Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps she has taken to encourage youth democracy in schools in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Democracy forms a central part of the national curriculum for citizenship at key stages 3 and 4. Primary schools can choose to teach citizenship at key stages 1 and 2, following the non-statutory framework for citizenship.
Schools have considerable flexibility to organise the content and delivery of their curriculum and enrichment programme, including to suit their local context. This can include providing opportunities for pupil participation in democratic processes, subject to schools meeting their obligations to ensure political balance.
UK Parliament run educational tours for pupils, youth and community groups to see how Parliament works in action. UK Parliament also produce resources which can be downloaded or ordered for free, tailored to different age groups.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport funds the UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) to support young people to engage in the democratic process. Every two years, the UKYP runs ‘Make Your Mark’, a youth vote open to all 11 to 18 year-olds in the UK, for them to be able to vote on what are the most important issues for young people.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps she has taken to support universities with funding challenges.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
To support universities in stabilising their financial positions, the Office for Students (OfS) will continue dedicating significant resources to ensuring the sector's financial sustainability. The department has appointed Professor Edward Peck as the substantive Chair of the OfS, where he will play a key role in strengthening this commitment while also expanding opportunities in higher education (HE).
Additionally, we have made the difficult decision to increase tuition fee limits by 3.1% for the 2025/26 academic year, aligning with inflation.
The department will outline its plans for HE reform in the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper, set to be published this summer.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the link between trends in the number of international students and the number of courses at universities.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government’s position on international students is clear. We are committed to a United Kingdom that is outward looking and welcomes international students who make a positive impact on the UK’s higher education (HE) sector, our economy and society as a whole.
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data on student enrolments across UK HE providers.
Counts of student enrolments in UK HE providers by permanent address are published in Table 1 of HESA’s Student Data and can be accessed here: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-1.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will meet with the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme to discuss the merits of ensuring the skills required for the ceramics industry are met through (a) the national curriculum and (b) her plan for apprenticeships.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18. The Review is looking at all subjects and wants to ensure a rich, broad, inclusive and innovative curriculum that readies young people for life and work. The Review’s final report and recommendations will be published in the autumn, at which point the government will respond.
The department will continue to support learners who wish to have a career in the ceramic industry through its technical education offer, with a range of qualifications available including T Levels, where there is an option to specialise in ceramic making, and apprenticeships.
Employers have developed the level 3 craft technician apprenticeship standard, which includes a ceramicist option. The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) is working to agree an end-point assessment organisation to enable starts onto this standard. IfATE’s functions will shortly transfer to my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education to be implemented in future by Skills England.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she plans to take to ensure that the amount of funding available for technical education is aligned with the skills requirements for key industries.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Over £7.5 billion of funding for the 16 to 19 programme is being invested during the 2024/25 academic year, with funding available via the High Value Courses Premium to encourage and support the delivery of level 3 study programmes and T Levels in priority subject areas.
Programme cost weightings support the delivery of higher cost vocational subject areas, which are often also areas of high value to the economy.
Additionally, the department will provide approximately £1.4 billion in funding for the Adult Skills Fund (ASF) in the 2025/26 academic year and will have devolved 68% of the ASF to mayoral strategic authorities. These authorities have autonomy in deciding how to use their funding to make decisions that are best for their areas. In non-devolved areas, the department uses five funding bands that reflect, amongst other considerations, the cost of the provision involved and skills needs.
My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, also committed over £600 million over the Parliament to deliver up to 60,000 skilled construction workers, supporting the government’s infrastructure and housebuilding priorities. This includes additional funding to deliver more construction courses, skills bootcamps, foundation apprenticeships, industry placements and the establishment of ten new Technical Excellence Colleges.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her priorities are for the Education World Forum.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education was pleased to host the Education World Forum in London from 18 to 21 May, with over 140 education and skills Ministers from around the world joining. The forum supports the government’s priorities and our Growth and Opportunity Missions through engaging with international Ministers and showcasing our international education strengths and offer. It is a key opportunity to demonstrate UK government leadership in this area and a valuable soft power event.
