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 has taken to help ensure that new school buildings are designed so as to enable students with (a) physical disabilities, (b) mental disabilities and (c) autism spectrum conditions to be included in the (i) curriculum and (ii) life of the school; and what steps her Department has taken to assist schools to adapt existing buildings.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department’s ambition is for all children and young people, no matter what their special educational needs and disabilities are, to receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
All school building projects that are delivered by the department must meet the requirements set out in the department’s school building specification. The department publishes a range of guidance specifically for the construction of special schools, which support the provision of inclusive learning environments including access, acoustics and specialist Special Educational Needs provision. These are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/school-design-and-construction.
More generally, all new school buildings must meet the requirements of the Building Regulation’s Approved Document: M, which sets out the details on access to and use of buildings. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/access-to-and-use-of-buildings-approved-document-m.
The department does not publish specific guidance on how to adapt existing schools. Under the Equality Act 2010, schools must make reasonable adjustments to prevent pupils with special educational needs and disabilities being put at a substantial disadvantage. Additionally, under the Children and Families Act 2014, mainstream schools must use their best endeavours to make sure a child or young person who has special educational needs and disabilities, including those who are autistic, get the special educational provision they need.
To support the adaptation of existing buildings, the department has allocated over £1.5 billion of High Needs Provision Capital for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years. This funding forms part of the department’s transformational investment of £2.6 billion in new high needs provision between 2022 and 2025. Local authorities can use this funding to deliver new places in mainstream and special schools, as well as other specialist settings, and to improve the suitability and accessibility of existing buildings.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has (a) held meetings and (b) exchanged communications with the TechSheCan charity in the last 12 months.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Officials from the Department have engaged with TechSheCan, including as part of the work to look at girls’ engagement in computing through the Digital and Computing Skills Education Taskforce and through the National Centre for Computing Education.
In March 2023, the Department for Education and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology created the Digital and Computing Skills Education Taskforce. The taskforce will harness Government and external expertise to increase the numbers of individuals studying digital and computing qualifications and to attract individuals into digital jobs. One of the key issues the Taskforce will address is the poor gender diversity within computing and digital education and employment. As part of the process of gathering evidence for this workstream, officials met with various charitable organisations seeking to increase the proportion of women and girls taking digital and computing qualifications and ultimately gaining employment within the digital sector. TechSheCan was one of those organisations.
The Department has provided over £100 million of funding for the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) to improve the quality of computing education and increase participation in computing at GCSE and A level. In August 2023, the NCCE met with TechSheCan to discuss opportunities to better support one another, particularly in how we encourage more girls to identify computing as an area in which they can excel. This has included collaborating on the new ‘I Belong’ programme and associated teacher handbook, which has recently launched and aims to improve schools’ awareness of barriers to girls’ engagement with computing. The NCCE will continue to work with TechSheCan to develop an action plan for this academic year, ensuring any engagement provides the greatest benefit to pupils and teachers of computing.
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 girls studied physics at (a) GCSE, (b) A-level and (c) bachelors degree level in (i) 2015, (ii) 2016, (iii) 2017, (iv) 2018, (v) 2019, (vi) 2020 (vii) 2021 and (viii) 2022.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The numbers of female students entering GCSE and A level exams in physics, and the numbers of enrolments from female students in a bachelor’s degree in physics, are published by the Department for Education and the Higher Education Statistics Agency respectively and can be found in the attached table.
The number entering at GCSE includes those at the end of KS4, and for physics as an individual subject, but not those entered for the combined science GCSE (of which physics is a part).
The number for A level includes all entries by female students aged 16 to 18 in that academic year.
Enrolments for bachelor’s degrees are in first degree level physics courses at UK higher education providers.
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 she holds on the number and proportion of (a) mainstream and (b) special schools that have reduced teaching hours due to staff shortages in the last 12 months.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Recent data shows there are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state funded schools in England, an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes it the highest number of FTE teachers on record since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.
In November 2022 there were 27,140 FTE teachers and 86,410 FTE total workforce in 1,358 special schools and pupil referral units (PRUs). This is an increase from 20,617 FTE teachers and 64,171 FTE total workforce in 1,336 special schools/PRUs in 2013, the earliest comparable data.
