Oral Answers to Questions

Georgia Gould Excerpts

Monday 1st December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jessica Toale (Bournemouth West) (Lab)]

6. What steps she is taking to reform the national curriculum.

[The Minister for School Standards (Georgia Gould)]

With huge thanks to the work of Professor Becky Francis and the wider team, we are reforming the national curriculum to ensure that it sets up young people for success in a changing world. We are raising standards in oracy, reading, writing and maths, equipping every young person with the knowledge, skills and breadth of education they need to succeed. We will also deliver a digital national curriculum to ensure that teachers can teach a broad and rich curriculum, linking subjects and knowledge.

[Jessica Toale]

Last week during UK Parliament Week, I visited LEAF Studio, a specialist sports and performing arts school and sixth form in my Bournemouth West constituency. While all schools have welcomed the curriculum modernisation, I have a specific question from Mr Jones at LEAF Studio: will drama be made more accessible for children in the curriculum?

[Georgia Gould]

I can absolutely reassure Mr Jones that drama is included within English in the current national curriculum and is compulsory up to the age of 16. The Government plan to strengthen curriculum content for drama and English and ensure that GCSEs and arts subjects are fit for purpose. I know how much brilliant work drama teachers do, and how that supports children with self-expression and confidence, hopefully setting them up for many careers, including the one we are all here doing today.

[Lee Anderson (Ashfield) (Reform)]

Year 9 students at Quarrydale academy in Ashfield are currently studying politics, and on their display board they had the words “extreme right-wing parties”, “Nazi party” and “fascism”. At the side of those words, they had pictures of Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, my hon. Friend the Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage) and me. Does the Minister think that should be on the curriculum?

[Georgia Gould]

We have strict rules about political impartiality within our education system and we are clear about those rules. All schools should apply them.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Saqib Bhatti (Meriden and Solihull East) (Con)]

Last month’s curriculum review demonstrated that the Government are fixated on watering down the curriculum, whether that is scrapping the English baccalaureate or changing Progress 8. These changes will lower standards for our children and harm them in the long term. The Minister thanked Professor Becky Francis, and she was right to do so, so why have the Government ignored the independent curriculum review and decided to change Progress 8 and lower outcomes for our children?

[Georgia Gould]

I am surprised that the Conservatives are continuing to attack this curriculum review when it has been broadly welcomed by businesses, by schools and by education leaders. Our response has also been broadly welcomed. The review strengthens standards, forms a new statutory year 8 reading test and improves access to triple science. It will engage young people who have fallen out of education. It includes a strong focus on standards and a focus on breadth—we want our young people to have both. The previous Government did not invest in the arts, and we are continuing to invest and rebuild in the arts in our curriculum.

[Cameron Thomas (Tewkesbury) (LD)]

8. What recent assessment she has made of trends in the number of suspensions and exclusions among pupils with SEND.

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[Connor Naismith (Crewe and Nantwich) (Lab)]

9. What steps she is taking to help increase levels of attainment in schools.

[The Minister for School Standards (Georgia Gould)]

The Government’s mission is to open up opportunity for every child and we are working with schools across the country to strengthen attainment. That includes regional improvement for excellence and standards teams, recruiting 6,500 teachers, a refreshed high-quality curriculum and tackling barriers to attainment, including child poverty.

[Connor Naismith]

I am concerned about attainment levels across secondary schools in Crewe, where, on average, only about 46% of pupils achieve a grade 4 in English and maths. Will the Minister meet me to discuss what further support we can provide to our hard-working school leaders and teaching staff to help raise outcomes and ensure that every child in Crewe gets the opportunities that they deserve?

[Georgia Gould]

I know how hard the leaders, teachers and support staff in Crewe will be working, and we want to get behind them to deliver outcomes for students. We will support schools to use formative assessments in writing and maths, and introduce a new statutory reading test for all year 8 pupils, to prevent children slipping through the net. Of course, I will be delighted to meet my hon. Friend to discuss this further.

