Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of childcare provision for PhD researchers.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
30 hours free childcare is an entitlement for working parents of 3 and 4 year olds. The entitlement aims to help with the costs of childcare so that parents can take up paid work if they want to or work additional hours.
The ‘Childcare Bill policy statement’, published in December 2015, is clear that students are not eligible for 30 hours free childcare. The department recognises the value of parents continuing in education, however, and provide a range of support other than 30 hours for those in further or higher education.
Students are eligible for the universal 15 hours of free early education which is available to all 3 and 4 year olds regardless of family circumstances.
Students who work in addition to studying are eligible for 30 hours free childcare if they meet the income requirements.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help increase transport choices to further and higher education for young people aged between 16 and 24 in Newcastle.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Students will benefit from the near £600 million invested into the £2 Bus Fare Cap scheme introduced by the Department for Transport, and now extended until 31 December 2024. This provides affordable transport links across England, including the North East.
The government recognises the wider cost of living pressures that have impacted students. The department has made available £276 million of Student Premium and Mental Health funding for the 2023/24 academic year, to support students who need additional help, including disadvantaged students. This funding will complement the help universities are providing through their own bursary, scholarship and hardship support schemes.
In the 2023/24 academic year, the department has also allocated £160 million to further education institutions for discretionary bursaries to help disadvantaged students with costs such as travel.
The government has continued to increase living costs support each year with a 2.8% increase for the 2023/24 academic year. The department is considering options for loans and grants for living and other costs for the 2024/25 academic year and will be making an announcement in due course.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Third Special Report of Session 2022/23 of the Sconce, Innovation and Technology Committee Diversity and inclusion in STEM: Government Response to the Committee’s Fifth Report, HC 1427, published on 16 June 2023, what progress her Department has made on a cross-Government action plan to ensure a diverse range of people enter the science and technology workforce by 2030.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Demand for skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is growing across the country. We must ensure that everyone, regardless of where they live or come from, has the opportunity to receive outstanding STEM education and pursue STEM-related careers in critical technology sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI), quantum, engineering biology, future telecoms, and semiconductors.
Participation in STEM skills programmes is also increasing. Since 2010, there has been a 35% increase in the number of STEM A level entries from girls in England: girls made up 44% of all STEM entries at A level in 2022 and 51% of all science entries at A level in 2022. Since 2018, there has been a 30% increase in the number of STEM A level entries from black, Asian and minority ethnic pupils in England: this compares to a 7% increase in overall entries over the same period. The department has also seen the number of STEM apprenticeship starts by women increase year-on-year, with 14,110 starts in the 2021/22 academic year, an increase of 56% compared to 9,020 starts in the 2017/18 academic year.
The department must build on this progress by continuing to expand opportunities for participation in STEM. That is why we are working with departments across government on the Talent and Skills strand of the UK Science & Technology Framework to ensure a diverse range of people enter the science and technology workforce by 2030. Actions contributing to this ambition include:
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of recent trends in the numbers of newly qualified teachers for STEM subjects.
Answered by Robert Halfon
There are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state-funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes it the highest FTE of teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.
The department has put in place a range of measures, including bursaries worth £28,000 tax free and scholarships worth £30,000 tax free, to encourage talented STEM trainees to key subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing.
From the 2023/24 academic year, physics trainees from non-UK countries are also eligible for these bursaries and scholarships, and for a one off payment of £10,000 as part of the international relocation payment pilot.
To encourage engineering graduates and career changers with an engineering background, to consider a career as a physics teacher, the department has launched a pilot Initial Teacher Training course in spring 2022 called ‘Engineers teach physics. Following that pilot, the department has rolled the course out to all providers nationally in academic year 2022/23.
To help retention of STEM teachers, the department is funding a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 after tax annually for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools, including in Education Investment Areas. For the 2024/25 and 2025/26 academic years, the department will provide around £100 million each year to double the rates of the Levelling Up Premium to up to £6,000 after tax. The premium will expand to cover eligible STEM and technical subjects in colleges, including electronics, engineering and digital, alongside the teachers in schools teaching mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing.
These payments will incentivise the recruitment and retention of STEM and technical graduates within the schools and further education colleges where they are needed most.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve the retention rate of STEM teachers working in state schools.
