Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce rates of secondary school absenteeism in Knowsley constituency.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government is determined to tackle the generational challenge of school absence, which is a fundamental barrier to learning and life chances. Missing school regularly is harmful to a child’s attainment, safety and physical and mental health, which limits their opportunity to succeed. There is evidence that more students are attending school this year compared to last, thanks to the sector’s efforts, although around 1.6 million children remain persistently absent and miss 10% or more of lessons. In Knowsley, 27% of all pupils were persistently absent in the 2022/2023 academic year. At primary level, the rate of persistent absence is 21.6%, which is an improvement from 21.8% last year. At secondary level the rate of persistent absence is 36.3%, which represents an improvement from 40.9% last year.
The department has set out clear expectations of local authorities and schools in the ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance, which was made statutory on 19 August 2024. This guidance can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66bf300da44f1c4c23e5bd1b/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance_-_August_2024.pdf.
The guidance promotes a 'support first' approach and sets out clear expectations on how schools, trusts, local authorities and wider services should work together and with families to address attendance barriers and provide the right support, including where a pupil is not attending due to special educational needs.
It is now mandatory for every state school in England to share their daily attendance data with the department. Schools, local authorities and trusts can access this data through a secure, interactive dashboard which is maintained by the department, providing a seamless flow of data and allowing schools to target attendance interventions more effectively. Over 99% of state schools in England are sharing their daily data with the department.
The department recognises the importance of creating opportunities within the sector to share existing best practice on how to improve attendance. This is why we set up a network of 31 attendance hubs, which are supporting 13 schools in Knowsley. These hubs have offered support to 2000 primary, secondary and alternative provision schools in total, and shared their strategies and resources for improving attendance.
In addition to this work, the department also aims to improve the existing evidence on which interventions work to improve attendance. Over £17 million is being invested across two mentoring projects that will support at least 12,000 pupils in 15 areas. Knowsley is one of the areas where mentors have been providing support. These programmes will be evaluated and the effective practice shared with schools and local authorities nationally.
We are also strengthening our tools for faster and more effective school improvement by launching the new Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence (RISE) teams. Supported by over £20 million, these teams will offer both mandatory targeted intervention for schools identified by Ofsted as needing to improve and a universal service, acting as a catalyst for a self-improving system for all schools. The RISE teams are now beginning work with the first group of schools eligible for the targeted, bespoke service, with additional schools to begin in April.
School attendance is also supported by broader investments, such as funded breakfast clubs across all primary schools, to ensure children start their day ready to learn. The department is working across government on plans to provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school, new Young Futures hubs, including access to mental health support workers, and an additional 8,500 new mental health staff to treat children and adults. The department is also committed to introducing new annual Ofsted reviews focusing on safeguarding, attendance and off-rolling.
Schools can also allocate pupil premium funding, which has now increased to over £2.9 billion for the 2024/25 financial year, to support pupils with identified needs to attend school regularly.
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the rate of absenteeism in primary schools in Knowsley constituency.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government is determined to tackle the generational challenge of school absence, which is a fundamental barrier to learning and life chances. Missing school regularly is harmful to a child’s attainment, safety and physical and mental health, which limits their opportunity to succeed. There is evidence that more students are attending school this year compared to last, thanks to the sector’s efforts, although around 1.6 million children remain persistently absent and miss 10% or more of lessons. In Knowsley, 27% of all pupils were persistently absent in the 2022/2023 academic year. At primary level, the rate of persistent absence is 21.6%, which is an improvement from 21.8% last year. At secondary level the rate of persistent absence is 36.3%, which represents an improvement from 40.9% last year.
The department has set out clear expectations of local authorities and schools in the ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance, which was made statutory on 19 August 2024. This guidance can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66bf300da44f1c4c23e5bd1b/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance_-_August_2024.pdf.
The guidance promotes a 'support first' approach and sets out clear expectations on how schools, trusts, local authorities and wider services should work together and with families to address attendance barriers and provide the right support, including where a pupil is not attending due to special educational needs.
It is now mandatory for every state school in England to share their daily attendance data with the department. Schools, local authorities and trusts can access this data through a secure, interactive dashboard which is maintained by the department, providing a seamless flow of data and allowing schools to target attendance interventions more effectively. Over 99% of state schools in England are sharing their daily data with the department.
The department recognises the importance of creating opportunities within the sector to share existing best practice on how to improve attendance. This is why we set up a network of 31 attendance hubs, which are supporting 13 schools in Knowsley. These hubs have offered support to 2000 primary, secondary and alternative provision schools in total, and shared their strategies and resources for improving attendance.