[Tom Tugendhat (Tonbridge) (Con)]

I welcome the ambition for greater attainment, but does the Minister agree that cancelling the large programme uplift funding for schools offering the international baccalaureate, as the Government have recently done, has left year 11 students, particularly at schools like Tonbridge grammar school, which I have the privilege to represent, somewhat lost and therefore struggling to achieve the attainment of which she speaks?

[Georgia Gould]

Colleges can continue to fund the international baccalaureate. We are focused on raising standards for all students, and we are already seeing the difference that that is making in increased attendance and increased investment in the school system.

[Alison Bennett (Mid Sussex) (LD)]

10. What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the adoption and special guardianship support fund.

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[The Minister for School Standards (Georgia Gould)]

The Department is working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to improve access to community health services, including speech and language therapy for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, and we have extended the early language support for every child programme.

[Josh Fenton-Glynn]

Currently, about 60,000 children are waiting for their first speech and language therapy appointment, and some are waiting for over a year. As with a lot of SEND problems, this happens because health and education are not working that well together. Can the Minister tell me what we are doing to bring allied health professionals—including speech and language therapists—closer to schools, so that families do not fall through the cracks?

[Georgia Gould]

I welcomed the opportunity to discuss this issue with my hon. Friend last week, and I am grateful for his work on the Health and Social Care Committee on the subject. We agreed about the need for partners to work together to fix the SEND system, and I will be working closely with Ministers from the Department of Health and Social Care to move towards a better system which works for all.

[Iqbal Mohamed (Dewsbury and Batley) (Ind)]

My constituency sits in Kirklees, which continues to face some of the most severe pressures in the country in relation to high needs and SEND provision, including long waits for EHCP assessments and strained specialist support. What additional resources will the Department provide to ensure that children with special educational needs and disabilities in areas such as my constituency receive timely and proper support?

[Georgia Gould]

In this financial year we have already put £1 billion into the high needs budget and £740 million into specialist places around the country. We are committed to helping schools to provide an inclusive service, and we will be setting out more plans in the schools White Paper.

[Clive Jones (Wokingham) (LD)]

15. What steps she is taking to provide adequate funding for special educational needs provision.

[The Minister for School Standards (Georgia Gould)]

We are committed to investing in improving the SEND system, and, as I said a moment ago, we have invested an extra £1 billion in the high needs block and £740 million in specialist places. The core schools budget for 2026-27 will total £67 billion, an increase from £65.3 million in 2025-26. That additional funding will provide an above-real-terms per-pupil increase in overall schools funding, which will take per-pupil funding to its highest ever level and help us to transform the SEND system.

[Clive Jones]

In Wokingham there are not enough SEND places for pupils, which means that they have to travel outside the borough and sometimes a long way from their homes to go to school. In 2022, Wokingham bid for two SEND schools and were given those two schools, but nothing has happened since then; the Government have still not committed any funding to the schools. Will the Minister tell me now when the funding will be released so that the council can start building them?

[Georgia Gould]

We are absolutely committed to the education of children in their local communities, and I have seen the difference that the £740 million we have put into specialist places has made: children can now be educated in resource bases linked to schools. In relation to the two schools that the hon. Gentleman mentioned, as the Under-Secretary of State for Education, my hon. Friend the Member for Whitehaven and Workington (Josh MacAlister), said earlier, we hope to provide those answers as soon as possible.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Education Committee.

[Helen Hayes (Dulwich and West Norwood) (Lab)]

This morning I visited the Nido Volans Centre, a specialist college in my constituency, and enjoyed a delicious cup of tea made by two students, Marco and Jason. Nido Volans means “Fly the Nest”, and the college provides education and training on independent living and employability skills for young people with special educational needs and disabilities up to the age of 25. Will the Secretary of State join me in celebrating Natspec’s The Power of Specialist FE Awareness Week, and will she assure me that the Government’s SEND reform proposals will fully recognise the vital role of specialist colleges and the need for sustainable funding, so that every young person who can benefit from a specialist college placement has access to one?

