Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what additional resources he has allocated to ensure the introduction of T levels by 2020; and what steps is he taking to ensure the value for money of the introduction of T levels.
Answered by Anne Milton
Once T Levels are fully rolled out there will be over £500 million additional funding per year for their delivery. This extra funding will pay for extended industry placements and the additional taught hours that will be needed for T Levels. Nearly £60 million of this funding has already been allocated to providers to help them build capacity for the improved industry placements that will form part of the new T Levels. The funding also includes up to £20 million to help teachers and leaders prepare for the implementation of T Levels. We are currently considering how best to provide this support, and information we gather from the data collection launched on 25 May will help to inform this.
We are confident that T Levels will provide a substantial boost to national productivity and the life chances of many thousands of young people. As we introduce the technical education routes, we will explore value for money in a number of ways, including through commissioning an evaluation of the new routes and monitoring performance and destination data.
Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department has taken to (a) consult and (b) respond to disabled young people who have secured an apprenticeship.
Answered by Anne Milton
Our Pacesetter project was established in 2017 with the aim of working with selected partners to test our policy approaches, and gain better understanding of the experiences of disabled apprentices. We work with organisations and individuals who have proven experience and success in this area, and can help us identify initiatives which work and can be scaled up, with a view to delivering tangible progress towards growing numbers of apprentices from this group. Pacesetters include local authorities, employment organisations, a special school and the learning disability charity Mencap.
As part of department's annual Apprenticeship Evaluation Surveys, information is routinely collected about the experiences and satisfaction levels of apprentices that identify as having a disability.
The Further Education Learner and Apprentices survey, which samples approximately 6,500 apprentices, collects detailed demographic and social mobility data along with information on barriers to learning.
To inform our new funding policy, published in May 2018, we commissioned the Learning and Work Institute to interview providers, employers and third party organisations providing additional support to apprentices with a range of disabilities- selected for their experience working with this group. The report can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/exploring-funding-for-apprentices-with-additional-needs.
We have recently produced a new apprenticeship learner support guide following requests from organisations who offer careers support to those seeking to apply for an apprenticeship. It contains information for those seeking an apprenticeship and for those already in an apprenticeship and includes the support and funding available for those people with disabilities and for those who might require mental health support: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-guide-to-apprenticeships.
Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many disabled people were refused an apprenticeship as a result of failing a Further Education college's literacy and numeracy assessment.
Answered by Anne Milton
The information requested is not held centrally.
Information on apprenticeships is collected via the Individualised Learner Record (ILR), based on information submitted by further education and training providers. However, the ILR does not hold data on people who were refused an apprenticeship.
Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the level of parental awareness of the introduction of T levels; and what steps he is taking to raise parental awareness of T levels.
Answered by Anne Milton
We are already communicating with key audiences such as, providers, employers and awarding organisations, to increase awareness and understanding of T Levels. We will increase the pace of awareness-raising with parents, teachers and young people as we move closer to the first teaching of T Levels in 2020.
Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish the employers in each region that was consulted by his Department on the introduction of T levels.
Answered by Anne Milton
We ran a ten week consultation on our proposals for T levels, which closed on 8 February 2018. This involved an online survey and a series of events around the country. We received hundreds of comments at our events and 430 official responses to the online survey, including 55 from different employers and 86 from employer representative bodies/agencies. We reviewed all of these responses and published the official government response on 27 May 2018, which is available here: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/711472/Implementation_of_T_Level_programmes-Government_consultation_response.pdf. A full list of respondents is included in Annex B, which can be found in the weblink above, though we have not published the names of organisations who wished to keep their submissions confidential.
Employers have developed the outline content that will form the basis of new T Levels, through membership of the T Level panels. A list of the T level panel members of the first 16 panels that have been convened has been published and is available online here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/t-level-panels-membership.
In addition to membership of the T Level panels, we have further consulted employers including BAM Nuttall, Kier, Busy Bees, Action for Children, Amazon, John Lewis and Deloitte on the first three T Levels that will be delivered in 2020.
Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of learners taking T levels in the first year of the level's introduction.
Answered by Anne Milton
Our plan is for a measured implementation of T levels, the most radical reform of post-16 education since the introduction of A Levels almost 70 years ago, which will transform the technical education landscape. On 27 May we announced the 52 colleges and other providers that have been selected to deliver the first three T Levels in 2020 and have since selected a further two providers.
Teaching is to begin in 2020 in the first three subjects in 54 providers. As providers are considering the outline content of the first T Levels and developing their own implementation plans, the number of potential learners for the first years of T Levels is still under consideration but is expected to grow over time.
Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to meet the deadline of September 2019 for the introduction of compulsory relationships and sex education lessons in secondary schools; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department has been considering the evidence gathered during the recent call for evidence and wider engagement exercise to help shape the new subjects of Relationships Education and Relationships and Sex Education, and draft new guidance and regulations.
The Department plans to consult on these draft regulations and the guidance shortly before laying the regulations to allow a debate in both Houses. The Department will continue to work towards schools being able to teach these subjects from September 2019.