Asked by: Ben Everitt (Conservative - Milton Keynes North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 12 February 2024 to Question 13186 on Carers, whether the training and information that will be accessible via the supplier Kinship’s website performs the function of a portal.
Answered by David Johnston
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Milton Keynes North, to the answer of 12 February 2024 to Question 13186.
Asked by: Ben Everitt (Conservative - Milton Keynes North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the policy paper entitled Championing kinship care: national kinship care strategy, published on 15 December 2023, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of creating a portal to (a) centralise guidance and (b) help support (i) kinship carers and (ii) schools.
Answered by David Johnston
The department’s national kinship strategy, Championing Kinship Care, which was published in December 2023, has allocated £20 million in the next financial year to prioritise kinship care.
One of the commitments in Championing Kinship Care is to deliver a package of training and support that all kinship carers across England can access from this spring.
All training and information will be accessible via the supplier Kinship’s website, and the department currently has no plans to assess the merits of a centralised portal.
Asked by: Ben Everitt (Conservative - Milton Keynes North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support Ukrainian child refugees' access education once in the UK.
Answered by Robin Walker
The government has set up two schemes to support those fleeing the war: the Ukraine Family Scheme and Homes for Ukraine. All children and young people arriving under the Ukraine Family Scheme and Homes for Ukraine have the right to access state education whilst in the UK. Attending school is vital in helping children integrate into the communities in which they are living.
Ukrainian parents will apply for a school place through the in-year admissions process. The department is working with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on developing a welcome pack for Ukrainian migrants. This will include details of the education offer and guidance on navigating the education system. General advice on school admissions can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/schools-admissions.
Local authorities will work with families to enable all children to attend school in the local area as soon as possible, even if these places are not in the immediate vicinity of their accommodation. The department understands the challenge of finding suitable school places for new arrivals and will work with local authorities where helpful to make this as smooth as possible.
To support schools’ efforts, Oak National Academy have rolled out an auto-translate function across all 10,000 of its online lessons. This means Ukrainian children can access education in their native language.
The department has ensured Ukrainians have access, if they need it, to the same childcare entitlements, as well as university and college courses as a UK citizen.
Schools are responsible for ensuring that all their pupils, including refugees and migrants who have a first language other than English, develop the English language skills they need to access the curriculum and achieve their potential.
Ukrainians aged 19+ and their family members settled under the Ukraine Family Scheme and the Homes for Ukraine in the UK, can access training to gain the skills they need to move on with their lives. This includes provision funded through the adult education budget, including English for speakers of other languages, and Level 3 free courses for job offer.
Asked by: Ben Everitt (Conservative - Milton Keynes North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of degree starts were degree apprenticeships in each of the last three years.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
The number of degree entrants in English higher education (HE) providers in the last 3 academic years are shown in the table below:
| 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 |
First year: first degree entrants | 458,545 | 463,975 | 475,915 |
First year: postgraduate-taught entrants | 259,440 | 267,305 | 278,310 |
Level 6 and 7 apprenticeships starts for England, along with figures for those where there is a mandatory degree component required, are shown in the following table:
| 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | |
Level 6 apprenticeship starts | 1,650 | 6,370 | 10,820 | |
Of which level 6 with a mandatory degree component | 1,610 | 5,780 | 9,660 | |
Level 7 apprenticeship starts | 50 | 4,500 | 11,660 | |
Of which level 7 with a mandatory degree component | 20 | 590 | 3,930 | |
The table below provides an 'indicative' percentage of level 6 apprenticeships with mandatory degrees as a ratio of all HE entrants for first degrees.
The indicative percentage is based on the data in the above tables that are drawn from 2 different sources having different coverage. The percentages are therefore indicative rather than precise and are comparing domiciled workers doing apprenticeships with a degree component versus all domiciled and non-domiciled HE entrants doing their first degree in England only.
| 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 |
Level 6 apprenticeship with mandatory | 0.4% | 1.2% | 2.0% |
degree as a ratio of first degree HE entrants |
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Notes:
1) The data sources are the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) for apprenticeship starts and Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) for degree entrants.
2) The HESA figures include all students entering English higher education institutions for academic year August to July each year.
3) Overall degree entrants exclude a minority of entrants who started degrees in further education and alternative providers.
4) Apprenticeship starts are counted for the full, final academic year August to July each year and include all funded and unfunded learners recorded on the ILR.
5) Apprenticeship volumes are rounded to the nearest ten starts.
6) Not all level 6 and level 7 apprenticeships have a mandatory degree element. Mandatory degrees can be included in apprenticeships at either level 6 or level 7.
7) Where a level 6 or 7 apprenticeship does not contain a mandatory degree element, an employer or training provider can choose to use a degree or other qualification voluntarily as part of an apprenticeship standard. This would not attract additional funding. These apprenticeships are therefore not recorded as an apprenticeship start that includes a degree component.
Asked by: Ben Everitt (Conservative - Milton Keynes North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many level 7 apprenticeship starts there were in England in the last 12 months; and what proportion of all apprenticeship starts were at level 7 over that period.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
Between January 2019 to December 2019, there have been 13,796 level 7 apprenticeship starts reported to date in England, which was 3.7% of all starts in this period.
The attached table shows the number of level 7 starts, the number of all apprenticeship starts, and the proportion of level 7 starts per month. This is the latest monthly data available.
The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) is responsible for working with employer trailblazer groups to design and approve apprenticeships standards. This includes deciding which qualifications may be included in apprenticeship standards and whether those qualifications should be funded by government as part of the apprenticeship.
To ensure that high-quality apprenticeships are available to learners, the IfATE reviews standards on an ongoing basis. It is currently reviewing the level 7 Senior Leader standard, which may include a MBA qualification, to ensure that it meets the current policy intent and provides value for money.