The Department does not hold data on the number and proportion of mainstream or special schools that have reduced teaching hours due to staff shortages in the last 12 months. The Department continues to take action to increase teacher recruitment in all school types and to ensure teachers across England stay and succeed in the profession.
The Department has accepted the School Teachers’ Review Body’s recommendations for the 2023/24 pay award for teachers and headteachers in full. This means that teachers and headteachers in maintained schools will receive a pay award of 6.5%, the highest STRB award in three decades. This award also delivers the manifesto commitment of a minimum £30,000 starting salary for teachers in all regions of the country, with a pay award of up to 7.1% for new teachers outside London.
The school teachers’ pay and conditions document for 2022 sets out that an additional Special Educational Needs (SEN) allowance must be paid to teachers in a SEN post that requires a mandatory SEN qualification and involves teaching pupils with SEN. The document is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1110990/2022_STPCD.pdf. It is for schools to determine the specific amount, but this must be between £2,384 and £4,703 per annum. Following the 2023/24 pay award, this is due to increase by 6.5%, subject to statutory consultation.
The Department announced a financial incentives package worth up to £181 million for those starting Initial Teacher Training (ITT) in the 2023/24 academic year.
The Department provides a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 annually for mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who work in disadvantaged schools nationally, including within Education Investment Areas. The eligibility criteria and list of eligible schools are available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/levelling-up-premium-payments-for-teachers.
The Department has created an entitlement to at least three years of structured training, support and professional development for all new teachers, underpinned by the ITT Core Content Framework and the Early Career Framework. Together, these ensure that new teachers will benefit from at least three years of evidence based training, across ITT and into their induction.
In May 2023, the Department published guidance for accredited ITT providers and their partners, to support the involvement of special schools and alternative provision in ITT. The guidance is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1157879/ITT_-_special_schools_and_alternative_provision_May_2023.pdf#:~:text=It%20has%20been%20produced%20to%20help%20accredited%20Initial,units%2C%20and%20mainstream%20schools%20with%20SEN%20resource%20units.
Additionally, to support retention in the sector, the Department has worked with the education sector and published a range of resources to help address staff workload and wellbeing, and support schools to introduce flexible working practices. This includes the workload reduction toolkit, available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-workload-reduction-toolkit and the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter, available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-staff-wellbeing-charter. More than 2,700 schools have signed up to the Charter so far.
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 to improve staffing levels at special schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Recent data shows there are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state funded schools in England, an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes it the highest number of FTE teachers on record since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.
In November 2022 there were 27,140 FTE teachers and 86,410 FTE total workforce in 1,358 special schools and pupil referral units (PRUs). This is an increase from 20,617 FTE teachers and 64,171 FTE total workforce in 1,336 special schools/PRUs in 2013, the earliest comparable data.
The Department does not hold data on the number and proportion of mainstream or special schools that have reduced teaching hours due to staff shortages in the last 12 months. The Department continues to take action to increase teacher recruitment in all school types and to ensure teachers across England stay and succeed in the profession.
The Department has accepted the School Teachers’ Review Body’s recommendations for the 2023/24 pay award for teachers and headteachers in full. This means that teachers and headteachers in maintained schools will receive a pay award of 6.5%, the highest STRB award in three decades. This award also delivers the manifesto commitment of a minimum £30,000 starting salary for teachers in all regions of the country, with a pay award of up to 7.1% for new teachers outside London.
The school teachers’ pay and conditions document for 2022 sets out that an additional Special Educational Needs (SEN) allowance must be paid to teachers in a SEN post that requires a mandatory SEN qualification and involves teaching pupils with SEN. The document is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1110990/2022_STPCD.pdf. It is for schools to determine the specific amount, but this must be between £2,384 and £4,703 per annum. Following the 2023/24 pay award, this is due to increase by 6.5%, subject to statutory consultation.
The Department announced a financial incentives package worth up to £181 million for those starting Initial Teacher Training (ITT) in the 2023/24 academic year.
