Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of changes to the tax free limits to lifetime pension pots on the retention of head teachers in England and Wales.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department considers a wide range of policy matters with the Teachers’ Pension Scheme Advisory Board to ensure that the pension continues to be a key benefit in attracting and retaining teachers and head teachers in England and Wales.
The lifetime allowance for pensions is being maintained by HM Treasury at its current level of £1,073,100 until April 2026. This allows head teachers and other savers to continue to make significant amounts of pension savings tax-free, while ensuring incentives to save are targeted across society.
The government keeps all aspects of the tax system under review, as part of the annual Budget process, and in the context of the wider public finances.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what data they collect regarding (1) the participation of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic students in STEM subjects, and (2) their access to engineering qualifications at vocational or degree level.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Education and Skills Funding Agency collects information from further education providers via the Individualised Learner Record (ILR). The ILR specification for the 2019/20 academic year is published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ilr-specification-validation-rules-and-appendices-2019-to-2020.
The attached table contains the number of STEM enrolments for both adult (19+) education and training, and apprenticeships at all ages by people from ethnic minorities in the 2019/20 full academic year, and the 2020/21 provisional academic year. Please note that these counts are of learning aims [1]. If someone were to enrol on more than one learning aim in a given academic year they would be counted twice.
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data on students enrolled in higher education in the UK. Latest statistics refer to the academic year 2019/20.
Data on student enrolments at UK higher education providers are available by subject of study and ethnicity in the academic year 2019/20 in Table 45 of HESA’s Higher Education Student Data pages: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-45.
Further details about data collected by HESA is available at the ‘Student record 2019/20’ and ‘Alternative Student record 2019/20’ data collection pages, available here: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/collection/c19051/a/locsdy and https://www.hesa.ac.uk/collection/c19054.
More data on access to higher education are published by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). These include breakdowns by subject of study and ethnicity, available in the End of Cycle Data Resources pages: https://www.ucas.com/data-and-analysis/undergraduate-statistics-and-reports/ucas-undergraduate-sector-level-end-cycle-data-resources-2020.
[1] A learning aim constitutes the package of learning being funded and delivered separately, such as an apprenticeship standard, an individual qualification, a module or a short non-qualification bearing course.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to refer the University of London’s proposed closure of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies to the Office of Students to ascertain the potential implications of such a closure for students engaged in, or seeking opportunities to engage in, further post-doctoral studies in black British history, decolonisation and the documentation of the transition from Empire to Commonwealth.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Office for Students (OfS), as the regulator of higher education in England, works within its regulatory framework with individual higher education providers to consider the implication for students of any decision to cease the provision of higher education. It does so independently, without reliance on referrals from the Department for Education. We understand, however, that the OfS is aware of these reported proposals and will engage with the University of London to understand them in greater depth as part of its normal engagement process.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many members of (1) the board of Ofqual, and (2) non-Board members of Ofqual's Standards Advisory Group, are BAME; and when the issue of the promotion of the study or assessment of modules about migration and the UK's colonial history was last discussed by either of those bodies.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
These are matters for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have asked its acting Chief Regulator, Dame Glenys Stacey, to write to the noble Lord. A copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with Ofqual about examination boards developing modules on the study of migration and the UK's colonial history; how many such modules are awaiting appraisal; which examination boards have submitted modules for that appraisal; and when such appraisals will be completed.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
As set out in my reply to HL8049 from the noble Lord, the department sets the high-level content requirements for GCSEs and A levels for history and within this subject content, there is significant scope for modules that cover the study of migration and the UK's colonial history. It is for awarding organisations themselves to develop specifications for GCSE and A level history that meet those requirements and for Ofqual, the independent qualifications regulator, to ensure those requirements are correctly met. As such, the department has not held discussions with Ofqual concerning the development of modules on these topics by awarding bodies.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of examination boards in promoting a better understanding of British history; and which such boards examine modules that cover (1) the history of migration, (2) the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, (3) the contribution of Black people to British history from the Roman invasion to the end of the 20th century, and (4) race relations in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The department sets the content requirements for GCSE and A level history. Within this subject content, there is significant scope for modules that cover the history of migration, the transatlantic slave trade, and the contribution of black people to British history and race relations in the UK.