[Georgia Gould]

I should very much like to celebrate this week, and I agree about the importance of access to specialist colleges and helping children into work. I have visited specialist providers and seen how proud headteachers are to be helping children into supported internships and helping them with their next steps. They are doing incredibly important work. Our schools White Paper examines how we can help children with special educational needs to thrive into adulthood.

[Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)]

On 16 June I asked the Secretary of State what she understood to be the drivers behind the phenomenon of the exponential rise in the number of children with special educational needs. She replied:

“My Department, and the Department of Health and Social Care, are keen to understand…the drivers”.—[Official Report, 16 June 2025; Vol. 769, c. 11.]

May I ask what work the Secretary of State has done in the intervening six months, and what she understands better today than she did on 16 June?

[Georgia Gould]

Again, we are absolutely committed to supporting children with special educational needs, and to understanding why we are seeing increases. Much of the evidence suggests that we are much better at diagnosing and understanding their needs, which is a positive development, but we are continuing to work with colleagues in the Department of Health and Social Care to review the evidence and understand how we can best intervene and support children—and, critically, not have to wait for a diagnosis, but be able to support children at the point when needs emerge.

[Kim Johnson (Liverpool Riverside) (Lab)]

I really welcome the Government’s increasing funding for SEND. However, almost 8,000 children in Liverpool now require an EHCP. The number has doubled over the past three years, with many parents struggling to find a school place that meets the needs of their child. Can the Minister please provide assurances to the Liverpool Parents and Carers Forum that the plan in the Budget to move the financial responsibility for SEND from local authorities to the Department for Education will be given the funding it needs to provide support to children who need it, including for earlier intervention, adequate specialist places and inclusive mainstream support?

[Georgia Gould]

I can assure my hon. Friend that we are already investing in special educational needs, and we will continue to invest in special educational needs.

[Mr Jonathan Brash (Hartlepool) (Lab)]

19. What steps her Department is taking to help support families to read with their child before they start nursery and school.

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[Vikki Slade (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD)]

20. What steps her Department is taking to make school classrooms more accessible to children with SEND.

[The Minister for School Standards (Georgia Gould)]

I have seen the difference that fully accessible schools make for young people. Pupils have proudly shown me the sensory spaces that they use to self-regulate, and schools have helped create inclusion hubs, supporting young people to thrive. The Department has invested £740 million in high needs capital to support children and young people with SEND, including through adapting classrooms to improve accessibility.

[Vikki Slade]

Over the last 16 months, I have visited most of my 42 schools—some more than once—so I have seen some really effective use of occupational therapy principles, such as removing sensory triggers and updating lighting and layouts. At Colehill first school, the staff have simplified and rectified the décor throughout the school, and are looking to invest in wooden and natural materials to create a calming environment. However, schools in Mid Dorset and North Poole receive over £2,000 per pupil per year less than those in other parts of the country, so there is little left for this sort of project. Given the focus on inclusion, what can the Minister offer in terms of smaller capital grants to fund this work?

[Georgia Gould]

I thank the hon. Member for sharing those wonderful examples of best practice. That is the work we want to do to ensure that all our schools are inclusive, and there is obviously a lot to learn from her constituency. The Under-Secretary of State for Education, my hon. Friend the Member for Whitehaven and Workington (Josh MacAlister), will bring forward an estate strategy, and we will continue to invest in specialist places within mainstream schools.

[Baggy Shanker (Derby South) (Lab/Co-op)]

Failed, humiliated and made to feel too much trouble for schools to look after—that is how one Derby mum says she and her son, who has cerebral palsy, felt when, after a staggering 14 months out of school, he was offered a school place that still did not meet his needs. Does the Minister agree that we urgently need to invest in schools to ensure that their facilities are fit to enable children with special educational needs to attend fully?

