Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to help reduce classroom sizes in primary schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only. Measures are in place to limit and reduce class sizes, particularly for younger children. Legislation caps the size of an infant class at 30 pupils per qualified teacher. Infant classes are those in which most pupils turn five, six, or seven during the school year. Current data shows the average infant class size is 26.2 pupils, a decrease of 0.4 compared with the previous year.
There is no statutory limit on class sizes for older children aged eight and above. Schools have the flexibility to organise these classes according to local needs and circumstances, ensuring pupils receive the support they need to achieve and thrive. The average primary class size, covering both infant and junior classes, is 26.4 pupils, down by 0.2 from last year.
These trends, alongside the statutory infant class limit, demonstrate that current measures are helping to keep class sizes manageable in primary schools.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that all schools are adequately prepared for emergency situations.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
All education, childcare and children’s social care settings should have emergency plans in place. They must also comply with legal responsibilities, including under health and safety law.
The department publishes non-statutory guidance to support settings plan for emergencies within their own local context. The guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/emergency-planning-and-response-for-education-childcare-and-childrens-social-care-settings/emergency-planning-and-response-for-education-childcare-and-childrens-social-care-settings.
In any emergency, education, childcare and children's social care settings should keep children and staff safe and seek to minimise the amount and length of any disruption.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the number of schools who have their own minibus.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department does not collect or hold information about the number of schools who have their own minibus.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of speech and language support for pupils in primary schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Speech and language therapists (SaLTs) break down communication barriers, but too often, children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) wait too long to receive support from them.
As part of our new £1.8 billion investment, schools will be able to access support from professionals such as SaLTs through the Experts at Hand offer. These experts will work directly with school staff to equip them with skills and strategies to better meet need.
We are also investing £15 million to establish new SaLT advanced practitioners in every integrated care board area to support more SaLTs to work with educational settings, upskill speech and language support workers, and promote the SaLT apprenticeship route.
This is in addition to £3.4 million being invested this year in the Early Language Support for Every Child (ELSEC) programme, helping to identify and respond to speech and language needs, continued investment in the Nuffield Early Language Intervention, which has demonstrated significant impact on speech and language skills particularly for disadvantaged pupils, and an expansion of English Hubs support to include specialist early language support from the 2026/27 academic year.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to provide additional funding to support schools in introducing digital literacy programmes for pupils aged 11 to 16.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and this response relates to state-funded schools in England only.
On 5 November 2025, the government issued the response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, setting out the changes that will be made to the national curriculum, as well as reforms to qualifications. To ensure students develop the essential digital literacy skills needed for future life and work, the refreshed curriculum, due for first teaching in September 2028, will provide greater clarity on what should be taught at each key stage.
The department continues to invest in the National Centre for Computing Education, supporting teachers to confidently teach topics such as digital literacy through the provision of free online courses and resources. This includes a free online course supporting secondary subject leaders to understand what digital literacy is and to integrate it across subjects.
The core schools budget is also increasing by £1.7 billion in 2026/27, which includes funding for special educational needs and disabilities reforms announced within the Schools White Paper.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of levels of teacher recruitment in STEM subjects in the last academic year.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The department is seeing real progress. On top of an increase of 2,346 teachers (full-time equivalent) in secondary and special schools between 2023/24 and 2024/25, the future pipeline is also looking positive. New entrants to training in physics are up 37% this year, computing up 46%, and maths up by 18%. In total, the data shows an increase of 22% in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects, exceeding the STEM target for the first time since it was introduced in 2019.
The department set out plans for an additional 6,500 teachers in our delivery plan, published last month alongside the Schools White Paper, available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6995de6aa58a315dbe72bf7c/6500_additional_teachers_delivery_plan_print_ready_version.pdf.
We are continuing to offer bursaries worth £29,000 tax-free and scholarships worth up to £31,000 tax-free to encourage more talented people to train to teach key STEM subjects. We are also offering a targeted retention incentive worth up to £6,000 after tax for teachers of the same STEM subjects in the first five years of their careers who work in disadvantaged schools.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support schools in improving pupil attendance in areas with high absence rates.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
Absence is a key barrier to opportunity. For children to achieve and thrive, they need to be in school. In the Schools White Paper, the department set a national commitment to improve the attendance rate to over 94% by 2028/29, equivalent to 100,000 pupils attending school full time and represent the fastest rate of improvement in over a decade.
Our statutory ‘Working Together to Improve School Attendance’ guidance requires schools to appoint an attendance champion, have a published attendance policy, and work with local authorities.
The department provides real-time data tools and attendance toolkits, which help schools, trusts and local authorities identify the drivers of absence and adopt effective practice to improve attendance to pre‑pandemic attendance levels.
In January, we launched our new regional improvement for standards and excellence attendance and behaviour hubs, which can support over 3000 schools, including enhanced support for up to 500 schools, helping schools build strong relationships with parents and helping teachers form strong relationships of trust with students.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to review the regulation of the private tutoring sector.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The government is committed to safeguarding children across all education settings, including out-of-school settings such as private tutoring.
Last year, the government launched a call for evidence on safeguarding in out-of-school settings, aiming to better understand current sector safeguarding practices and invited views on approaches for further strengthening safeguarding, including regulation.
The department is currently analysing responses, with support from independent external analysts, given the significance of the issue.
The department also intends to undertake further engagement, including focus groups with parents and small providers and sector roundtables with safeguarding experts and sector representatives, before issuing a full response in due course.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken since July 2024 to (i) expand childcare provision and (ii) help tackle the affordability of childcare costs for working families.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The government began a phased expansion of funded childcare in 2024, introducing 15 hours of funded childcare for eligible working parents of two-year-olds in April 2024 and extending this entitlement to children aged from nine months to three years in September 2024. This expansion grew further in September 2025, when eligible working parents of children from nine months to school age were given access to 30 hours of government-funded childcare per week, saving families using their full entitlement up to £7,500 per eligible child per year. As a result, the department expects to provide over £9.5 billion in 2026/27 for the early years entitlements, more than doubling annual public investment in the sector compared with 2023/24.
The School-based Nursery Programme is a £400 million capital investment to deliver on the department’s commitment to create tens of thousands of places in school-based nurseries, helping more families access funded childcare and giving children the best start in life. We awarded £37 million of capital funding to 300 schools to create up to 6,000 nursery places, helping parents access affordable, quality childcare where it is needed.
Schools were invited to bid for up to £150,000 capital funding from a £45 million pot, with an increased focus on supporting families from disadvantaged areas to access early years provision. We will announce successful projects for this phase in the spring.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools have evacuation chairs for pupils, staff and visitors with mobility impairments.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Strangford to the answer of 5 January 2026 to Question 100857.