It is for awarding organisations themselves to develop specifications for GCSE and A level history that meet those requirements and for Ofqual, the independent qualifications regulator, to ensure those requirements are correctly met. As such, the department does not make assessments of the modules or module content offered by awarding organisations.
Two of the three main awarding bodies in England, OCR and AQA, provide an option to undertake a thematic study on migration in Britain, and how this country’s history has been shaped by the black and minority ethnic communities in the past. The 3rd main awarding body, Pearson, is currently developing a thematic study option on migration in Britain. Subject to Ofqual approval, this will provide more choice for schools.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many publicly appointed members of public bodies regulating (1) social work, and (2) education, identify as BAME; and what is the recorded ethnicity of each of those members, disagregated by public body.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The Department for Education has 136 publicly appointed members of public bodies, 17 of whom identify as Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME). Social Work England has seven public appointees. Due to the low number of appointees, and the risk of potential identification of individuals within this group, we are not able to confirm the number of declared BAME appointees within Social Work England. Ethnicity is based on voluntary declaration. In order to protect personal information, the Department is unable to provide this data disaggregated by public body as, within each body, the number relates to fewer than 10 individuals.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what proposals they will make in response to the report of the Equality and Human Rights Commission Tackling Racial Harassment: Universities Challenged, published on 23 October.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Racial harassment is unacceptable and we cannot tolerate staff and students being victims of it at our world-leading universities.
Higher education providers have clear responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 and should discharge their responsibilities fully and have robust policies and procedures in place to comply with the law, to investigate and swiftly address incidents reported to them.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) inquiry has made an important contribution to our knowledge of the extent of racism in higher education. The government will look closely at EHRC’s recommendations. Although some progress has been made, it is clear there is still more to do. Universities have clear responsibilities in this regard and I expect them to take these seriously.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications for university funding of the disparity of outcomes for BAME students in higher education.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Improving access and outcomes in higher education (HE) for students from disadvantaged or under-represented groups is a priority for the government. Through the Higher Education and Research Act 2017, the government has introduced sweeping reforms to tackle equality of opportunity.
All HE providers in England that register with the Office for Students (OfS) who want to charge more than the basic annual amount for tuition (£6000+) (known as approved fee cap providers), must have an access and participation plan approved by the OfS. Through these plans providers set out what activities they intend to take to ensure students from disadvantaged backgrounds or under-represented groups — such as Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) students — can access, participate in, succeed in and progress from higher education. Guidance provided to the OfS, by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, identified ensuring BAME students can not only access, but succeed in higher education as a priority.
This year HE providers will, for the first time, be required to publish applications, offer, acceptance, dropout and attainment rates of students by ethnicity, gender and socio-economic background.
Asked by: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the role of the Office for Students Evidence and Impact Exchange in promoting best practice in universities to address the attainment gap between BAME and other students.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government has asked the Office for Students to set up an Evidence and Impact Exchange to help transform our understanding of what works in driving access and successful participation among disadvantaged and underrepresented students. The new centre, known as the Centre for Transforming Access and Student Outcomes (TASO) in higher education (HE), is an affiliate what works centre, and part of the UK government’s what works movement.
TASO will commission, share and support the take-up of evidence on ‘what works’ to improve access and participation in HE in different settings and for different groups of students, including Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic students. It will act as a central hub for a wide variety of evidence, helping to ensure that HE spend to widen access and participation by under-represented and disadvantaged students has as big an impact as possible.
TASO has already made its first call for evidence, inviting providers to submit examples of impact evaluation across the student life-cycle.