[Georgia Gould]

I am so sorry to hear that story. Sadly, I have heard too many such stories, of children kept out of education because schools are unable to meet their needs. That is the legacy we inherited, and that is why we are investing £740 million in improving the accessibility of our school buildings.

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[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

22. What steps she plans to take to provide new specialist schools for children with SEND.

[The Minister for School Standards (Georgia Gould)]

The Department has invested £740 million in high needs capital in 2025-26 to support place creation for children and young people with SEND. Local authorities can use this funding to create specialist places in mainstream schools, enhance accessibility and provide special school places for pupils with the most complex needs.

[Bob Blackman]

I thank the Minister for that answer. The last Government approved the new SEND school in Harrow, which is supported on a cross-party basis and by all headteachers in Harrow. At the moment, young children have to travel an hour and a half each way to get to specialist schools, which is costing the taxpayer huge amounts of money, and that is unacceptable for those children with special educational needs. All we need is the Department to give its approval, and that school could go ahead and start almost immediately. If this funding is available, will she make it available to the London borough of Harrow to start the school that everyone wants?

[Georgia Gould]

The last Government approved a huge number of things that were not funded, which is why this Government were left with a black hole that we are sorting out. I have travelled around the country talking to parents, and we have heard time and again about how they were failed by the last Government. We are investing in the SEND system. In answer to the hon. Member’s specific question about the school, we will be coming forward with more plans shortly.

[Joe Robertson (Isle of Wight East) (Con)]

T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.

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[Dan Carden (Liverpool Walton) (Lab)]

T2. Archbishop Beck Catholic college in my constituency has lost £700 per pupil since 2011, while the number of disadvantaged pupils has risen from 38% to 52%. It is an excellent school with strong leadership, creating great outcomes for pupils. Will the Minister look specifically at the funding calculation for Archbishop Beck and say a little bit about how she is getting resources into deprived areas?

[The Minister for School Standards (Georgia Gould)]

I am really grateful for the work of that school. I set out today the further investment we are putting into schools, including into special educational needs. We are focusing our funding on all schools, but particularly on supporting schools in the most deprived areas.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

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[Ian Roome (North Devon) (LD)]

T4. Forces families sometimes find that a child’s education, health and care plan is not automatically recognised when they are reposted to a new area, leaving children without provision. With the children’s services White Paper due next year, will the Minister ensure that military children specifically are included and raise the issue of adopting the Ministry of Defence local authority partnership system with local authorities that currently do not use it?

[Georgia Gould]

I will look into the points that the hon. Gentleman has raised. It would be very helpful if he could write to me on those issues.

[Sir Roger Gale (Herne Bay and Sandwich) (Con)]

T6. I think I must have missed something in the answers the Secretary of State gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight East (Joe Robertson) and the shadow Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sevenoaks (Laura Trott). Schools in my constituency do not have enough money to pay for SEND pupils. It is no good the Secretary of State talking about capital expenditure with more on this and more on that—we need to know where the money is coming from to pay the revenue costs incurred by SEND pupils.

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[Callum Anderson (Buckingham and Bletchley) (Lab)]

I was pleased to see that the forthcoming curriculum reforms acknowledge the importance of financial capability for young people, but there is the immediate challenge of the scant financial education that exists now, which must be addressed. Can the Minister update the House on how the Department is working with civil society and the financial sector to ensure that young people are getting quality financial education now?

[Georgia Gould]

Young people always tell me how important it is for them to get a financial education. It is something we recognised in our response to the curriculum review, and that we are committed to working with civil society to deliver. If my hon. Friend has ideas of organisations that we can work with, we would be very open to that conversation.

[Dr Ellie Chowns (North Herefordshire) (Green)]

In Herefordshire, families of children with special educational needs, and indeed Herefordshire council, have been waiting more than 18 months for an update on two crucial schools: a new free school, with specialist provision for children with autism spectrum disorder, and the rebuild of Westfield special school. Will the Minister meet me to discuss how we can make progress on ensuring that those vital school places are provided locally?