Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2024 to Question 16156 on Turing Scheme: Free School Meals, how many and what proportion of students with Turing grants are from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Through the Turing Scheme, in the 2024/25 academic year, education providers and other eligible organisations from across the UK and British Overseas Territories have been allocated over £105 million to send their students on more than 43,000 study and work placements across the globe. Around 23,000 (53%) of these opportunities will be for participants from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Information on the number and proportion of disadvantaged students in previous years of the Turing Scheme is available at the following links:
For the 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years, the figures are subject to change following quality assurance of providers’ final reports of the placements that took place. This data will be published in due course.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of students with Turing grants who are eligible for free school meals attend an independent school.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Turing Scheme is the UK Government’s global programme for students to study and work abroad. The Turing Scheme provides additional funding to students from disadvantaged backgrounds to help them to participate in international placements. All students from disadvantaged backgrounds can get funding for travel-related costs. This includes visa application fees, vaccines, medical certificates, passports, and related travel insurance. Students with special educational needs and disabilities can also get funding for their support needs.
Schools identify students from a disadvantaged background using the following criteria:
Receiving FSM in reception, year 1 and year 2 in England or primary 1 to 5 in Scotland does not automatically meet the criteria for funding for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
This list is not exhaustive. If a school identifies pupils who do not precisely meet these criteria but share similar characteristics which justify extra support, they may include them in their application.
As the department does not gather data on which criteria students meet to be considered as being from a disadvantaged background, the department is not able to provide a breakdown of the number of participants in the Turing Scheme who are in receipt of FSM.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of (a) schools and (b) students with Turing grants receive free school meals.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Turing Scheme is the UK Government’s global programme for students to study and work abroad. The Turing Scheme provides additional funding to students from disadvantaged backgrounds to help them to participate in international placements. All students from disadvantaged backgrounds can get funding for travel-related costs. This includes visa application fees, vaccines, medical certificates, passports, and related travel insurance. Students with special educational needs and disabilities can also get funding for their support needs.
Schools identify students from a disadvantaged background using the following criteria:
Receiving FSM in reception, year 1 and year 2 in England or primary 1 to 5 in Scotland does not automatically meet the criteria for funding for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
This list is not exhaustive. If a school identifies pupils who do not precisely meet these criteria but share similar characteristics which justify extra support, they may include them in their application.
As the department does not gather data on which criteria students meet to be considered as being from a disadvantaged background, the department is not able to provide a breakdown of the number of participants in the Turing Scheme who are in receipt of FSM.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of (a) schools that have students with Turing grants are independent schools and (b) students that receive Turing grants attend independent schools.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
For the 2024/25 academic year, over £10 million in funding was awarded to 298 successful schools projects from across the UK. This will provide funding for over 7,000 pupils to participate in placements overseas. Of these, 56% will be for participants from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Of these 298 successful school applications, 6 were from private schools (2%), providing funding for just over 100 pupils to take part in international placements (1.6%), however this is subject to change as these projects are delivered through the year.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Autumn Budget 2024 on higher education institutions.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Although my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, did not announce new funding for the higher education (HE) sector, we have since announced measures across fees, maintenance and wider HE reform to address financial pressures faced by the sector, increase support for students, strengthen efforts to improve access and outcomes for disadvantaged students and enable flexibility to be at the core of our HE system.
The department is aware that HE providers will have to pay increased national insurance contributions. As my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer set out in the Budget, raising the revenue required to fund public services and restore economic stability requires difficult decisions which is why the government has asked employers to contribute more.
The tuition fee limit increase represents an increased investment from students for the sector and will support HE providers in managing the financial challenges they are facing.
The department will explore how best it can continue to improve access to HE, thus widening opportunity for our students and learners, while driving the HE system to play a bigger role in our ambitions for national growth.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of funding for schools in (a) Newcastle upon Tyne Central constituency, (b) Newcastle upon Tyne and (c) the North East since 2010.
Answered by Damian Hinds
This government is committed to providing a world class education system for all children and has invested significantly in education to achieve that.
Including the additional funding for teachers’ pay and pensions, funding for both mainstream schools and high needs nationally is £2.9 billion higher in 2024/25, compared to 2023/24. The overall core school budget will total £60.7 billion in 2024/25, the highest ever level in real terms per pupil. This means school funding is set to have risen by £11 billion by 2024/25, compared to 2021/22.
The department cannot provide funding comparisons for the Newcastle upon Tyne Central constituency, Newcastle upon Tyne, or the North East back to 2010, as comparable data is not available. However, at national level, school funding will be 5.5% higher in real terms per pupil in 2024/25 compared to 2010/11 when using the GDP deflator measure of inflation which is based on independent Office for National Statistics and Office for Budget Responsibility data, the routine measure of public spending. The additional 2024/25 pensions funding is provided on top of that.
Mainstream schools in Newcastle upon Tyne Central Constituency are attracting an extra £3.8 million in 2024/25 compared to 2023/24 through the schools national funding formula (NFF), an increase of 2.2% per pupil in their pupil-led funding. As a result, schools in the Newcastle upon Tyne Central Constituency will attract over £89.9 million, based on the schools NFF. Constituency figures are based on an aggregation of school-level allocations through the NFF.
Through the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG), Newcastle upon Tyne local authority is receiving an extra £7.1 million for mainstream schools in 2024/25 compared to 2023/24, taking total school funding to over £228.7 million. This represents an increase of 2.1% per pupil compared to 2023/24 and an increase of 15.1% per pupil compared to 2021/22 (excluding growth funding).
Through the DSG, the North East is receiving an extra £45.7 million for mainstream schools in 2024/25 compared to 2023/24, taking total school funding to over £2.0 billion. This represents an increase of 2.1% per pupil compared to 2023/24 and an increase of 14.8% per pupil compared to 2021/22 (excluding growth funding).
All schools will receive additional funding through the Teachers’ Pay Additional Grant and Teachers' Pension Employer Contribution Grant 2024 in the 2024/25 financial year.
The precise funding that individual schools in Newcastle upon Tyne Central constituency, Newcastle upon Tyne and the North East will receive year-on-year will depend on each school’s unique circumstances, and the decisions that local authorities have made about how to deploy funding. The national funding formula is designed to fund each school according to its relative needs and is updated annually to reflect how those needs change over time.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many full-time equivalent staff in her Department are working on the science and technology skills dashboard.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The science and technology jobs and skills dashboard has been developed by the department’s Unit for Future Skills alongside science and technology policy experts in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. It is expected to be published in due course. Once the dashboard is published, the expectation is for it to take less than one full time-equivalent staff member to maintain and develop further.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
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
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 and West)
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 and West)
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: