered by Baroness Berridge

The department knows that high quality teaching is the most important in-school factor in improving outcomes for all children, particularly those from a disadvantaged background. Providing the best possible initial teacher training (ITT) is at the heart of the government’s drive to improve teaching standards.

On 2 January 2021, we announced that we would be resuming our review of the ITT market, to support it to work more efficiently and effectively, making the process of becoming a teacher less complicated and burdensome. The review will aim to make well informed, evidence-based recommendations on how to ensure all trainees are receiving consistent, high quality training, in line with the ITT Core Content Framework. Any reforms must maintain sufficient capacity to deliver enough qualified teachers, whilst being accessible to candidates and of benefit to all schools.

The Chair and a small expert group, with the support of Department officials, are conducting early work to better understand these issues and the direction of the work. We are confident that the expert group covers a range of expertise and perspectives (Higher Education Institute-led, large and small School Centred Initial Teacher Training providers, national provider of ITT, and both school and ITT curriculum expertise), which will be essential in ensuring the review maintains market capacity and reflects an understanding of high-quality ITT. Additionally, they are holding discussions with sector representatives including the Universities’ Council for the Education of Teachers and the National Association of School-Based Teacher Trainers, with broader engagement planned from late spring.


Written Question
Further Education
Friday 22nd January 2021

Asked by: Lord Bishop of Winchester (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to publish the Further Education White Paper.

Answered by Baroness Berridge

We published the White Paper Skills for Jobs: Lifelong Learning for Opportunity and Growth on 21 January 2021.


Written Question
Students: Coronavirus
Wednesday 20th May 2020

Asked by: Lord Bishop of Winchester (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to increase the number of students enrolling on courses with a public service focus, in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answered by Baroness Berridge

On Monday 4 May, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced a package of measures to stabilise university admissions this autumn and to ensure sustainability in higher education at a time of unprecedented uncertainty.

My hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Universities, wrote to all hon. Members on 4 May with full details of the package, which have also been published on GOV.UK: www.gov.uk/government/news/government-support-package-for-universities-and-students.

Controls on student numbers at provider level will be determined based on provider forecasts and will allow for 5% growth above this. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, will also have the discretion to allocate an additional 10,000 places, with 5,000 of those places ringfenced for students studying nursing or allied health courses.

From September 2020, all new and continuing degree-level nursing students and midwifery students - and many allied health students - will receive additional funding of at least £5,000 per academic year, which they will not need to pay back, to help with living costs.

Students are already a priority target audience for our recruitment campaign for teaching, which supports the department’s targets for entry to post-graduate initial teacher training. The marketing campaign is resuming in May and will run through until August for applications to start training in autumn 2020.

The government will continue to support enrolments on social work education programmes through the provision of bursaries and our fast-track graduate entry programmes.

As both my right hon. Friends, the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have made clear, the government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID-19.

Our latest guidance on the impact of COVID-19 is set out below:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-schools-and-other-educational-settings.

These are rapidly developing circumstances. We will continue to keep the situation under review and to keep Parliament updated accordingly.


Written Question
Further Education: Students
Wednesday 6th May 2020

Asked by: Lord Bishop of Winchester (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that all further education students who are (1) 16 or17 years old receive at least 540 teaching hours, and (2) 18 years old or over receive at least 450 teaching hours.

Answered by Baroness Berridge

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, most students are not able to attend education at present and therefore cannot receive planned teaching hours in person.

In the guidance issued by the government on maintaining education and skills training provision in further education providers, we are clear that we want learners to be able to continue to study. Colleges and providers are moving more learning online to allow students to continue with studies remotely and we have provided advice and signposted to support to help with this.

Where young people are not able to learn online because they lack or cannot afford suitable devices or internet connectivity, we are encouraging 16-19 education providers to help using the 16-19 Bursary Fund. Top-up funding will be available where necessary to support 16-19 education providers with this.


Written Question
Further Education: Finance
Tuesday 5th May 2020

Asked by: Lord Bishop of Winchester (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made in (1) improving further education, (2) meeting future skills needs, and (3) supporting economic and social recovery, since the publication of their Industrial Strategy: Building a Britain fit for the future White Paper in June 2018.

Answered by Baroness Berridge

We have supported further education (FE) colleges through the Restructuring Facility, investing £405 million and enabling significant restructurings to take place across a range of FE colleges to help achieve long-term sustainability and delivery of high quality, sustainable provision.

We have also invested in FE teaching (to date, spending £24 million to help providers prepare for the introduction of T levels) and announced an additional £20 million in FE workforce development to help increase teacher recruitment and retention. We have also committed to invest £1.5 billion in England over the next Parliament to upgrade the college estate.

