Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of the progress on improving educational outcomes in the 55 education investment areas.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The Education Investment Areas (EIA) programme is in its infancy, and it is too early to attribute any changes in educational outcomes in these areas to the initiatives made available to schools through the EIA programmes.
The department will, internally, monitor changes in key stage 2 and key stage 4 attainment in EIAs and consider any fluctuations. The department intends to review their impact following the publication of the 2023/24 academic year data.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that parents have access to the materials used to teach their children (a) relationships, sex and health education, (b) religious education and (c) other subjects in the curriculum.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
All schools have a duty to share information concerning their curriculum with parents, including Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) and Religious Education (RE). The department has been very clear that schools should respond positively where parents request to see specific materials.
The Secretary of State wrote to schools again on Tuesday 24 October to clarify schools’ legal position and to make it clear that they can and should share RSHE curriculum materials with parents. Copyright restrictions under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act do not prevent schools from doing this. Schools can lawfully share copies of resources with parents and any contract clauses that seek to prevent schools from doing this are void and unenforceable. This is because they contradict the public policy interest in ensuring parents know what their children are being taught. The department is aware that some parents have particular concerns regarding materials used to teach RSHE.
As part of the review of the RSHE statutory guidance, the department will strengthen the guidance, in line with the Secretary of State’s letters, to help schools to share materials with parents.
It will remain important that schools take full responsibility for ensuring lessons and materials are age appropriate, suitable, and politically impartial, particularly when using materials produced by external organisations.
Schools may choose to use curriculum materials developed by Oak, an Arm’s Length Body, working independently of government and collaboratively with the education sector. Oak works with teachers across the country, providing them and their pupils with free, optional, and adaptable high quality digital curriculum resources. Their current resources are available at: https://www.thenational.academy/#teachers. Oak is now developing new resources for eight more subject areas including for RSHE and RE.
Schedule 4 Paragraph 7(a) of the School Information Regulations (England) 2008/3093 requires all maintained schools to publish their school curriculum on their website. The guidance for this is outlined online at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/what-maintained-schools-must-publish-online. All academies must follow a similar process for their school curriculum. The guidance for this is outlined online at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/what-academies-free-schools-and-colleges-should-publish-online.
If a parent feels that a maintained school is failing to comply with its legal requirements relating to the provision of the curriculum, or that a school is acting unreasonably in the way it complies with them, they can make a formal complaint to the governing body by following the school’s statutory complaints procedures.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure parents have access to the materials used to teach their children in (a) relationships, sex and health education, (b) religious education and (c) other lessons.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It has not proved possible to respond to my hon. Friend in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to collaborate with special educational needs and disability organisations on improving the (a) employability and (b) earning potential of people with Autism.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The department regularly meets with a range of Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and autism organisations on a wide range of education policy issues that impact on autistic children and young people, including preparation for adulthood and employment.
Improving joined-up support is central to our proposed SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) reforms and the cross-government Autism strategy, which recognises the progress made as well as the challenges that remain for reducing inequalities for autistic people of all ages, including access to and experiences of employment.
More information on the SEND and AP reforms, and the cross-government Autism strategy, can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-and-alternative-provision-improvement-plan, and: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-strategy-for-autistic-children-young-people-and-adults-2021-to-2026/the-national-strategy-for-autistic-children-young-people-and-adults-2021-to-2026.
The department and the Department of Health and Social Care have established a national Executive Group to monitor the timely delivery of actions for the Autism strategy, which reports directly into myself and my hon. Friend, the Minister of State for Care, at a bi-annual accountability meeting. This group includes SEND and autism organisation representatives, who feedback their reflections and experiences to the Ministers. The group most recently met on 20 June 2023.