The theme of this year’s event, ‘From stability to growth: Building stronger, bolder better education together’, allowed us to discuss and learn from each other across multiple priority areas in education such as artificial intelligence and technology in education, skills for the future, early years, and special educational needs and disabilities, among many others.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps Skills England plans to take with Institutes of Technology to (a) coordinate technical education and (b) ensure that regional skills needs are met.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As part of its work with employers, providers and others across the skills system, Skills England will enable Institutes of Technology (IoTs) to support the delivery of skills local employers need, as aligned to the needs of national priority sectors.
Skills England will work with mayoral strategic authorities and other forms of regional government and local organisations, such as employer representative bodies, to ensure that regional and national skills needs are met. Skills England will oversee the Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) programme, including where LSIPs have identified IoTs’ role in meeting local skills needs.
Skills England will continue to set out evidence and insights into skills gaps in the economy, building on the publication of its first report in September 2024.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she plans to take with (a) Skills England and (b) Technical Excellence Colleges to support the provision of high-quality technical education by Institutes of Technology.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Skills England will work with Technical Excellence Colleges (TECs) and Institutes of Technology (IoTs) to ensure they are supported in delivering the skills that local employers need, as aligned to the needs of national priority sectors.
The government will transform further education colleges into specialist TECs to deliver the priority skills needed by employers to help drive economic growth at local and national level. This starts with £100 million, announced as part of a wider construction skills package, to establish ten construction TECs, with one in every English region to deliver the skills required to support the government’s Plan for Change in building 1.5 million homes by the end of this Parliament. TECs will work with IoTs as part of wider sectoral collaboration to ensure skills gaps across regions are addressed and the skills employers need to grow the economy are delivered.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure the effective distribution of funding for technical education to meet the needs of (a) students and (b) employers in (i) all and (ii) high-demand sectors.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
16 to 19 funding enables students to take part in study programmes, which includes technical qualifications, or T levels. The department uses the 16 to 19 funding formula to calculate an allocation of funding to each institution, in each academic year, based on volumes and characteristics of students and their programmes. Additional funding is also available via the high value courses premium to encourage and support delivery of selected level 3 study programmes and T Levels.
Additionally, in the 2025/26 academic year, the adult skills fund will be 68% devolved to mayoral strategic authorities. These authorities have autonomy in deciding how to use their funding to make decisions that are best for their areas. In non-devolved areas, the department uses five funding bands that reflect, amongst other considerations, the cost of the provision involved and skill needs of the economy.
My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, also committed over £600 million over the Parliament to deliver up to 60,000 skilled construction workers, supporting the government’s infrastructure and housebuilding priorities. This includes additional funding to deliver more construction courses, skills bootcamps, foundation apprenticeships, industry placements, and the establishment of ten new Technical Excellence Colleges.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department plans to take to encourage small and medium businesses to take up technical education opportunities; and if she will take steps to consult with those businesses on shaping the curriculum.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department continues to support small and medium businesses to benefit from a range of technical education opportunities including apprenticeships, T Level industry placements, Higher Technical Qualifications, and Skills Bootcamps.
For example, on T Levels we are actively engaging small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through our T Level Ambassador network and raising awareness and support of industry placements, including a new Employer Support Fund to help SMEs meet delivery costs, and on apprenticeships we pay full training costs for non-levy paying employers for young apprentices under the age of 22 and provide £1000 payments to employers who take on young apprentices under the age of 19.
Employers are playing a more strategic role in the skills system, through working with providers, including through local skills improvement plans where they can help shape local curriculum offers and become more actively involved in the planning, design and delivery of further education provision.
Skills England will work with employers to identify and fill skills gaps and build the highly trained workforce that employers need, delivering the national, regional and local skills needs of the next decade.