Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the financial state of universities; and what steps they are taking to address issues in this regard.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Education)
The Office for Students (OfS), the independent regulator of Higher Education (HE) in England, publishes an annual report on the financial health of the HE sector.
The OfS’ most recent report, published in May 2024, showed that the financial position of the HE sector has become increasingly challenging. The report can be found at: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/media/ly1buqlj/financial-sustainability-report2024.pdf, as attached.
The government recognises the immediate financial strain that some providers are under, and the department is working closely with the OfS to monitor any risks to ensure there are robust plans in place to mitigate them. Sir David Behan has been appointed as interim Chair of the OfS to oversee the important work of refocusing their role to concentrate on key priorities, including prioritising the financial stability of the HE sector.
This government is committed to creating a secure future for our world-leading universities so they can deliver for students, taxpayers, workers and the economy. This government has already started reviewing options to deliver a more robust HE sector, but we recognise it will take time to get it right.
Ultimately, HE providers are independent from government and therefore it is their responsibility to ensure they have a sustainable business model.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the economy of the fall in applications by international students to study in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage the uptake of the learning of foreign languages in schools.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The government remains committed to increasing the proportion of pupils who choose to study a language up to GCSE and beyond, as well as to improving the quality of language teaching at both primary and secondary schools.
In March 2023, the department announced a new £14.9 million Language Hubs programme, including a distinct German Promotion Project. The programme will be comprised of up to 25 lead hub schools, all of which will work with partner schools to improve standards of language teaching across the country, in line with recommendations of the Teaching Schools Council’s 2016 modern foreign languages pedagogy review.
Since 2016, the department has funded the £20 million Mandarin Excellence Programme, which supports schools and teachers to deliver intensive Mandarin study to increase the quality of Mandarin lessons and to increase uptake in the subject. The programme provides professional development and teaching resources for teachers in participating schools across England.
From September 2024, teaching of the revised subject content for French, German, and Spanish GCSEs will begin. The new content is intended to encourage more students to take up these important subjects, making them more accessible to all pupils.
To ensure high standards of modern foreign language teaching, language curriculum materials and associated resources will be developed by Oak National Academy, as part of its second tranche of procurement. The first materials will be available from autumn 2024, and full curriculum packages by autumn 2025. This will ensure that high quality, optional lessons are available nationwide, benefitting both teachers and pupils.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote the UK as a destination for international students.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
To ensure that the UK remains a top destination for international students, the department has launched Study UK. The Study UK campaign, delivered by the British Council, promotes UK universities to the world and encourages international students to study in the UK.
Attracting the brightest students from around the world is good for our universities, delivers growth at home, as well as supporting the creation of more places for UK students.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide additional Family Hubs over and above the funding already announced.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The government has announced 75 local authorities that are eligible to receive funding for family hubs. These were selected based on levels of disadvantage, targeting the areas with the highest levels of deprivation and disproportionately poor health and educational outcomes. Although we would like to see family hubs across the country, it is crucial that we now focus on delivering well in the local authorities already selected.
The investment in family hubs is significant and will have a wide reach across the country to improve outcomes for thousands of babies, children, and families, helping to deliver this government’s levelling up ambitions. We are not starting from zero, many local authorities already provide excellent early years and family support services. The evidence and learning from this investment will help to improve services across England, where they are most needed.
The department has set up the National Centre for Family Hubs (NCFH), to provide expert advice and guidance to all local authorities, local commissioners, academies, schools and third sector bodies with regards to transforming to family hubs. The NCFH hosts a comprehensive resource library and implementation toolkit to support family hubs providers. This work is supported by disseminating a regular newsletter, a series of learning events, and a community of practice. More information on the NCFH can be found here: https://www.nationalcentreforfamilyhubs.org.uk/.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of Family Hubs and their efficacy.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The government announced a £301.75 million package to transform services for parents, carers, babies and children in half of the local authorities across England in the autumn 2021 Budget. This package will create a network of family hubs in those areas and builds on the £39.5 million already committed, which includes funding to support a further 12 local authorities to transform services to a family hub model.
Family hubs are a place-based way of joining up locally in the planning and delivery of family services. They are a local innovation, developed to meet local needs and better support families.
