Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for each of the last five years for which figures are available, what was the total number of (a) applicants and (b) graduates for English degree courses at universities in England.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) does not publish data on the number of applicants to each course.
However, UCAS does publish data on applications to full-time undergraduate courses at UK higher education (HE) providers in their End of Cycle Data Resources pages. Each applicant can make up to 5 applications.
The table below shows the numbers of main scheme applications to undergraduate English studies courses at English HE providers for application cycles 2016 to 2020.
Applications1 to undergraduate English studies courses at English HE providers - application cycles 2016 to 2020
Cycle year2 | Number of applications to English studies course (JACS)3 |
2016 | 41,805 |
2017 | 39,930 |
2018 | 36,245 |
2019 | 33,440 |
2020 | 29,830 |
Source: UCAS End of Cycle data resources https://www.ucas.com/data-and-analysis/undergraduate-statistics-and-reports/ucas-undergraduate-sector-level-end-cycle-data-resources-2020.
[1] Does not refer to individual applicants. Each unique applicant can make up to 5 main scheme applications. This does not cover applicants who applied Direct to Clearing or applicants who applied directly to the provider. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 5.
[2] Refers to application cycle year. The 2020 cycle covers applicants typically entering higher education in the 2020/2021 academic year.
[3] English studies defined as principal category Q3 of the Joint Academic Coding System (JACS). This code excludes those studying Imaginative Writing (I8). More information on JACS codes can be found here: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/documentation/jacs.
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes statistics on qualifications obtained at UK HE providers. The latest data refers to academic year 2019/20.
The table below shows the numbers of first-degree qualifiers in English studies at English HE providers between academic years 2015/16 and 2019/20.
Information for the academic year 2019/20 is provided in a separate column due to the introduction of a new subject classification system, the Common Aggregation Hierarchy (CAH).
Figures for the academic year 2019/20 are not directly comparable with previous years, because “Studies of specific authors” and “Creative writing” are now included in the ‘English Studies’ category. Excluding those categories gives a count of 8,110 qualifiers in the academic year 2019/20, although this is still not directly comparable with earlier years due to the new coding methodology.
First-degree qualifiers4 in English studies courses at English HE providers5 - academic years 2015/16 to 2019/20
Academic year | Number of qualifiers in English studies courses (JACS)6 | Number of qualifiers in English studies courses (CAH)7 |
2015/16 | 10,475 | - |
2016/17 | 10,355 | - |
2017/18 | 9,665 | - |
2018/19 | 9,165 | - |
2019/20 | - | 9,405 |
Source: HESA Student open data pages, https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-19 and https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-51.
[4] Counts are based on full-person-equivalents. Where a student is studying more than one subject, they are apportioned between the subjects that make up their course. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 5, in line with HESA rounding conventions: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/definitions/students#rounding-and-suppression-strategy.
[5] Data between the academic years 2015/16 and 2018/19 excludes a small minority of qualifiers from alternative providers.
[6] English studies is defined as principal category Q3 of the Joint Academic Coding System (JACS). More information on JACS codes can be found here: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/documentation/jacs.
[7] English studies is defined as Common Aggregate Hierarchy level 2 (CAH2), which is the sum of codes “19-01-01 English studies (non-specific)”, “19-01-02 English language”, ”19-01-03 Literature in English”, “19-01-04 Studies of specific authors”, “19-01-05 Creative writing” and “19-01-06 Others in English studies”. More information on CAH codes can be found here: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/documentation/hecos/cah-about.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to publish the criteria for applications for the next round of secondary schools buildings funding programme.
Answered by Nick Gibb
We are delivering on my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister’s commitment to a 10-year school rebuilding programme, which will give long-term stability and certainty both to schools and the construction sector and support more efficient delivery.
The programme is launching with a commitment to 50 new school rebuilding projects a year, replacing many poor condition and ageing school buildings with modern, energy efficient designs, transforming education for thousands of pupils. Investment will continue to be targeted at school buildings in the worst condition across England – including substantial investment in the Midlands and the North. We will set out further details of the programme shortly.
Since 2015, we have allocated £9.5 billion to maintain and improve the condition of the school estate, including an additional £560 million in financial year 2020-21 for essential maintenance. A further £1.8 billion has been committed for 2021-22. On top of that the existing Priority School Building Programme is rebuilding or refurbishing buildings in the worst condition at over 500 schools across England.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the data breach of the Learning Records Service database by the GB Group, what steps he is taking to review the criteria used by his Department to allow external organisations access to sensitive data.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The registration process for access to the Learning Records Service (LRS) has been tightened up significantly:
Extra checks have been put in place by the UK register of Learning Providers (UKRLP) before an organisation can apply to become a registered training provider (a pre-requisite to registering to use the LRS). They must:
The LRS registration form has been updated to include all of the above information, and any organisations who have had their access revoked as part of the recent incident will need to resign the updated agreement/registration form. The registration form also includes a section cleared by commercial lawyers that:
Any organisation that requests a change of details (for example when a school becomes an Academy, or when an ITP changes its registered name), must meet the same criteria as the initial registration process.