Additionally, in April 2023 the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) announced a review, led by Sir Robert Buckland MP and supported by the charity Autistica, that will explore how employers recruit, retain, and develop autistic people. The department is working closely with DWP on this, prioritising the engagement of schools, colleges and voluntary organisations.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of establishing a national Technical University in England to focus on the teaching of technical arts.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department is investing £300 million in capital funding to establish 21 Institutes of Technology across the country. Institutes of Technology are collaborations between employers, colleges and universities that provide access to industry standard facilities, focusing on meeting the needs of employers and learners in their specific local areas. That includes provision aimed at the creative industries across a diverse range of subjects including music production, animation & games design, 3D and graphic design, creative and media professions and Esports.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to encourage students in (a) schools and (b) universities to study subjects that could lead to careers in the commercial space sector.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) skills are in demand by employers across the country, and demand is growing. The department is investing in STEM education at all levels to ensure people have access to high-quality STEM teaching and can access STEM career opportunities within sectors such as the space sector.
The department is investing to recruit and retain high-quality teachers of STEM related subjects in schools and further education. Since autumn 2022, early career teachers of mathematics, physics, chemistry, or computing, who work in disadvantaged, state-funded secondary schools have been able to claim a Levelling Up Premium of up to £3,000 tax free per year, for up to three years. We also fund a suite of training and professional development offers to support high-quality STEM teaching.
The department is boosting the take-up of STEM subjects by delivering my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister’s ambition of ensuring all students in England study maths to 18. We are also funding tailored maths support for students and teachers through the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme, investing £84 million into the National Centre for Computing Education to drive increased participation in computer science, and funding research programmes on how to tackle gender balance in STEM subjects.
The government also supports programmes such as STEM Ambassadors, which inspires young people from under-served backgrounds to engage with STEM subjects.
The department is investing an additional £750 million over the three-year period from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to support high-quality teaching and facilities in higher education, including in science and engineering, subjects that support the NHS, and degree apprenticeships. Degree apprenticeships offer people of all backgrounds a unique opportunity to combine degree-level study with being in a job and earning from day one.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent progress her Department has made on ensuring that schools run by local authorities (a) become an academy and (b) join a multi-academy trust.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is focused on continuing to improve standards in schools, providing the best education for children, including for those from disadvantaged backgrounds and with special educational needs. The best way for this to happen is for all schools to be in strong families of schools, benefitting from the support of the best in the group, and the resilience that comes from being part of a larger group of schools. That is why, over time, the Department would like all schools to be in a strong multi-academy trust (MAT), due to the positive impact it can have on children’s lives. If we get this right then we will see the vast majority of schools in trusts before 2030. The Department is exploring how to further support the growth of strong multi-academy trusts through the Regulation and Commissioning Review.
The current national academisation rate is 47.4%, which includes 10,254 academies and free schools out of a total of 21,630 state funded schools. This has increased from 45.7% in March 2022 when the Schools White Paper was published. Of those, 9,173 are in a MAT.
There are 94 MATs that serve at least 7,500 pupils. These represent 6.9% of the total of 1,345 MATs, and are comprised of 2,341 Academies (22.8% of the total number) and just over 1.24 million pupils (26.2% of the total).
There are 266 MATs serving 10 or more schools, which is 19.7% of the total. These are comprised of 4,872 Academies (47.5%) and 1.94 million pupils (40.8%).
The Department does not issue guidance specifically on the size of MATs.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department issues guidance to multi-academy trusts recommending targets for the number of (a) pupils served and (b) schools run by such trusts.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is focused on continuing to improve standards in schools, providing the best education for children, including for those from disadvantaged backgrounds and with special educational needs. The best way for this to happen is for all schools to be in strong families of schools, benefitting from the support of the best in the group, and the resilience that comes from being part of a larger group of schools. That is why, over time, the Department would like all schools to be in a strong multi-academy trust (MAT), due to the positive impact it can have on children’s lives. If we get this right then we will see the vast majority of schools in trusts before 2030. The Department is exploring how to further support the growth of strong multi-academy trusts through the Regulation and Commissioning Review.
