Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has a policy to help tackle stress experienced by teachers.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government is clear that there are no great schools without great teachers.
In January 2019, the Department launched the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy. This includes commitments to radically simplify the accountability system, limit the amount of change that schools have to deliver, and provide extra support to tackle challenging pupil behaviour. The Department is also introducing an Early Career Framework for teachers, which includes mentor support so that newly qualified teachers receive the support they need. The strategy can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-recruitment-and-retention-strategy.
The strategy sets out the areas where Government can make the most difference as quickly as possible. It also marks the beginning of a conversation with headteachers about how the Department can support them to set a culture in their school that reduces unnecessary planning, marking and data requirements; supports teachers to deal with disruptive behaviour; and establishes a culture that values continued professional development and flexible working at all career stages.
The Department continues to work with unions, teachers and Ofsted to challenge and remove unnecessary workload and a joint letter from my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, and other key national organisations was sent to school leaders in January confirming their support to help reduce workload in schools.
The Department has accepted all the recommendations of the ‘Making Data Work’ report and published a workload reduction toolkit as part of an ongoing programme to tackle excessive workload in schools. The report and Government response can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-workload-advisory-group-report-and-government-response.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of universities on the proposed introduction of two year degree courses.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State meets with representatives of universities regularly to discuss the Department for Education agenda. I have discussed 2 year degree courses, in the context of discussions about accelerated degree courses, with representatives of several universities -including most recently Middlesex University and St Mary’s University Twickenham, both of whom are publicly funded providers of accelerated degrees.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to help university graduates secure graduate job roles.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
Employment outcomes for graduates are strong and, due to demand from employers, healthy increases have been seen in recent years. In 2016/17, over 90% of UK and other EU domiciled leavers were in work or further study 6 months after graduating and, of those employed, 79% were employed in highly-skilled and professional occupations. This compares to 89% and 73%, respectively in 2012/13.
The government’s Industrial Strategy sets out a long-term plan to boost productivity by backing businesses to create good jobs and increase the earning power of people throughout the UK with investment in skills, industries and infrastructure. £120 million was provided to fund collaboration between businesses and universities to stimulate local innovation through the Strength in Places Fund.
The Graduate Talent Pool is a government initiative which is designed to help new and recent graduates gain real work experience. This allows employers to advertise paid internships to new and recent graduates, free of charge.
The higher education regulator, the Office for Students’ (OfS), primary aim is to ensure that higher education delivers positive outcomes for students and it has a regulatory focus to ensure that students are able to progress into employment or further study. The OfS supports graduate employment outcomes in a number of ways, including a Challenge Competition to boost local employment outcomes and the Institute of Coding which aims to boost UK digital skills and graduate outcomes.
The government has been improving the information available to students to help them make informed choices when making decisions on higher education providers and subject choice. For example, Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Frameworks, Longitudinal Education Outcomes data and the Higher Education Open Data Competition we are running, which all provide information to prospective students.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has had with representatives from the higher education sector on reducing tuition fees.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The Review of Post-18 Education and Funding is considering how we ensure funding arrangements across post-18 education and training are transparent and do not act as barriers to choice or provision, and how best to promote value for money for students and taxpayers.
As part of the review, an independent panel, chaired by Philip Augar, has undertaken an extensive programme of engagement with stakeholders and experts, including the higher education sector, students and recent graduates.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support children who are learning English as a second language.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Every child, regardless of their background or family circumstances, deserves the opportunity to progress and succeed in school and beyond. Schools are responsible for ensuring that each of their pupils is engaged, challenged and has opportunity to achieve their full academic potential. The government’s ongoing education reforms have given headteachers considerable flexibility over their use of the funding allocated to their schools, as they are best placed to support and address the specific needs of their pupils – including those who are classed as having English as an additional language (EAL).
We recognise that having a large intake of EAL pupils can present challenges for a school. Through the national funding formula (NFF) for schools, introduced in April 2018, state-funded schools attract funding for pupils with EAL who have been in the school system in England for up to 3 years. This funding equates to an additional £515 per primary school pupil and an additional £1,385 per secondary school pupil by the time the formula is fully implemented. Schools in which more than 10% of pupils joined mid-way through the school year also attract funding through the mobility factor in the NFF if their local authority uses this factor in their local formula. Furthermore, schools are also able to use their pupil premium funding to support pupils with EAL who are classed as disadvantaged, through having been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last 6 years, or through being looked after or previously in local authority care.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children were taken into care due to parental drug and alcohol related issues in 2017.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The department does not collect this level of detail on the reason why a child becomes looked-after.
