Asked by: Ben Wallace (Conservative - Wyre and Preston North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of enabling the use of UCAS to (a) search and (b) apply for level (i) 6 and (ii) 7 apprenticeships on take-up of those courses; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Robert Halfon
UCAS have recently expanded their service so students can easily see the different options open to them, including apprenticeships. Having apprenticeships showcased in this way boosts the profile of apprenticeships to school leavers and is a huge step forward in putting apprenticeships on an equal footing with traditional university degrees. Over 200 degree-level apprenticeship vacancies are currently being advertised on the UCAS website for people to consider.
This month the Department, in partnership with UCAS, will launch a pilot that aims to test different ways to connect even more students to apprenticeship opportunities. The pilot will run in 3 regions throughout the 2023/24 academic year – Lancashire, the North East and Greater London – engaging employers and providing students with access to additional support designed specifically for those interested in exploring and applying for apprenticeships alongside their other options (including undergraduate courses). The pilot will be followed by an evaluation in October 2024, including an assessment of the impact of having apprenticeship vacancies listed on the UCAS student hub. In 2024, students will be able to apply for apprenticeships through UCAS alongside an undergraduate degree application. The assessment of the impact of this will then follow at a later date.
We have seen year-on-year growth of degree-level apprenticeships with over 195,550 starts since their introduction in the 2014/15 academic year. To ensure that the supply of degree apprenticeship opportunities available meets demand, we are allocating an additional £40 million over the next two years, supporting degree apprenticeship providers to expand, on top of the £8 million investment in 2022/23.
Asked by: Ben Wallace (Conservative - Wyre and Preston North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which free schools have been approved in each local education authority area excluding London since 2010; and which such schools are (a) non-denominational and (b) of each religious denomination.
Answered by Edward Timpson
There are 174 open free schools in England. Published location information for all these schools is available on the Department for Education's website:
37 of those schools have a faith designation, of which 20 are in areas other than London and can be found in the table below, along with their religious designation.
Name of school | Local Authority | Faith Designation |
Al-Madinah School | Derby | Muslim |
Atherton Community School | Wigan | Christian |
Barrow 1618 Church of England School | Shropshire | Christian |
Becket Keys Church of England School | Essex | Christian |
Grindon Hall Free School | Sunderland | Christian |
Khalsa Secondary Academy | Buckinghamshire | Sikh |
King's School Hove | Brighton and Hove | Christian |
Krishna-Avanti Primary School | Leicester | Hindu |
Leeds Jewish Free School | Leeds | Jewish |
Niskham Free School | Birmingham | Sikh |
Nishkam High School | Birmingham | Sikh |
St Michael's Catholic Secondary School | Cornwall | Christian |
St Anthony's School | Gloucestershire | Christian |
St Mary's Primary School, Dilwyn | Herefordshire | Christian |
Tauheedul Islam Boys' High School | Blackburn with Darwen | Muslim |
The Olive School, Blackburn | Blackburn with Darwen | Muslim |
The Olive Tree Primary School | Bolton | Muslim |
Trinity School | Kent | Christian |
Tyndale Community School | Oxfordshire | Christian |
University Cathedral Free School | Cheshire West and Chester | Christian |
26% of mainstream free schools have a faith designation, as opposed to 34% of all state-funded mainstream schools.
Asked by: Ben Wallace (Conservative - Wyre and Preston North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what economic assessment he has made on the effect on tourism jobs in seaside areas and seaside economies of deregulating school holidays.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The Government is giving more schools greater flexibility to adapt the shape of the school year in the interests of their pupils' education.
Whilst this will extend an existing flexibility to a greater number of schools, our advice will continue to include a clear expectation of schools working with each other and the local authority to coordinate dates to avoid unnecessary disruption to parents and their employers.
The Department has consulted with representatives of the tourist industry. Where schools choose to change their holiday dates, following discussion locally with parents and local businesses, there may well be a positive impact on seaside economies. In areas of high-seasonal employment, for example, small variations to term-dates agreed locally may help parents to holiday outside of peak periods.
Asked by: Ben Wallace (Conservative - Wyre and Preston North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assistance his Department makes available to schools to survey for and remove asbestos.
Answered by David Laws
The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 set out the standards and duties to manage asbestos in non-domestic premises including schools. This includes the need to assess and manage the risks through the formulation of a site-specific asbestos management plan.
On 24 January I announced the 2014-15 maintenance allocations, which are released as a non-ringfenced capital grant. The priorities for its use are decided locally and this can include supporting schools with asbestos issues.
Asked by: Ben Wallace (Conservative - Wyre and Preston North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what additional funding his Department makes available to schools to commission extra-curricular activities and projects.
Answered by David Laws
The two main grants to schools to fund their day-to-day activities are the Dedicated Schools Grant and the Education Services Grant. The Education Services Grant is given to local authorities to provide education services for pupils in maintained schools, and is given directly to academies. When a school receives either of these grants, the funding is not ring-fenced: the school can spend it as it chooses. Schools are therefore free to decide how much of this funding they want to spend on extra-curricular activities and projects.
The Department for Education also provides specific ring-fenced funding, through the primary PE and sport premium, for the improvement of PE and sport in primary schools. Headteachers are free to use this funding, an investment of over £150 million a year to 2015/16, to provide extra-curricular clubs for activity and sport, and for sport-related projects.
Asked by: Ben Wallace (Conservative - Wyre and Preston North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to review the list of facilitating subjects for Key Stage 5 performance tables.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The facilitating subjects are identified by the Russell Group of universities as A level subjects that are required more often than others by universities. The list includes English literature along with mathematics, further mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry, geography, history and languages (classical and modern).
The Russell Group is an independent organisation; it recently reviewed the list of facilitating subjects and confirmed no change was needed. The Department for Education publishes a measure in the key stage 5 performance tables of the percentage of students achieving AAB grades at A level, including in at least two facilitating subjects.
Asked by: Ben Wallace (Conservative - Wyre and Preston North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will add economics, English literature and computing to the list of facilitating subjects for Key Stage 5 performance tables.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The facilitating subjects are identified by the Russell Group of universities as A level subjects that are required more often than others by universities. The list includes English literature along with mathematics, further mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry, geography, history and languages (classical and modern).
The Russell Group is an independent organisation; it recently reviewed the list of facilitating subjects and confirmed no change was needed. The Department for Education publishes a measure in the key stage 5 performance tables of the percentage of students achieving AAB grades at A level, including in at least two facilitating subjects.