The housekeeping tasks to de-register organisations from LRS are being automated.
Nightly checks are being run routinely now to identify any cases of excessive usage of the LRS, with automatic suspension for those identified. The housekeeping tasks to de-register organisations from LRS will be enhanced going forwards using a weekly data feed from UKRLP.
We have put in place the following additional checks when new entrants to the market apply to join the UK Register of Learning Providers (UKRLP):
IDP-Connect will continuously review the current acceptance / rejection process and monitor frequent requests. Those currently registered with the UKRLP will be reviewed against these new criteria.
IDP-Connect and ESFA are now meeting every 2 weeks to review the changes proposed to the UKRLP process and to evaluate progress with respect to the agreed changes.
All bulk shares of personal data from the department must be independently assessed and reviewed by the department’s Data Sharing Approvals Panel (DSAP). Most requests for data that are granted will be through the Office of National Statistics (ONS) Secure Research Service and will use National Pupil Database (NPD) de-identified individual level ‘standard extracts’ for each academic year.The ONS Secure Research Service (SRS) allows researchers they have accredited under the Digital Economy Act or approved through the ONS Approved Researcher scheme to access secure de-identified data in line with the industry standard “5 Safes. The Five Safes are Safe People, Safe Projects, Safe Settings, Safe Outputs and Safe Data.
Access to the service is through 1 of the 5 research labs run by the ONS or if the researcher’s location meets ONS security standards and have access to the ONS they may access the data remotely through their own machines.
DSAP review each request and only approve the request is within the department’s risk appetite and supports the aims of the department.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Spring Statement 2019, what the timeframe is for the roll-out of free sanitary products in (a) primary schools, (b) secondary schools and (c) further education colleges.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Evidence suggests that some learners in England may be missing education due to difficulties in managing their periods. Periods should not be a barrier to education for any learner, and the department is introducing this scheme to help state-funded primary and secondary schools and 16-19 institutions respond to the needs of learners in the way that is most appropriate to their circumstances.
Nationwide rollout of this scheme to all state-funded primary and secondary schools and 16-19 institutions will take place in early 2020. To help state-funded primary and secondary schools and 16-19 institutions implement the scheme, the department will publish guidance later this year.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which contracts awarded by his Department are operated by Capita.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department’s records confirm Capita currently has seven contracts as listed in Annex A attached.
Since January 2011, details of central Government contracts above the value of £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder. Contracts published prior to 26 February 2015 can be viewed at:
https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive.
Those published after 26 February 2015 can be viewed at:
https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for Education:
What discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the effect of the public sector pay cap on the level of recruitment and retention of staff in schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The government’s position is clear; the public sector pay cap is no longer in place and we have adopted a more flexible approach to public sector pay. We have asked the School Teachers’ Review Body to use this flexibility to target the next pay award to promote recruitment and retention.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what arrangements she has put in place to ensure local democratic accountability of multi-academy trusts.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Academy trusts are accountable to my Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State through her network of Regional Schools Commissioners (RSCs). RSCs work closely with local councils in driving forward school improvement in their areas
In addition, all academy trusts are required to include two parent governors on their trust board or on each of the local governing bodies in their trusts.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) local authorities and (b) multi-academy trusts are responsible for the provision of primary and secondary education in England.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
As at 1 November 2017, there are 1,240 Multi-academy Trusts (MATs) and 152 Local Authorities (LAs) responsible for the provision of primary and/or secondary education in England. The breakdown of these is as follows:
In addition, there are 626 Single Academy Trusts (SATs) which contain a primary school and 874 SATs which contain a secondary school.
This information was sourced from the “Get Information About Schools” website on 1 November 2017. Further information can be found here: https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/.%20.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of the total number of awards made to state schools in the New Year Honours List 2017 were to governors or employees of (a) local authority, (b) church and (c) academy and free schools.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
41 governors and employees of state schools were recognised in the New Year Honours List 2017: 17 were employees or governors of local authority maintained schools, 6 were employees or governors of church schools and 18 were employees or governors of academies and free schools.
Asked by: Christian Matheson (Independent - City of Chester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of schools were (a) local authority, (b) church and (c) academy and free schools on 31 December 2016.
Answered by Nick Gibb
On 31 December 2016 there were 21,925 state funded schools. 71.1 per cent (15,588) were local authority maintained and 28.9 per cent (6,337) were academies and free schools. In addition, 31.2 per cent (6,839) of state funded schools had either a designated religious character or religious ethos.