The Department provides a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 annually for mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who work in disadvantaged schools nationally, including within Education Investment Areas. The eligibility criteria and list of eligible schools are available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/levelling-up-premium-payments-for-teachers.
The Department has created an entitlement to at least three years of structured training, support and professional development for all new teachers, underpinned by the ITT Core Content Framework and the Early Career Framework. Together, these ensure that new teachers will benefit from at least three years of evidence based training, across ITT and into their induction.
In May 2023, the Department published guidance for accredited ITT providers and their partners, to support the involvement of special schools and alternative provision in ITT. The guidance is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1157879/ITT_-_special_schools_and_alternative_provision_May_2023.pdf#:~:text=It%20has%20been%20produced%20to%20help%20accredited%20Initial,units%2C%20and%20mainstream%20schools%20with%20SEN%20resource%20units.
Additionally, to support retention in the sector, the Department has worked with the education sector and published a range of resources to help address staff workload and wellbeing, and support schools to introduce flexible working practices. This includes the workload reduction toolkit, available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-workload-reduction-toolkit and the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter, available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-staff-wellbeing-charter. More than 2,700 schools have signed up to the Charter so far.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 20 July 2022 to Question 37614 on Schools: Buildings, which schools had at least one construction element in condition grade (a) C and (b) D in Oxford East constituency when that data was collated; and which of those schools (i) have received and (ii) expect to receive in the next two years funding from the School Rebuilding Programme.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Condition Data Collection (CDC) is one of the largest and most comprehensive data collection programmes in the UK’s public sector. It collected data on the building condition of government funded schools in England. It provides a robust evidence base to enable the Department to target capital funding for maintaining and rebuilding school buildings.
The key, high level findings of the CDC programme were published in May 2021 in the ‘Condition of School Buildings Survey: Key Findings’ report. This is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/989912/Condition_of_School_Buildings_Survey_CDC1_-_key_findings_report.pdf.
Individual CDC reports have been shared with every school and their responsible body to use alongside their existing condition surveys to plan maintenance schedules and investment plans. The Department plans to publish detailed school level CDC data. The data is being prepared and will be published as soon as possible.
Well maintained, safe school buildings are a priority for the Department. Our funding is directed both to maintaining the condition of the school estate and rebuilding schools. The Department has allocated over £13 billion for improving the condition of schools since 2015, including £1.8 billion committed this financial year.
The ten year School Rebuilding Programme (SRP) is condition led. 400 of the 500 available places on the programme have been provisionally allocated. A list of these schools and the methodology used to select them is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme-schools-in-the-programme.
The following table shows the constituencies specified that have schools or colleges selected for the SRP:
Parliamentary constituency | Schools selected for SRP |
Oxford East | Oxford Spires Academy, announced December 2022 |
Leeds North East | John Jamieson School, announced December 2022 |
Harrow East | The Sacred Heart Language College, announced December 2022 |
The 239 schools announced in December 2022 will enter delivery at a rate of approximately 50 per year, over a five year period from 2023. The Department is currently undertaking due diligence on these schools prior to scheduling them, with schools prioritised according to the condition of their buildings, readiness to proceed, and efficiency of delivery. The scope and funding for each project will be confirmed following detailed feasibility studies and condition surveys of buildings.
Where a school identifies significant safety issues with a building, that cannot be managed within local resources, the Department considers additional support on a case-by-case basis. This includes applications for Urgent Capital Support (UCS) from eligible institutions. Schools eligible for Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) can apply for UCS where there are urgent health and safety issues that threaten school closure and cannot wait until the next CIF bidding round.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has had discussions with the Minister for Women and Equalities on the adequacy of the provision of education on domestic abuse and controlling and coercive behaviour in post-16 education.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department does not provide a national curriculum for post-16 students beyond key stage 4. Post-16 providers have the flexibility to offer aspects of relationships, sex and health education, including content on domestic abuse and controlling and coercive behaviour, and should support students to access the information and support they need to have positive relationships.
The Ofsted further education and skills inspection handbook includes personal development as part of its judgements. This includes ‘developing an age-appropriate understanding of healthy relationships through appropriate relationship and sex education’.