The current national academisation rate is 47.4%, which includes 10,254 academies and free schools out of a total of 21,630 state funded schools. This has increased from 45.7% in March 2022 when the Schools White Paper was published. Of those, 9,173 are in a MAT.
There are 94 MATs that serve at least 7,500 pupils. These represent 6.9% of the total of 1,345 MATs, and are comprised of 2,341 Academies (22.8% of the total number) and just over 1.24 million pupils (26.2% of the total).
There are 266 MATs serving 10 or more schools, which is 19.7% of the total. These are comprised of 4,872 Academies (47.5%) and 1.94 million pupils (40.8%).
The Department does not issue guidance specifically on the size of MATs.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of multi-academy trusts (a) serve a minimum of 7,500 pupils and (b) run at least 10 schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is focused on continuing to improve standards in schools, providing the best education for children, including for those from disadvantaged backgrounds and with special educational needs. The best way for this to happen is for all schools to be in strong families of schools, benefitting from the support of the best in the group, and the resilience that comes from being part of a larger group of schools. That is why, over time, the Department would like all schools to be in a strong multi-academy trust (MAT), due to the positive impact it can have on children’s lives. If we get this right then we will see the vast majority of schools in trusts before 2030. The Department is exploring how to further support the growth of strong multi-academy trusts through the Regulation and Commissioning Review.
The current national academisation rate is 47.4%, which includes 10,254 academies and free schools out of a total of 21,630 state funded schools. This has increased from 45.7% in March 2022 when the Schools White Paper was published. Of those, 9,173 are in a MAT.
There are 94 MATs that serve at least 7,500 pupils. These represent 6.9% of the total of 1,345 MATs, and are comprised of 2,341 Academies (22.8% of the total number) and just over 1.24 million pupils (26.2% of the total).
There are 266 MATs serving 10 or more schools, which is 19.7% of the total. These are comprised of 4,872 Academies (47.5%) and 1.94 million pupils (40.8%).
The Department does not issue guidance specifically on the size of MATs.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent progress her Department has made on ensuring that (a) schools rated as inadequate by Ofsted become an academy and (b) schools rated as requiring improvement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Regional Directors (RDs) take key operational decisions delegated to them by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education.
Maintained schools that have been judged inadequate by Ofsted are required to become sponsored academies in order to secure rapid and sustainable improvement. In these circumstances, the RD matches the school with a suitable sponsor, issues an Academy Order and agrees at which point the funding agreement can be signed.
The below table sets out how many sponsored academies have been opened as a result of an Academy Order being issued to a Local Authority maintained school having been judged inadequate.
Academic Year | Number of Sponsored Academies Opened |
2015/2016 | 2 |
2016/2017 | 98 |
2017/2018 | 139 |
2018/2019 | 151 |
2019/2020 | 90 |
2020/2021 | 96 |
2021/2022 | 41 |
2022/2023 (to date) | 39 |
On 1 September 2022, the Department introduced a new intervention measure for schools that are judged Requires Improvement by Ofsted, and were also judged below Good in their previous full inspection. The Department announced that they would write to all governing bodies and trusts where schools meet the legal scope for intervention, except those where general exemptions apply.
The Department confirmed that most of the initial activity will be prioritised within the 55 education investment areas. In all cases, the Department will be inviting representations from trusts or other appropriate bodies before making an assessment on whether the school has the necessary capacity to achieve rapid and sustained improvement and whether intervention is required. The Department has now begun to communicate decisions to schools, following consideration of the representations made.
In addition, in September 2022, the Department launched a new iteration of the Trust and School Improvement (TSI) offer, offering up to 10 days of improvement support and advice from a system leader to schools (including single academy trusts and multi-academy trusts with only one school) that receive an Ofsted Requires Improvement judgement during the 2022/23 academic year and to Trusts that contain at least two schools for three years and meet at least one of the below criteria: