Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the change in the total amount of student loans outstanding between (a) March 2014 and (b) March 2018.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The Student Loans Company publish statistics annually on student loan debt and repayment. The statistics are published separately for loans funded by each of the devolved administrations and can be found at: https://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/student-loans-debt-and-repayment.aspx.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the change in the number of children requiring autism support since the commencement of the Children and Families Act 2014.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
We publish the number and proportion of pupils with special educational needs (SEN), including the type of need in the annual ‘SEN in England’ statistical release:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-special-educational-needs-sen.
Pupils with SEN are recorded according to their primary type of need. Autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) is included as a type of need.
The table below shows a breakdown of the number of pupils with ASD as their primary type of need from 2015 to 2018 (as at January each year):
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
SEN support | 36,530 | 42,801 | 47,571 | 53,546 |
Statements of SEN & education, health and care plans | 54,245 | 57,211 | 60,832 | 66,363 |
Total | 90,775 | 100,012 | 108,403 | 119,909 |
Source: School Census
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what changes there have been in the social background of children in secondary level education in the bottom quartile for educational attainment from 2007 to 2017.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The percentage of disadvantaged pupils[1], in state-funded schools[2], in the bottom quartile[3] of Attainment 8 points for 2014/15 - 2016/17 is given in the attached table, along with the percentage of disadvantaged pupils in all state-funded schools for comparison.
In order to accurately identify the bottom quartile of pupils, an attainment measure with sufficient granularity is required. The Department’s current headline attainment measure (Attainment 8) provides this but was only introduced in 2014/15. There is no current headline attainment measure with data available that is comparable over the requested period (2007 to 2017).
[1] A pupil is classed as disadvantaged if they are known to have been eligible for free school meals in the past six years, if they are recorded as having been looked after for at least one day or if they are recorded as having been adopted from care.
[2] State-funded schools include academies, free schools, city technology colleges, further education colleges with provision for 14 to 16 year olds and state-funded special schools. They exclude independent schools, independent special schools, non-maintained special schools, hospital schools and alternative provision.
[3] As numerous pupils can share the same score, splitting the cohort into precise quartiles is not possible. In 2014/15, 26.1% of pupils were included in the ‘bottom quartile’, in 2015/16 it was 26.0% and in 2016/17 it was 25.3%. This will have some effect on the proportions of disadvantaged pupils, as relatively fewer pupils are included in later years, but the nature of that effect cannot be definitively stated.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps during the absence of a devolved administration to hold discussions with the Permanent Secretary on the best way to allocate the apprenticeship levy to maximum effect for promoting skills among young people.
Answered by Anne Milton
While Northern Ireland does not currently have an active administration, the UK government will provide the appropriate support and stability in its absence.
The government will make sure that devolved administrations receive a fair share of the apprenticeship levy. HM Treasury has agreed with each administration how much finanical support will be provided. The devolved administrations will receive £425 million in 2017/18, £442 million in 2018/19 and £460 million in 2019/20. As skills is a devolved matter it will be for the devolved administrations to decide how funds raised from the levy should be used.
Department officials were in regular discussions with their counterparts in the devolved administrations to consider the implications of the apprenticeship levy on their own apprenticeship programmes and for cross-border employers.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the change has been in the number of young people aged 18 to 25 who are not in education, employment or training in the last five years.
Answered by Anne Milton
The department publishes quarterly estimates for young people who are not in education, employment or training in England, including a breakdown for those aged 18-24, here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/neet-statistics-quarterly-brief-july-to-september-2017.
These estimates are based on age at the start of the academic year (academic age) and are not seasonally adjusted. Trends should be assessed by comparing the current time period with the same time period in the previous year to account for seasonal effects.
Alternatively, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) publish quarterly estimates for the UK, also including a breakdown for 18-24 year olds, here:
Note: unlike the department’s statistics, the headline ONS estimates are seasonally adjusted and are based on actual age.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what was the total sum owed in student loans in (a) 2000 and (b) 2016.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
This information is published in the relevant SLC Annual Report and Accounts for financial year 1999-2000 and financial year 2015-16, both of which are available at: https://www.slc.co.uk/about-us/remit/annual-report.aspx. Please note that the figure for 31 March 2016 excludes outstanding balances on mortgage style loans which were sold by the government in November 2013 and for which information is no longer available.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to share best practice with and from the devolved Parliament and Assemblies on delivering improvements in educational attainment among young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Officials engage with their counterparts in the devolved administrations to share best practice on topics of mutual interest and concern. Improving the education attainment of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds is a regular topic at the twice-yearly four nations meetings facilitated by the British Council – the last meeting took place 7-8 November. It was also a theme of the International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP). The published report from ISTP - http://asiasociety.org/global-cities-education-network/empowering-and-enabling-teachers-improve-equity-and-outcomes-all - illustrates how England and Scotland shared recent initiatives aimed at breaking the link between social deprivation and educational and adult success.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress has been madeon targeting young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to further their education in the last 10 years .
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Educational achievement is at the heart of our commitment to making this a country where everyone has a fair chance to go as far as their talent and hard work will take them. Thanks to our reforms, there are 1.8 million more children in schools rated good or outstanding than in 2010. We recognise that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds - defined as those currently or formerly in receipt of free school meals and currently or formerly looked after - may face extra barriers to achieving their potential. This is why we introduced the pupil premium in 2011 and have invested over £11bn - almost £2.5bn this year alone – so that schools can provide extra support to disadvantaged pupils of all abilities.
We created the early years pupil premium in 2015 so disadvantaged children are better prepared for school and, beyond school, the independent Director of Fair Access has agreed access agreements for 2018/19 which will see universities plan to spend more than £860 million - significantly more than the £404 million in 2009 - on measures to continue to improve access for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers has decreased at both age 11 and age 16 since 2011. This means better prospects for disadvantaged pupils and a more prosperous life as an adult.
But we know there is more to do. Our £72 million opportunity areas programme will create opportunities for young people in social mobility ‘cold spots’ and share effective practice across the country to ensure all young people can access the opportunities they deserve.
In addition, the Education Endowment Foundation, which we established with a £137 million grant in 2011, is working in hundreds of schools to expand the evidence of what works best to accelerate progress.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with the devolved administrations on the operation of the apprenticeship levy in each of those regions.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Officials from my Department are in regular discussions with their counterparts in the devolved administrations to consider the implications of the apprenticeship levy on their own apprenticeship programmes and for cross-border employers. As skills policy is devolved it is for the devolved administrations to decide how they will fund apprenticeships in their nations.
The UK government has agreed funding with the devolved administrations, and this was announced in November 2016: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-government-agrees-apprenticeship-levy-funding-deal-with-devolved-administrations.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will meet her counterparts in the devolved administrations to establish how best to tackle educational under-achievement across the UK.
Answered by Edward Timpson
As I stated in my response of 28 February, officials in the devolved administrations have regular engagement on topics of mutual interest and concern. Tackling educational under-achievement is a key priority for all parts of the UK; each administration has a strategy tailored to its own needs and circumstances, though effective practice is regularly shared.