In addition to this work, the department also aims to improve the existing evidence on which interventions work to improve attendance. Over £17 million is being invested across two mentoring projects that will support at least 12,000 pupils in 15 areas. Knowsley is one of the areas where mentors have been providing support. These programmes will be evaluated and the effective practice shared with schools and local authorities nationally.
We are also strengthening our tools for faster and more effective school improvement by launching the new Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence (RISE) teams. Supported by over £20 million, these teams will offer both mandatory targeted intervention for schools identified by Ofsted as needing to improve and a universal service, acting as a catalyst for a self-improving system for all schools. The RISE teams are now beginning work with the first group of schools eligible for the targeted, bespoke service, with additional schools to begin in April.
School attendance is also supported by broader investments, such as funded breakfast clubs across all primary schools, to ensure children start their day ready to learn. The department is working across government on plans to provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school, new Young Futures hubs, including access to mental health support workers, and an additional 8,500 new mental health staff to treat children and adults. The department is also committed to introducing new annual Ofsted reviews focusing on safeguarding, attendance and off-rolling.
Schools can also allocate pupil premium funding, which has now increased to over £2.9 billion for the 2024/25 financial year, to support pupils with identified needs to attend school regularly.
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the proportion of pupils meeting the expected standard in the year one phonics screening check in Knowsley constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
High and rising school standards, with excellent foundations in reading, writing and mathematics, are at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. Through the Plan for Change, we will give children the best start in life, and that means providing them with an excellent foundation in the core subjects.
Since the right hon. Ruth Kelly, as a previous Secretary of State for Education and Skills, accepted the recommendations of the Rose Report in 2006, England has made significant progress in the teaching of early reading, especially phonics.
The department has introduced a range of measures to support early reading and help increase the proportion of pupils meeting the expected standard in the year 1 phonics screening check.
In July 2024, we announced that funded support for the 11,100 schools registered for the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) programme would continue for academic year 2024/25. NELI is an evidence-based programme targeting reception-aged children needing extra support with their speech and language development and is proven to help them make four months of additional progress, seven months for those eligible for free school meals.
Further, the English hubs school-to-school support programme is dedicated to improving the teaching of reading, with a focus on phonics, early language development and reading for pleasure. So far, the department has invested over £90 million in the programme, with funding continuing and £23 million committed for academic year 2024/25 to support this work. Knowsley’s nearest English Hub is St John Vianney English Hub.
The government’s reading framework also provides guidance on improving the teaching of reading from reception to key stage 3, including guidance on how to help pupils who need more support to learn to read proficiently.
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase access to educational opportunities in Knowsley constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
This government has a driving mission to break down the barriers to opportunity and end the link between background and success. Education is at the heart of this mission, ensuring all young people get the best start in life and are set-up to achieve and thrive.
This starts in the early years, ensuring that every child, including those in Knowsley, gets the best start in life and families are able to access the parenting support and high-quality early education and childcare they need to thrive. The government’s Plan for Change sets the ambition for a record number of children to start school ready to learn in 2028, and the department is taking steps through the expansion of government funded childcare, programmes to boost the quality of early education and care, and delivery of Family Hubs, including in Knowsley, to deliver on this ambition.
The department wants to drive high and rising standards for all children and young people, particularly the most disadvantaged, ensuring they have the knowledge, skills and support to thrive. The creation of Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence (RISE) teams is a central part of our strategy to deliver high and rising standards across all schools.
RISE teams will work to create a school improvement system where all schools can navigate a path to improvement through a mix of both universal and targeted interventions. There is a wealth of excellence that exists in all parts of our school system and the new RISE teams will facilitate networking and sharing best practice, bringing together oversight and coordination of improvement programmes to empower and challenge schools to better access this support and learn from one another.
Since 2022, Knowsley has been one of department’s 24 Priority Areas. Priority Areas are areas of low attainment and high rates of disadvantage. The place-based programme aims to increase outcomes at key stage 2 and key stage 4 and has provided funding of up to £1.8 million for Knowsley schools.
Participation in the programme has been strong with nine Knowsley schools (six mainstream secondary and three alternative provision schools) taking part in the key stage 4 strand, and 50 primary schools engaging in the early years activity to improve outcomes in key stage 2. Work is currently underway to capture learning from the programme to ensure the sustainability of the work in Knowsley schools.