Through the family hubs programmes, the department will continue to learn and gather insights on family hub provision and their effectiveness. We will be building the evidence base through the evaluation of family hubs, both existing and new models, which will support local authorities with good practice on evaluation, implementation and outcomes of their family hubs services. Additionally, the department will be running behavioural insight projects to ensure take-up of family hub services by underrepresented families and we will also collect data, such as family hubs maturity and outcomes. This will help with developing effective family hubs.
Further information on the evaluation of family hubs can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-family-hubs.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the need for catch-up classes for time missed from school during the COVID-19 pandemic; and what steps will they take to provide this.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the attainment and progress of all students is a key research priority for the government. We have commissioned an independent research and assessment agency to provide a baseline assessment of catch-up needs for pupils in schools in England and monitor progress over the course of the 2020/21 academic year. This research is based on assessments that schools are already using and adds no additional burden on teachers. Initial findings from the research are available in the attached report. We are currently exploring options to assess progress over the course of the current academic year.
Our latest evidence suggests that, in summer 2021, primary pupils were on average around one month behind in reading and around 3 months behind in maths compared to where we would expect them to be in a ‘normal year’. Secondary pupils were behind in their learning in reading by around 2 months.
Overall direct investment announced for education recovery is almost £5 billion. This includes £1.8 billion of funding announced in the last Spending Review to support young people to catch up on missed learning.
Our approach to recovery follows the evidence by providing universal support but also by targeting additional support at disadvantaged pupils, as well as older pupils with less time left in education. We are focusing on those interventions that have the greatest impact for pupils, especially on tutoring and teacher development, as well as direct recovery funding.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that schools in England can remain open throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The government is clear on the critical importance of avoiding disruption to children and young people’s education. Therefore, the priority is to keep all schools open.
Testing remains important in reducing the risk of transmission of COVID-19 within schools and colleges. All secondary schools were asked to test their pupils once on-site, using lateral flow device (LFD) tests, on return in January.
Staff and secondary school pupils should continue to test twice weekly at home, with LFD test kits. Schools are encouraged to ask all visitors to take an LFD test before entering the school.
From Tuesday 14 December, young people aged 5 to 18 and fully vaccinated adults who are identified as a close contact of someone with COVID-19 can take an NHS rapid LFD test every day for 7 days and continue to attend their school or college as normal, unless they have a positive test result.
The self-isolation advice for people with COVID-19 has changed. From Monday 17 January, people with COVID-19 in England can end their self-isolation after 5 full days, as long as they test negative on day 5 and day 6.
Every child aged 12 and over is eligible to receive the vaccine. Healthy 12 to 15 year olds can have a second dose 12 weeks after their first dose. My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, announced the acceleration of our COVID-19 booster programme to offer every adult in England a booster jab by the end of 2021 to protect people from the Omicron variant.
We have also supported schools, colleges, and nurseries to improve ventilation. We have provided carbon dioxide monitors backed by £25 million in government funding. Over 99% of eligible maintained schools, further education colleges, and the majority of early years education providers have now received a carbon dioxide monitor with over 350,000 now delivered. The government is now making available at least 7,000 funded air cleaning units for poorly ventilated teaching spaces where quick fixes to improve ventilation are not possible.
The department has put in place support to help schools facing workforce shortages. This includes calling on former teachers with the time and skills to return to the classroom and reintroducing the COVID-19 workforce fund to provide financial support to eligible schools and colleges for absence costs incurred from 22 November until the spring half term. Schools also have the discretion to consider and implement flexible working and delivery patterns.
The department has reintroduced face coverings for all adults in schools and for pupils and students in year 7 and above in communal areas, and from 4 January 2022 in classrooms. This is a temporary measure and will be reviewed on 26 January.
We have worked in partnership with the education sector and mental health experts to bring together and announce a range of commitments to protect and promote staff mental health and wellbeing as well as providing resources. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mental-health-and-wellbeing-support-in-schools-and-colleges. We have also published a well-being charter available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-staff-wellbeing-charter.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the (1) efficacy, and (2) urgency, of installing air filters in schools over the Christmas period while school pupils are on holiday.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
During the autumn term, the department provided CO2 monitors to all state-funded education providers, including early years, schools and further education colleges, backed by £25 million in government funding. Feedback suggests that schools are finding the monitors helpful to manage ventilation and, in the majority of providrrs, existing ventilation measures are sufficient.