Through the Industrial Strategy, we have committed an investment of £406 million in education and skills. Since its launch, we have invested over £1 billion in total to support learners throughout their education. We have also announced extra investment of £400 million in 16-19 education in 2020-21, which is an increase of 7% in overall 16-19 funding and the biggest injection of new money in a single year since 2010.

We are also delivering a long-term programme to reform the post-16 skills system to address national and local productivity challenges, ensuring that businesses and individuals have the skills they need to meet the needs of the new economy. These reforms include involving employers in the design of new apprenticeship standards to ensure they are more responsive to their needs. We are also introducing T levels from 2020, with longer teaching hours and substantive industry placements to provide a high quality technical alternative to academic learning. Additionally, the Adult Education Budget will fully fund or co-fund skills provision for eligible adults aged 19 and above from pre-entry to level 3 (including traineeships) to help them gain the skills they need for work, an apprenticeship or further learning. In addition, we are developing a new £3 billion National Skills Fund to upskill workers and prepare for the economy of the future.

These measures will support the 2017 Industrial Strategy, which focuses on strengthening productivity by encouraging innovation, developing high quality jobs, supporting UK businesses and fostering growth throughout the UK to create an economy that works for everyone.


Written Question
Further Education: Mergers
Thursday 19th March 2020

Asked by: Lord Bishop of Winchester (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to facilitate local college mergers which (1) are in the interests of learners, (2) build financial resilience, and (3) ensure that provision serves local communities, especially in areas of disadvantage.

Answered by Baroness Berridge

Further education (FE) colleges can sometimes benefit from structural change to strengthen quality of delivery for learners, financial health, or enhance their capacity to respond to local labour market needs. The College Oversight: Support and Intervention guidance (also attached), published in April 2019, sets out how structural change is delivered in the sector.

Structural reviews, led by the FE Commissioner’s team and supported by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) and department officials provide a means of assessing the structural solutions for a college for the future. Reviews assess potential options against the needs of learners, the long term financial sustainability of potential solutions and consult with key local stakeholders such as local authorities to ensure their views are heard and local circumstances are taken into account.

Post-merger support is provided by the ESFA and the FE Commissioner Team to monitor colleges on their performance after mergers have completed.


Written Question
College Financial Monitoring Review
Tuesday 11th February 2020

Asked by: Lord Bishop of Winchester (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to publish the review by Dame Mary Ney into college financial monitoring, commissioned in August 2019.

Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton

Ministers are currently considering the report from the Independent Review of College Financial Oversight, carried out by Dame Mary Ney DBE.

The department plans to publish the report, with the government response, in due course.


Written Question
Apprentices: Taxation
Monday 27th January 2020

Asked by: Lord Bishop of Winchester (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to extend the 24-month period during which levy-paying training providers can spend Apprenticeship Levy funds.

Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton

The apprenticeship levy is paid by all UK employers with a pay bill in excess of £3 million. Levy-paying employers in England use an award-winning apprenticeship service to manage their funds, make payments to training providers, and transfer funds to other organisations.

Funds available to employers expire on a rolling, month-by-month basis after 24 months, where they have not been spent. We anticipated that levy-payers would use various amounts available to them, with only some spending all funds available to them. Individual levy-paying employers have full control over when and where apprenticeship funds are spent to meet their current and future skills needs, including by using transfers to support the sustainable development of skills in their supply chain or local area. Where employers are not spending funds available to them and the availability expires, the budget is used to support apprenticeships taken forward by other large and small employers.

When the levy was introduced, we responded to feedback from employers and representative bodies to increase the expiry period for these funds from 18 to 24 months, and currently have no plans to extend it further. In February 2019, we introduced a tool on the apprenticeship service to help employers estimate their funds and plan for expiry.


Written Question
Further Education: Standards
Monday 27th January 2020

Asked by: Lord Bishop of Winchester (Bishops - Bishops)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase the number of student teaching hours in further education.

Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton

The department currently expects that 16 and 17 year olds in full time education at colleges and school sixth forms are provided with, on average, 600 planned hours of education a year, although many receive more than this. This is ample time, for example for the teaching of 3 A-Levels or a substantial technical qualification, with time for other activities to support young people’s development such as mentoring, additional tuition or work experience.

New T Level qualifications will start to be delivered from September this year. These are larger and more demanding technical education programmes, which on average we expect to be 900 hours per year including a substantial industry placement. T Levels programmes will receive additional funding to pay for the additional hours.

The government has announced increased 16-19 funding in 2020-21 of £400 million – an increase of 7% in overall 16-19 funding and the biggest injection of new money in a single year since 2010. Providers may use some of this additional funding to provide more teaching hours for some students, for example those who do not yet have maths and/or English GCSEs at grade 4 or above, for whom £35 million of the additional funding will be allocated.

The arrangements for adult education are more flexible as the teaching hours provided relate specifically to what qualifications or programmes individual students choose to study and their mode of attendance is subject to agreement between individual providers and their students.