Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking through the Relationships, Sex and Health Education curriculum to tackle misogynistic narratives promoted by online influencers.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
This government is committed to ensuring that children are taught to tackle harmful ideas, unhealthy views about relationships, and misogyny in school. We have overhauled the Relationships, Sex, and Health Education curriculum, with a new focus on developing skills for healthy relationships from the beginning of primary school, and equipping children with the tools to tackle harmful influences. Through our new statutory guidance, we will support young people to develop positive conceptions of masculinity and femininity, and to understand the harmful impacts of misogynistic online content, including pornography.
The department is currently finalising a series of resources for Key Stages 2 to 5 to support schools to root out and tackle misogyny, complementing the series on our Educate Against Hate website. The new resources will aid development of stronger, respectful teaching environments with enhanced safeguarding and the prevention of toxic behaviours.
We have also developed misogyny-specific content for the Kids Online Safety campaign site that will give parents information and tools to spot warning signs, hold open conversations and direct to further support where they need it.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to engage with universities on the issue of the transnational repression of their staff and students.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Any attempt to intimidate, harass or harm academics in the UK will not be tolerated. Since February 2026, we have held a series of events, engaging over 200 higher education staff on foreign interference concerns such as transnational repression, including a meeting of Vice-Chancellors with Ministers and MI5. The Education Secretary also met with academics to discuss how to strengthen support.
The National Security Act 2023 provides effective tools which increase our ability to target hostile activity from foreign states. For higher education, there are a range of relevant regulatory expectations including around academic freedom, free speech and protection from harassment. We have also issued guidance available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/protecting-uk-higher-education-from-foreign-interference to help students and staff identify and escalate concerns.
The government is investing £3 million in a package of measures to tackle foreign interference, including a new Academic Interference Reporting Route, enabling senior university leaders to raise concerns directly with government.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support she is providing to universities on the issue of transnational repression of their staff and students.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Any attempt to intimidate, harass or harm academics in the UK will not be tolerated. Since February 2026, we have held a series of events, engaging over 200 higher education staff on foreign interference concerns such as transnational repression, including a meeting of Vice-Chancellors with Ministers and MI5. The Education Secretary also met with academics to discuss how to strengthen support.
The National Security Act 2023 provides effective tools which increase our ability to target hostile activity from foreign states. For higher education, there are a range of relevant regulatory expectations including around academic freedom, free speech and protection from harassment. We have also issued guidance available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/protecting-uk-higher-education-from-foreign-interference to help students and staff identify and escalate concerns.
The government is investing £3 million in a package of measures to tackle foreign interference, including a new Academic Interference Reporting Route, enabling senior university leaders to raise concerns directly with government.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps is she taking to help support academics in the UK from transnational repression.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Any attempt to intimidate, harass or harm academics in the UK will not be tolerated. Since February 2026, we have held a series of events, engaging over 200 higher education staff on foreign interference concerns such as transnational repression, including a meeting of Vice-Chancellors with Ministers and MI5. The Education Secretary also met with academics to discuss how to strengthen support.
The National Security Act 2023 provides effective tools which increase our ability to target hostile activity from foreign states. For higher education, there are a range of relevant regulatory expectations including around academic freedom, free speech and protection from harassment. We have also issued guidance available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/protecting-uk-higher-education-from-foreign-interference to help students and staff identify and escalate concerns.
The government is investing £3 million in a package of measures to tackle foreign interference, including a new Academic Interference Reporting Route, enabling senior university leaders to raise concerns directly with government.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she had with Cabinet colleagues prior to the recent decision concerning Sudanese student visas.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The new International Education Strategy has confirmed this government's continued commitment to welcome international students who meet the requirements to study in the UK.
The government recognises the significant economic and cultural contribution that all international students make to the UK’s higher education sector.
We must, however, retain a robust immigration system which safeguards against exploitation. The government is therefore introducing targeted measures to help protect the integrity of the system, which may apply to study visas. These measures will apply where evidence shows a consistently high number and proportion of visa-linked asylum claims. Once in place, applications from the specified nationalities on the affected routes will be refused.
The government announced on 4 March that these measures would be imposed on nationals of four countries, including Sudan. This means that Sudanese nationals will not be awarded a study visa until the measures are lifted.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the contribution of Sudanese students on Higher Education.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The new International Education Strategy has confirmed this government's continued commitment to welcome international students who meet the requirements to study in the UK.
The government recognises the significant economic and cultural contribution that all international students make to the UK’s higher education sector.
We must, however, retain a robust immigration system which safeguards against exploitation. The government is therefore introducing targeted measures to help protect the integrity of the system, which may apply to study visas. These measures will apply where evidence shows a consistently high number and proportion of visa-linked asylum claims. Once in place, applications from the specified nationalities on the affected routes will be refused.
The government announced on 4 March that these measures would be imposed on nationals of four countries, including Sudan. This means that Sudanese nationals will not be awarded a study visa until the measures are lifted.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to promote equality and inclusion as part of the National Year of Reading.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Oxford East, to the answer of 24 February 2026 to Question 112742.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what percentage of undergraduate students who are parents with caring responsibilities receive the Childcare Grant.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The number of full-time undergraduates domiciled in England who received the Childcare Grant in 2024/25 was 42,900, rounded to the nearest hundred. This is published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/student-support-for-higher-education-in-england-2025/student-support-for-higher-education-in-england-2025#childcare-grant
It is not possible to report this as a percentage of parents with caring responsibilities as the department does not hold the total number of undergraduates who are parents with caring responsibilities. This is because declaration of caring responsibilities is optional and only required for applicants who wish to apply for Special Support Loans or Childcare Grants.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the percentage of doctoral loans used by students to cover the costs of childcare.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Doctoral loans are intended to contribute to the cost of study, rather than to specifically cover tuition fees or livings costs, which provides flexibility to the student. The department does not hold any information on the proportion of doctoral loan funding that is spent on childcare.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number and percentage of a) undergraduate and b) postgraduate students who are parents with caring responsibilities.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Higher Education Statistics Agency is responsible for collecting and publishing data on the UK higher education (HE) sector. This data is shared with the department and includes a wide range of information on students studying at UK HE providers.
However, information on students who are parents with caring responsibilities is not collected, and therefore numbers and percentages of students in this position cannot be identified by the department.