Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to revise the inspection criteria for Citizenship Education with Ofsted; and what plans they have to publish (1) any correspondence, or (2) the minutes of meetings, with Ofsted, including of any meeting that took place on 15 March.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I refer the noble Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts to the answer I gave on 25 April 2022 to question HL7809.
The government has now responded to the recommendations outlined within ‘The Ties that Bind: Citizenship and Civic Engagement in the 21st Century Follow-up report’, including the recommendations relating to the inspection of citizenship education.
Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to revise the inspection criteria for citizenship education with Ofsted; and what plans they have to publish (1) any correspondence, or (2) minutes of meetings (including the meeting on 15 March,) with Ofsted.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Ofsted, as a separate government department and independent inspectorate, is responsible for the criteria in its inspection framework and handbooks.
On 21 February, Ofsted wrote to the Chair of the House of Lords Liaison Committee, Lord Gardiner of Kimble, setting out its inspection approach regarding citizenship education. The letter is available at: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/9100/documents/159384/default/.
The department has subsequently discussed this matter with Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. The Chief Inspector has confirmed that citizenship education forms a significant, but proportionate, part of school inspections. There are no plans to publish correspondence or minutes relating to discussions on this matter. The government will respond in due course to ‘The Ties that Bind: Citizenship and Civic Engagement in the 21st Century Follow-up report’, which includes recommendations relating to the inspection of citizenship education.
Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many teachers self-identified as citizenship education teachers in (1) 2016, (2) 2017, (3) 2018, (4) 2019, (5) 2020, and (6) 2021.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The number of teachers in state funded secondary schools in England, who are recorded as teaching one or more lessons of citizenship per week, are shown in the table below. The latest information gives the situation in November 2019. Information for November 2020 will be published in June 2021. Information for 2021 will be collected via the School Workforce Census later this year.
As at November 2019 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
Headcount of teachers teaching citizenship | 4,826 | 4,451 | 4,241 | 4,257 |
As a % of all teachers in state funded secondary schools | 2.2% | 2.0% | 1.9% | 1.9% |
The majority of teachers of citizenship also teach other subjects.
The number of trainees who successfully completed training in citizenship education from the 2015/16 to the 2018/19 academic year inclusive is summarised in the table below:
Academic Year | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 |
Postgraduate trainees awarded qualified teacher status | 78 | 45 | 37 | 31 |
The data on numbers of postgraduate trainees awarded qualified teacher status, for the academic years 2019/20 and 2020/21 is not yet available. Due to a change in the recording of subjects in the Initial Teacher Training data, we will not be able to specifically identify Citizenship trainees for the academic year 2019/2020 onwards.
Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many teachers specialising in citizenship education completed their training in (1) 2016, (2) 2017, (3) 2018, (4) 2019, (5) 2020, and (6) 2021.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The number of teachers in state funded secondary schools in England, who are recorded as teaching one or more lessons of citizenship per week, are shown in the table below. The latest information gives the situation in November 2019. Information for November 2020 will be published in June 2021. Information for 2021 will be collected via the School Workforce Census later this year.
As at November 2019 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
Headcount of teachers teaching citizenship | 4,826 | 4,451 | 4,241 | 4,257 |
As a % of all teachers in state funded secondary schools | 2.2% | 2.0% | 1.9% | 1.9% |
The majority of teachers of citizenship also teach other subjects.
The number of trainees who successfully completed training in citizenship education from the 2015/16 to the 2018/19 academic year inclusive is summarised in the table below:
Academic Year | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 |
Postgraduate trainees awarded qualified teacher status | 78 | 45 | 37 | 31 |
The data on numbers of postgraduate trainees awarded qualified teacher status, for the academic years 2019/20 and 2020/21 is not yet available. Due to a change in the recording of subjects in the Initial Teacher Training data, we will not be able to specifically identify Citizenship trainees for the academic year 2019/2020 onwards.
Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of undergraduates who studied engineering at university who now work in the engineering industry post-graduation.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Information on the destinations of students 6 months after leaving UK higher education is collected and published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) as part of the Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey.
Latest statistics were published in June 2018 for students leaving their courses in the 2016/17 academic year, and are available at the following link:
https://www.hesa.ac.uk/news/28-06-2018/sfr250-higher-education-leaver-statistics.
As part of the DLHE survey, HESA records the Standard Occupation Classification category of those respondents who were in employment. Of the UK and EU-domiciled leavers from undergraduate courses in engineering who responded to the survey, and were in employment 6 months after graduating, 49.8% were estimated to be employed in roles categorised as ‘engineering professionals’.
The share of engineering leavers employed as ‘engineering professionals’ varies across engineering subjects. For that reason, a more detailed subject breakdown has been provided in the table.