The department also continues to deliver a three-year attendance mentoring programme in areas of high levels of pupil absence, which includes Knowsley. The programme provides intensive one-to-one support to persistently or severely absent pupils, which covers those who currently miss more than 10% or 50% of their education respectively. All Knowsley secondary schools have engaged with the programme.
The pilot programme has already successfully supported pupils with a wide range of challenges, including low level anxiety, special educational needs, poor attitude to learning and complex family circumstances. The pilot evaluation showed improvements in individual pupils’ attendance, wellbeing, home routines and engagement at school.
It is vital that all young people have access to a range of post-16 educational options, including A levels and technical qualifications. The department recognises the concern about the lack of A level provision in Knowsley, and the reintroduction of A level provision in the borough is being considered as part of regular discussions by departmental officials with local post-16 providers on the topic of the educational offer available.
The department remains committed to increasing access to educational opportunities for children and young people in Knowsley by ensuring that they can access an inclusive and extensive educational offer that adds value and helps them to achieve their long-term career aspirations.
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve GCE A-level provision in Knowsley constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
This government is determined to break down barriers to opportunity for all young people, essential to which is ensuring every young person has access to high-quality post-16 pathways.
It is vital that all young people have access to a range of post-16 educational options, including A levels and technical qualifications. The department recognises the concern about the lack of A level provision in Knowsley, and the reintroduction of A level provision in the borough is being considered as part of regular discussions by departmental officials with local post-16 providers on the topic of the educational offer available.
Students from Knowsley currently study A level provision in colleges in local surrounding boroughs. We understand that this necessity to travel can be a barrier to young people’s participation. Local authorities are responsible for putting in place transport arrangements to help young people aged 16 to 19 to access education or training, including those aged 19 to 24 with special educational needs.
The department remains committed to ensuring that young people have access to an inclusive and extensive educational offer that enables them to achieve and thrive. We will continue to keep this under review and make evidence-based decisions that ensure the best educational experience possible for Knowsley’s young people.
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many apprenticeships have started in Knowsley constituency in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Apprenticeship starts are published at parliamentary constituency level in the Apprenticeships official statistics, which is available here; https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/apprenticeships. Data for Knowsley for the academic years 2013/14 to 2022/23 can be found in the dataset called ‘Geography LA, PCON and Region - Starts since May 2010 and 2015’.
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of children have an education and health care plan in Knowsley constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department publishes annual statistics from school census data on children who have education, health and care (EHC) plans down to individual school level. The most recent figures for January 2024 can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england.
In January 2024, there were 1,103 (7.1%) children with an EHC plan in Knowsley constituency. This data was published before the changes to parliamentary boundaries and will be updated to the latest boundaries with the next publication of the series.
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of children in Knowsley constituency who have an education health care plan are attending the school named in that plan.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The information requested is not readily available and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Statistics on pupils with education, health and care (EHC) plans can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans. These statistics include information on the type of setting that pupils with EHC plans attend, but not whether pupils attend the school named in their plan.
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Sure Start centres in Knowsley constituency have closed since May 2010; and what the (a) name and (b) postcode was of each centre.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Data on children’s centres is supplied by local authorities via the department’s Get Information about Schools database portal at: https://www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/.
Based on information supplied by Knowsley local authority, one Sure Start children’s centre has closed in the Knowsley constituency since May 2010. The name of the centre was St Chad’s Children’s Centre, and the postcode was L32 1TZ. This is based on information supplied by Knowsley local authority as of 1 September 2024. These figures may be different to previous answers and could change again in the future, since local authorities may update the database at any time.
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people from Knowsley constituency have studied A levels in another local authority in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department does not in general hold the specific information on students who study qualifications outside of their home local authority in the format requested.
The below table provides data on the number of students entering A or AS level examinations for the last five academic years for students whose home postcode is in the Knowsley local authority. The data covers students who reached the end of 16 to 18 study in the academic year stated, having attended a state-funded school or college, which could either be in Knowsley local authority or in another local authority in England.
| 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 |
Students residing in Knowsley entering A/AS levels | 553 | 498 | 472 | 526 | 555 |
Separately, the ‘A level and other 16 to 18 results’ statistical release provides data on the number of students entering A/AS levels by the end of 16-18 study, by the local authority where the state-funded schools and colleges they attend is located. This data release is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/a-level-and-other-16-to-18-results. This is available for Knowsley local authority at the following link: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/4c733e68-1da4-40f4-cf42-08dcca5019b8.