The available information on the primary need of children starting to be looked-after is published annually in table C1 of the statistical release ‘Children looked-after in England including adoption: 2017 to 2018’ at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2017-to-2018. The category ‘Parental disability or illness’ includes children whose main category of need was due to the capacity of their parents to care for them being impaired by the parents’ disability, physical or mental illness or addictions.
We know that parental drug and alcohol related issues can be a common factor in families with children in need of help and protection. We are working to ensure that families receive the right help at the right time to promote the welfare and outcomes of children and enable them to stay together where it is safe to do so.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to help provide classes for students with special needs in the schools of their choice.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
In England, the Children and Families Act 2014, the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Regulations 2014 and SEND Code of Practice make clear that all schools should use their best endeavours to meet the needs of all children with a special educational need.
The Children and Families Act requires local authorities to keep the provision for children with SEND under review, including its sufficiency, and to publish a local offer, outlining the services available in their local area for children and young people with SEND.
We have announced that local authorities will receive an additional £250 million over the next two years on top of the £6 billion already provided for the high needs budget this year, to provide much needed support for children and young people with complex SEND. Families will also benefit from more choice for their child’s education through an extra £100 million for facilities and places; taking our total capital investment from 2018 to 2021 to £365 million. This funding will improve facilities and create more specialist places in mainstream schools, colleges and special schools, giving more children and young people access to a good school or college place that meets their individual needs.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students have taken up apprenticeships in each region in each of the last three years.
Answered by Anne Milton
The department collects apprenticeships data for England. The attached table shows the number of apprenticeship starts in each English region in each of the last three years.
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students did not get a grade 9-4 in their GCSE results in the 2017-18 academic year.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In 2018, pupils sat a combination of the 23 reformed GCSEs graded on a 9-1 scale and the remaining legacy GCSEs graded on an A*-G scale. The bottom of grade 4 is aligned with the bottom of grade C, so a grade 4 or above marks a similar achievement to the old grade C or above.
The number of pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 in 2018 who did not achieve any grades A*-C/9-4 across all their GCSE and equivalent subject entries[1], [2] are as follows:
Pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 in 2018 who did not achieve any grades A*-C/9-4 across all their GCSE and equivalent subject entries | |||
Type of school | Total number of pupils | Total number | Percentage pupils not |
All schools[4] | 585,377 | 94,436 | 16.1 |
State-funded school | 523,757 | 76,168 | 14.5 |
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/gcse-and-equivalent-results-2017-to-2018-provisional.
[2] Cambridge International Certificates and Edexcel Level 1/2 Certificates were classed as GCSE equivalent awards in 2017/18. If GCSE equivalents were excluded from the analysis, the number not achieving any 9-4/A*-C passes would go up by 283 in all schools, and 121 in state funded schools.
[3] From 2017, new reformed GCSEs in English language, English literature and mathematics are graded using a new 9-1 scale. Unreformed subjects continue to be graded using the A* to G system. See the statistical first release (SFR) ‘Quality and methodology’ document for further information.
[4] Discounting has been applied where pupils have taken the same subject more than once and only one entry is counted in these circumstances. Only the first entry is counted, in all subjects, in line with the early entry guidance (see SFR 'Quality and Methodology' document).
Asked by: David Simpson (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department is taking steps to provide counselling for students in schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
School based counselling by well-qualified practitioners can play an effective role as part of a ‘whole school’ approach to supporting mental health and wellbeing. The Department’s England-wide representative survey of school provision, published in 2017, indicated that 61% of schools offer counselling services, with 84% of secondary schools providing their pupils with access to counselling support. To support more schools to do so, the Government has provided advice on how to deliver high quality school-based counselling, available to view here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/counselling-in-schools.
NHS England will fund new mental health support teams, working in schools and colleges, which will be rolled out to between one fifth and a quarter of England by the end of 2023. This will start with 25 trailblazer areas which will be fully operational by the end of 2019. Next steps for this roll out are being considered as part of the NHS long term plan, published on 7 January, and will be informed by the evaluation of the initial trailblazers. These new teams should work closely with services which are already being provided in local areas, including other professionals who work closely with schools and colleges, such as school counsellors.