Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of full-time undergraduate students with British nationality non-domiciled in the UK are paying international fees.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is not able to identify which non-UK domiciled students who hold British nationality are paying international fees.
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) is responsible for collecting and publishing data on the UK higher education sector. These data are shared with the department and includes a wide range of information on students coming from overseas to study in UK higher education providers (HEPs), including their legal nationality. Information on the type of fees a student pays, however, is not collected across all UK HEPs.
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the number of full-time undergraduate students paying international fees who are (a) British nationals and (b) non-domiciled in the UK.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is not able to identify students who are paying international fees who are (a) British nationals and (b) non-domiciled in the UK.
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) is responsible for collecting and publishing data on the UK higher education sector. These data are shared with the department and include a wide range of information on students coming from overseas to study in UK higher education providers (HEPs). Information on the type of fees a student pays, however, is not collected across all UK HEPs.
The legal nationality of the student is collected across all HEPs that submit data to HESA. The department estimates that of the 288,465 full-time, undergraduate, international students (those with permanent address outside the UK) enrolled in UK HEPs in the 2022/23 academic year, 12,805 declared that they held British nationality. Of the remaining full-time, undergraduate, international students, 271,505 declared that they held an overseas nationality and 4,155 have an unknown nationality.
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve (a) management accountability and (b) the complaints and oversight system for staff at multi-academy trusts.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
All school staff should feel safe and supported at work, and confident in being able to report concerns. We expect school leaders, as employers, to take appropriate action to tackle any issues that are raised.
All school employers, including trusts, have a duty to protect the health, safety and welfare of their employees. The primary duty to take reasonable care for the health and safety of all employees, including school leaders, rests with the employer. The employer is therefore responsible for doing what is reasonably practicable to ensure that employees are adequately supported in relation to wellbeing and should take appropriate action where they are aware of any matters that impact their employee’s welfare. It is the responsibility of individual trusts to have robust staffing policies in place to ensure this is the case.
This includes having complaints guidance and whistleblowing policies and procedures in place. Guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/setting-up-an-academies-complaints-procedure/best-practice-guidance-for-academies-complaints-procedures and here: https://www.gov.uk/whistleblowing.
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, is the prescribed person for matters relating to education for whistleblowers who do not want to raise matters directly with their employer. Concerns can be raised with the department using the Customer Help Portal available here: https://customerhelpportal.education.gov.uk.
More widely, as Principal Regulator for academies, the Secretary of State is clear that accountability is non-negotiable. The department holds academies to high standards, setting and enforcing all non-financial standards, and facilitating, supporting and overseeing intervention in multi-academy trusts when it is needed.
Academy trusts are also bound by their funding agreements to conduct their academies within the terms and requirements of their Articles of Association, the Academies Trust Handbook and any legislation or legal requirement that applies to academies. Where concerns about an academy are identified or raised, the department works closely with trusts to ensure statutory requirements are being met.
Asked by: Jack Rankin (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is aware of any situations in which SEND money is being used by schools for (a) non-SEND related facilities and (b) on non-SEND pupils.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department does not collect data from schools which specifically distinguishes spending on non-special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) related facilities or non-SEND pupils.
Local authorities retain the legal duty to ensure appropriate support is provided for children with SEND. Local authorities can allocate high needs top-up funding to schools in respect of a particular pupil with more complex SEND, normally to secure the provision set out in an education, health and care plan, and they determine how much extra funding to allocate.