Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with the AQA exam board regarding resolving strike action taken by staff over pay.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has not had any discussions with AQA regarding the impact of wage stagnation or staff strike action.
Ofqual, the independent regulator of exams and assessments in England, oversees awarding organisations, including AQA, by conducting readiness reviews, evaluating their governance and ability to manage key delivery risks.
The department has received assurances from Ofqual that AQA has contingency processes in place to mitigate any risks to exam delivery.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has had discussions with the AQA exam board on the potential impact of wage stagnation on its staff.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has not had any discussions with AQA regarding the impact of wage stagnation or staff strike action.
Ofqual, the independent regulator of exams and assessments in England, oversees awarding organisations, including AQA, by conducting readiness reviews, evaluating their governance and ability to manage key delivery risks.
The department has received assurances from Ofqual that AQA has contingency processes in place to mitigate any risks to exam delivery.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she expects joint non-statutory guidance from the Department for Education, the Department for Health and Social Care and the NHS on how clinical healthcare is delivered in schools to be published.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Schools are not responsible for clinical healthcare tasks. Healthcare tasks can be delegated to staff in schools and other education settings where the responsible healthcare professional considers delegation safe and appropriate.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) both include a regulatory standard requiring registrants to delegate only when they are satisfied that the other person is competent to carry out the delegated task safely and require the healthcare practitioner to supervise and support those who are delegated to. Further information can be found at: https://www.nmc.org.uk/standards/code/ and https://www.hcpc-uk.org/standards/standards-of-conduct-performance-and-ethics/.
The department and the Department of Health and Social Care will publish guidance on clinical healthcare in schools in due course.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what action she is taking to support school teachers who are responsible for administering healthcare to students with medical conditions.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Schools are not responsible for clinical healthcare tasks. Healthcare tasks can be delegated to staff in schools and other education settings where the responsible healthcare professional considers delegation safe and appropriate.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) both include a regulatory standard requiring registrants to delegate only when they are satisfied that the other person is competent to carry out the delegated task safely and require the healthcare practitioner to supervise and support those who are delegated to. Further information can be found at: https://www.nmc.org.uk/standards/code/ and https://www.hcpc-uk.org/standards/standards-of-conduct-performance-and-ethics/.
The department and the Department of Health and Social Care will publish guidance on clinical healthcare in schools in due course.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her department is taking to support autistic students with Pathological Demand Avoidance in mainstream school settings.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Manchester Rusholme, to the answer of 15 April 2026 to Question 121149.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support local authorities with the provision of Education Otherwise Than At School.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing parity of pay between teachers in further education colleges and sixth forms.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Further education (FE) teachers are central to delivering high quality technical education. Last year, we announced an additional £190 million to help colleges and other 16-19 providers address the recruitment and retention of specialist FE teachers. In addition, our targeted retention incentive offer is designed to retain eligible FE teachers in technical subjects with payments of up to £6,000 after tax. In its first year, nearly 6,000 teachers received a payment.
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education and my noble Friend, the Minister for Skills have regular engagement with FE stakeholders including the Association of Colleges (AoC) on a range of issues, including matters pertaining to funding. FE pay remains a matter for individual colleges supported by the National Joint Forum, the AoC’s national bargaining arrangements.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with the Association of Colleges on pay increases for further education staff.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Further education (FE) teachers are central to delivering high quality technical education. Last year, we announced an additional £190 million to help colleges and other 16-19 providers address the recruitment and retention of specialist FE teachers. In addition, our targeted retention incentive offer is designed to retain eligible FE teachers in technical subjects with payments of up to £6,000 after tax. In its first year, nearly 6,000 teachers received a payment.
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education and my noble Friend, the Minister for Skills have regular engagement with FE stakeholders including the Association of Colleges (AoC) on a range of issues, including matters pertaining to funding. FE pay remains a matter for individual colleges supported by the National Joint Forum, the AoC’s national bargaining arrangements.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of trends in the prevalence of child morning hunger in (a) early years, (b) primary and (c) secondary school settings in England on school (i) readiness and (ii) attendance.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department appreciates the publication of the report and look forward to giving it our full consideration. This government is committed to tackling child poverty and delivering meaningful action to support children and families. The removal of the two child limit on Universal Credit will lift 450,000 children out of poverty, rising to around 550,000 alongside other measures set out in our Child Poverty Strategy, such as the expansion of free school meals. These interventions will lead to the largest expected reduction in child poverty over a Parliament since comparable records began.
We recognise the importance of a healthy breakfast at the start of the day for pupils and the impact this can have on attendance and readiness to learn. This is why we are rolling out free breakfast clubs in every state-funded school with primary-aged pupils in England, so that all children can have the best start in life. Since April 2025, the programme has delivered seven million meals to almost 180,000 pupils across the country. We are investing a further £80 million to fund approximately 2,000 additional schools between April 2026 and March 2027.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her department has made of the potential impact on schools of ongoing uncertainty around future national funding for physical education and school sports.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Manchester Rusholme, to the answer of 03 March 2026 to Question 115304.