Share of engineering leavers1 in engineering occupations2 six months after graduation
UK higher education institutions
2016/17 leavers
Engineering subject | Count3 of survey respondents in employment | Share of survey respondents employed as ‘engineering professionals’ |
General engineering | 1,220 | 45.8% |
Civil engineering | 1,860 | 68.0% |
Mechanical engineering | 3,520 | 57.1% |
Aerospace engineering | 950 | 34.8% |
Naval architecture | 40 | 58.5% |
Electronic & electrical engineering | 2,475 | 39.3% |
Production & manufacturing engineering | 445 | 39.9% |
Chemical, process & energy engineering | 885 | 38.3% |
Others in engineering | 45 | 37.4% |
Total Engineering | 11,450 | 49.8% |
Source: DfE Analysis of the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey
1. Graduates in engineering-based subjects have been defined using the principal categories H1 to H9 of the Joint Academic Coding System (JACS). More information on JACS codes can be found at the following link: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/documentation/jacs.
2. Graduates categorised as being in Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) group 212 are considered to be in the ‘Engineering Professionals’ category. More information on SOC DLHE codes can be found at the following link: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/documentation/occupational/soc2010.
3. Counts are on the basis of full-person-equivalents. Where a student is studying more than one subject, they are apportioned between the subjects that make up their course.
4. Figures are rounded to the nearest 5.
Statistics about students leaving courses in the 2017/18 academic year will be published from HESA’s new Graduate Outcomes survey in April 2020. A key difference with this new survey is that employment activities will be measured 15 months after graduation, rather than after 6 months.
Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Agnew of Oulton on 23 January (HL12924), how many bursaries were provided to those who began training as citizenship teachers in 2018–19.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The department has provided no bursaries for citizenship trainees in the academic year 2018-19.
Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to distinguish between the teaching of personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education and the teaching of citizenship in the national curriculum.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
All state schools must offer a curriculum that is broad and balanced and that prepares pupils for the opportunities and responsibilities of later life. The department does not, however, stipulate how schools should organise themselves to best deliver their curriculum.
Schools have a duty to support the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils and support the promotion of fundamental British values. Ofsted is currently consulting on proposals for a new inspection framework that has a strong emphasis on schools providing a broad and balanced curriculum for all their pupils.
Citizenship is in the national curriculum at key stages 3 and 4 and provides pupils with knowledge, skills and understanding to prepare them to be informed, active and engaged citizens. The citizenship programme of study, introduced in September 2014, allows schools the freedom to use their professional judgement and an understanding of their pupils to develop the right approach for teaching in their schools.
Personal, social, health and economic education is a non-statutory subject in maintained schools although most schools teach it. Whilst it is not part of the national curriculum, schools are encouraged to teach it as part of their duty to provide a broad and balanced curriculum. It is compulsory in independent schools.
The government is making relationships education compulsory in all primary schools, relationships and sex education compulsory in all secondary schools and health education compulsory in all state-funded schools. We recently consulted on draft guidance for these subjects and this included a statement to note that these new subjects should complement, rather than duplicate, what is already taught through the national curriculum. We expect to lay the regulations, and accompanying draft guidance, in spring 2019 for debate and vote in Parliament.
Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to introduce a specialist leader of education category for the teaching of citizenship; and if so, when.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Following the government’s commitment, set out in our response to the Lords Select Committee report ‘The Ties that Bind: Citizenship and Civic Engagement in the 21st Century’, the introduction of specialist leaders of education in citizenship was announced earlier this month.
Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of different methods of teaching English and their effectiveness.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The department does not make assessments of the methods employed by schools to teach English. Schools are free to decide on the most appropriate teaching methods and practices, depending on their pupils’ needs. We strongly encourage them to use teaching methods based on sound evidence. For example, the Education Endowment Foundation publishes robust evidence on effective pedagogic practice, for example its Teaching and Learning Toolkit, which is used by around 6 out of 10 teachers in senior leadership positions when deciding which approaches to adopt to improve teaching.
When it comes to the teaching of reading, the national curriculum requires the systematic teaching of phonics. There is a significant body of evidence that demonstrates that systematic phonics is a highly effective method for teaching early reading. The department has invested £26 million in a national network of English hubs to support local schools in developing their teaching practice, with a focus on systematic phonics. We are also funding 6 Phonics Partnerships and a series of Phonics Roadshows, to spread good practice and improve phonics teaching.
Asked by: Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people are currently training to be teachers specialising in citizenship.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The annual Initial Teacher Training Census provides data on the number of trainee teachers recruited each year in which citizenship trainees are included in the ‘Other’ subject category.[1]
Analysis of the underlying data shows that in the academic year 2018/19, 37 postgraduate trainees began training in citizenship.[2]
[1] Of the 385 trainees included in the ‘Other’ subject category some are listed as belonging to a particular subject such as citizenship, dance or economics in the underlying data. Out of these trainees, 146 do not belong to any of the available subject categories and are listed as other in the underlying data, it is not known if any of these are citizenship trainees.
[2] Figures for 2018/19 are provisional and subject to change. Data were extracted on 19 November 2018.