Where an area of poor ventilation has been identified that cannot be resolved through simple measures such as opening doors and windows, schools are advised to explore what remedial works may be required to improve ventilation. Where it is not possible to maintain adequate ventilation, it may be appropriate to consider the use of an air cleaning unit while the underlying ventilation issue is addressed.
When used properly, air cleaning units can help reduce airborne contaminants in a poorly ventilated space, including viruses like COVID-19. Air cleaning units are not a substitute for ventilation and should never be used as a reason to reduce ventilation. They are not necessary in spaces that are adequately ventilated.
The department’s decision to make air cleaning units available for poorly ventilated spaces in education and care settings has been formed by advice from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) and external consultation with specialists. We will continue to develop our policy and guidance on ventilation in line with the latest scientific advice and in consultation with industry wide experts.
Deliveries of air cleaning units will start from this week to special educational needs and disabilities and alternative provision providers. These were allocated in the first application round announced in November for special and alternative provision providers.
The second round of applications is open until 9am on 17 January. All state funded schools (primary and secondary), further education colleges and nurseries can apply. Special and alternative provision providers that were not successful or did not apply in the first round are also eligible to apply in this round. Once applications have closed, all applications will be assessed against strict criteria and allocated to providers based on need. Providers with successful applications will be contacted individually to arrange delivery, with deliveries expected from February 2022.
For those providers that are not eligible for funded units, the online marketplace provides a route to purchasing air cleaning units directly from suppliers at a suitable specification and competitive price. The marketplace can be accessed here: https://s107t01-webapp-v2-01.azurewebsites.net/list/air-cleaning.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of school days missed in England since the start of the school year as a result of COVID-19 absence; and what steps they intend to take to assist pupils who have missed school.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Shadow Minister (Education)
The department regularly publishes the number of school days missed due to COVID-19. The most recent publication can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak. On 14 October, 2.6% (209,000) of all pupils on roll in state-funded schools did not attend school for COVID-19 related reasons.
Among pupils absent for COVID-19 reasons, the main reasons for absence on 14 October were: pupils with a confirmed case of COVID-19 (1.4%), and pupils with a suspected case of COVID-19 (1.0%). Overall, the attendance in state funded schools was 90.0% on 14 October, up from 89.5% on 30 September.
The department has a comprehensive attendance strategy that has been implemented since the beginning of this academic year to ensure that any absence as a result of COVID-19 is minimised. We also recognise that extended school and college restrictions and absences have had a substantial impact on children and young people’s education. The department is committed to helping pupils catch up as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak and has committed to an ambitious, long term recovery plan.
Since June 2020, the department has announced more than £3 billion to support education recovery in schools, colleges, and nurseries. This is already making a difference and helping children to catch up. Over 500,000 children were invited to participate in summer schools, 308,000 children were reached through the National Tutoring Programme in year one, and over three-quarters (77%) of eligible 16-19 colleges in the 2020/21 academic year were allocated funds for delivering tutoring for 16–19-year-olds.
Over the coming three academic years, the department has announced the extension of the 16-19 tuition fund to support the equivalent of around 2 million 15-hour courses to accelerate the progression of lower attaining students, with a total investment of £324 million over the next three years.
The department has also dedicated over £950 million worth of additional funding for catch-up in schools. Through the one-off catch-up premium, schools have already received £650 million worth of funding during the 2020/2021 academic year and the new one-off recovery premium which will provide over £300 million worth of funding during the 2021/2022 academic year. The recovery premium allocations have also now been published: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-recovery-premium-funding-allocations. Allocations are weighted so that schools with more disadvantaged pupils receive more funding.
Recovery programmes have been designed to allow nursery, school and college leaders the flexibility to support those pupils most in need, including the most disadvantaged. The department is investing in high quality tutoring and great teaching because evidence is clear this will have a significant impact for disadvantaged children.