Questioner: Gillian Keegan (CON - Chichester)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Prime Minister of 15 January 2020, Official Report column 1017, when he plans to make an announcement on changes to the apprenticeship levy.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
We continue to engage with employers on the working of the apprenticeship levy. We are committed to improving the apprenticeship programme to ensure it continues to deliver the skilled workforce that employers need. We will set out further detail on this in due course.
Questioner: Gillian Keegan (CON - Chichester)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of adding football to the PE curriculum for girls.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The national curriculum for PE is designed to ensure that all pupils develop competence to excel in a broad range of physical activities, are physically active for sustained periods of time and lead healthy and active lives. The requirements do not differentiate in relation to gender.
Schools are free to organise and deliver a diverse and challenging PE curriculum that suits the needs of all of their pupils. In doing so, they must have regard to their duties under the Equality Act (2010). The government guidance on the Equality Act makes it clear that, while an exception in the act allows for the provision of single-sex sporting activities, the school would still have to allow girls equal opportunities to participate in comparable sporting activities.
Football is a popular sport in schools. Data from the Active Lives Children and Young People Survey 2017/18 reported that 31% of pupils – boys and girls - took part in football at least once a week at school.
Our cross-government school sport and activity action plan will consider ways to ensure that all children have access to quality, protected PE and sport sessions during the school week and opportunities to be physically active throughout the school day. It will be published in spring 2019.
Questioner: Gillian Keegan (CON - Chichester)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to improve quality and choice in higher education.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The department has established a new regulator, the Office for Students (OfS), and has given it the legislative powers and a clear remit to create the conditions in which the interests of students are consistently prioritised, and in which a diversity of high quality institutions can thrive. The OfS holds providers to account for delivering well-designed courses that offer successful outcomes for all of their students.
The department is taking a number of steps to enhance the information, advice and guidance available to anyone considering higher education. In particular:
Questioner: Gillian Keegan (CON - Chichester)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to promote apprenticeships.
Answered by Anne Milton
The department’s latest apprenticeship marketing campaign features digital advertising, radio, and social media to encourage employers across England to offer high quality apprenticeships, and individuals to take advantage of these opportunities.
Our recent National Apprenticeship Week, with hundreds of events throughout the country, celebrated apprenticeships working for employers and individuals of all ages and backgrounds.