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 he is taking to encourage school leavers to apply for podiatrist apprenticeship qualifications at University.
Answered by Andrea Jenkyns
Since its introduction in the 2019/20 academic year there has been an increase in starts on the level 7 podiatrist (integrated degree) apprenticeship standard, from 10 starts in the 2019/20 academic year to 40 in the 2021/22 academic year. Five universities offer this apprenticeship.
The department is delivering £8 million of Strategic Priorities Grant funding via the Office for Students to support providers to expand their existing degree apprenticeship offers or develop new ones. Where providers identify employer demand, including for the level 7 podiatry apprenticeship, they can use this funding to develop a new offer.
Our Apprenticeship Support & Knowledge (ASK) programme in schools works to ensure that students are aware of the benefits of apprenticeships at all levels. Between the 2016/17 and 2021/22 academic years the ASK programme has reached over 2.7 million students. To build on this we have developed an offer for young people in further education colleges to encourage progression onto apprenticeships and are working closely with UCAS to showcase apprenticeships along with other routes.
Alongside this, our Get the Jump campaign is targeting young people, aged 16-19, to ensure they are aware of all their options, including apprenticeships.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what is the average number of hours of literacy teaching received per pupil in each year of Key Stage One.
Answered by Will Quince
The department does not collect primary school curriculum data in the annual school workforce census and so there is no data available on the average number of hours of literacy teaching received per key stage 1 pupil. The school workforce census collects information on teaching in a sample of secondary schools and this information is published in our national statistics, the latest of which refers to the November 2021 census, and is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has made an assessment of the potential effect of the Government's arrangement with the Crown Commercial Service on levels of (a) fees transparency in teaching staff agencies and (b) agency-supplied staff fees.
Answered by Robin Walker
School leaders are best placed to determine the workforce required to meet the needs of their pupils. Headteachers have the freedom to contract supply staff to suit them, the school, and its pupils. Schools can contract supply staff in a variety of ways, including through supply agencies and the rate of pay depends on who employs a supply teacher. State maintained schools or local authorities who directly employ supply teachers must pay in accordance with the statutory arrangements for teachers laid down in the ‘School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions’ document. If a supply teacher is employed by a non-maintained school, a multi academy trust (MAT) or agency, the 'employer' can set the rates of pay and conditions of supply. Agency Worker Regulations provides that all workers on assignments that exceed 12 weeks are paid on equal terms as permanent staff after the 12th week.
Agency-provided staff are subject to the same legal requirements as permanent staff employed at the school. For teaching staff this includes having Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). In deploying staff, headteachers should be satisfied that the person has the appropriate skills, expertise, and experience to carry out the work. This includes ensuring that safe ratios are met, and specific training undertaken for any interventions or care for pupils with complex needs where specific training or specific ratios are required.
Supply agencies are private businesses and are not required to report data to the government.
Information on expenditure by schools on agency supply staff is published in the annual LA and school expenditure statistic which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/la-and-school-expenditure.
This includes data for local authority-maintained schools in the 2020/21 financial year. School level data is also published on the Schools Financial Benchmarking website which can be accessed here: https://schools-financial-benchmarking.service.gov.uk/. This includes data for local authority maintained schools in the 2020/21 financial year and academies in the 2019/20 financial year.
Ofsted’s role is to inspect and report on the quality of education pupils are receiving, and their safeguarding. Where a school is judged Inadequate by Ofsted, the department may intervene to ensure that the school can benefit from the support of a strong trust. As announced in the Schools White Paper, the department is currently consulting on plans to support schools with two consecutive Ofsted judgements below Good to join strong trusts.
In August 2018, in conjunction with the Crown Commercial Service, the department launched the agency supply deal, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/deal-for-schools-hiring-supply-teachers-and-agency-workers.
The deal supports schools to get value for money when hiring agency supply teachers and other temporary school staff. Supply agencies that sign up to the deal agree to certain standards, including the elimination of ‘temp-to-perm’ or ‘finders fees’, where a supply teachers has been in post for 12 weeks.
We are reviewing that framework, and have consulted interested parties, including schools, agencies, and trade unions.