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 hold discussions with her counterparts in (a) Scotland, (b) Wales and (c) Northern Ireland on how best to assist young people in socially deprived communities across the UK to obtain higher grades in core school subjects.
Answered by Edward Timpson
Officials engage regularly with their counterparts in the devolved administrations on topics of mutual interest and concern. Addressing disadvantage was the topic of a recent four nations workshop facilitated by the British Council. It will also be a theme of the International Summit on the Teaching Profession to be co-hosted by the UK and Scottish Governments in March 2017, in partnership with the OECD and Education International, the global federation of teachers’ unions.
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 her Department is taking to ensure apprenticeship starts offer opportunities for employment across the UK and not just in the region where the apprenticeships are served.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Apprenticeships policy is devolved and it is for each of the UK nations, including Northern Ireland, to decide how they operate their apprenticeship programmes.
The locations and sectors where apprenticeships are available are determined by employers choosing to offer opportunities and recruit apprentices.
Officials are in ongoing discussions with those in the devolved administrations to consider any cross-border issues in relation to apprenticeship programmes.
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 average amount of student loans outstanding for graduates has been in each of the last three years ending on 31 March 2016.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Student Loans Company (SLC) administers student loans for each of the UK Government Administrations. Statistics covering English student loan borrowers are published annually by the SLC in the Statistical First Release (SFR) ‘Student Loans in England’:
http://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/student-loans-debt-and-repayment/england.aspx
Information on the average outstanding Higher Education loan balance of borrowers liable to repay by repayment cohort and tax year can be found in table 5A(iii) of the SFR. The figures refer to borrowers who received loans as English domiciled students studying in the UK or as EU domiciled students studying in England.
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 discuss with her counterparts in the devolved institutions ways to ensure that young people across the UK receive a similar level of assistance in accessing apprenticeships.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Apprenticeships policy is a devolved matter and it is for the devolved administrations (DAs) of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to determine how they manage their own schemes. The DAs will have their own arrangements for supporting young people to access apprenticeships.
Officials from the DAs and my Department will continue to consider any implications of reforms to apprenticeships in England for their own apprenticeship programmes.
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 amount of student loans outstanding was as of 31 March in each of the last three years.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Student Loans Company (SLC) administers student loans for each of the UK Government Administrations. Statistics on student loan debt and repayment in England are published annually by the SLC in the Statistical First Release ‘Student Loans in England’. Information on the amount of student loan outstanding as of 31 of March in each of the last three years is available in Table 1. The information can be accessed at the following link:
http://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/student-loans-debt-and-repayment/england.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 the significance is of the award of an ICT Mark to a school; and how many schools received such an award in 2013.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The ICT Mark was launched by the National Association of Advisers for Computers in Education (Naace) in 2007 and was accredited by Becta until 2011. Following the closure of Becta in 2011, Naace took full responsibility for awarding the ICT Mark independently of government, and the Department for Education ceased to have any involvement. According to Naace, 379 schools in the United Kingdom received the award in 2013.
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 his Department is taking to make e-books available from public libraries.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
I have been asked to answer this question on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport have changed the law so that the Public Lending Right (PLR) is now extended to e-books for on-site lending. This legislation came into force on 1 July. Due to current EU copyright law it is not possible to extend PLR to remote lending at this time, however the Government will revisit the issue as part of a continuous review of e-lending, and are in contact with the EU Commission on this matter.
The Society of Chief Librarians and the Publishers Association are currently conducting a 12 month pilot into e-lending in public libraries, working closely with four local authorities in England to carry out research into the impact of e-book lending in public libraries on authors, publishers and the library service, in order to identify a suitable and sustainable model for all stakeholders. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport are in contact with the major stakeholders of this pilot, and will follow up with its findings, which are due in March 2015.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has held with education ministers in the devolved legislatures on proposals for English baccalaureate certificates and reforms of A-levels.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The Secretary of State met the Minister for Education for Northern Ireland and the Minister of Education and Skills for Wales on May 13 2013, along with Ofqual's Chief Regulator Glenys Stacey, to discuss proposed reforms of GCSEs and A levels.
In line with the concordats between the Department for Education and the Northern Ireland Government, we give the Ministers of the devolved Governments advance notice of our intentions wherever possible. Department for Education and Ofqual officials meet regularly with their counterparts in Wales and Northern Ireland to discuss matters of common interest and share information. This includes GCSE and A level reforms in their respective administrations.