Answered by Robert Halfon
There are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state-funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes it the highest FTE of teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.
The department has put in place a range of measures, including bursaries worth £28,000 tax free and scholarships worth £30,000 tax free, to encourage talented STEM trainees to key subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing.
From the 2023/24 academic year, physics trainees from non-UK countries are also eligible for these bursaries and scholarships, and for a one off payment of £10,000 as part of the international relocation payment pilot.
To encourage engineering graduates and career changers with an engineering background, to consider a career as a physics teacher, the department has launched a pilot Initial Teacher Training course in spring 2022 called ‘Engineers teach physics. Following that pilot, the department has rolled the course out to all providers nationally in academic year 2022/23.
To help retention of STEM teachers, the department is funding a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 after tax annually for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools, including in Education Investment Areas. For the 2024/25 and 2025/26 academic years, the department will provide around £100 million each year to double the rates of the Levelling Up Premium to up to £6,000 after tax. The premium will expand to cover eligible STEM and technical subjects in colleges, including electronics, engineering and digital, alongside the teachers in schools teaching mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing.
These payments will incentivise the recruitment and retention of STEM and technical graduates within the schools and further education colleges where they are needed most.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department made of the adequacy of (a) laboratory facilities, (b) equipment and (c) classrooms used for STEM subjects in secondary schools.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The Department does not organise or hold assessments of facilities for the provision of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects. It is the responsibility of individual schools to assess the laboratory facilities, equipment and classrooms that they need for teaching STEM subjects, and to decide how to use their budgets accordingly.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to take steps to adjust maintenance fees for students in line with inflation.
Answered by Robert Halfon
We have frozen maximum tuition fees for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years to deliver better value for students and to keep the cost of higher education (HE) under control. By 2024/25, maximum fees will have been frozen for seven years.
The government is considering options for maximum loans and grants for living and other costs for the 2024/25 academic year and will be making an announcement in due course.
Decisions on student finance have been taken alongside other spending priorities to ensure the system remains financially sustainable and the costs of HE is shared fairly between students and taxpayers, not all of whom have benefited from going to university.
The government recognises the additional cost of living pressures that have arisen this year and that are impacting students. For the 2023/24 academic year we have made £276 million of student premium and mental health funding available to support successful outcomes for students including disadvantaged students. This funding will complement the help universities are providing through their own bursary, scholarship and hardship support schemes.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on developing a science and technology skills dashboard.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The Department’s Unit for Future Skills (UFS) is working to improve the quality of jobs and skills data, which will support a better understanding of current skill mismatches and future demand across key sectors, including those related to science and technology. More information on the UFS is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/unit-for-future-skills.
As part of cross-government work to cement the UK’s status as a science and technology superpower by 2030, the UFS is developing a Department for Education Skills Dashboard to understand the supply and demand of science and technology skills. More information on cross-government work is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-science-and-technology-framework/the-uk-science-and-technology-framework.
This dashboard will be publicly available by the end of 2023.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will take steps to produce a strategy on increasing entrepreneurship among STEM higher education students.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The Government has established a supportive framework to empower universities in equipping students with the essential skills required for success.
The department is investing in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education at all levels to ensure students have access to high-quality STEM teaching and STEM career opportunities. The department is investing approximately £750 million of additional funding over the three-year period from 2022/23 to 2024/25 in high-quality teaching and facilities. This includes additional funding in science and engineering, in subjects that support the NHS, and in degree apprenticeships. This includes the largest increase in government funding for the higher education (HE) sector in over a decade to support students and improve teaching.
The Higher Education Business and Community Interaction (HE-BCI) survey showed that the number of graduate start-ups increased by 5% (from 4,528 in 2020/21 to 4,735 in 2021/22), which is the highest annual figure in the survey's history.
The National Careers Service also provides free, up to date, impartial information, advice, and guidance on careers, skills, and the Labour Market in England. The service provides support to individuals studying STEM subjects in HE, and helps industry sectors to disseminate key information and updates.
Students and taxpayers invest tens of thousands of pounds in HE. This must lead to good quality qualifications, which equip students with the skills they need to achieve their potential.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much the Government spent on encouraging (a) girls and (b) people from BAME backgrounds to pursue STEM careers in (i) 2021-22 and (ii) 2022-23.
Answered by Robert Halfon
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.