Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason religious education has not been included in the consultation document for the Advanced British Standard.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department launched a consultation on 14 December 2023 on our proposals for the Advanced British Standard, seeking views on the design of the overall programme. This includes seeking views on the approach to agreeing subjects included, and on what should be covered in the Employability, Enrichment and Pastoral (EEP) offer for all students.
The government firmly believes that religious education (RE) is important, which is why it remains compulsory for all state-funded schools in England, including academies and free schools, in each year group. Quality RE can develop knowledge of British values and traditions and refine pupils’ ability to construct well-informed, balanced, and structured arguments.
The publication of the consultation on 14 December 2023 marks a new phase of working in partnership with students, teachers, leaders, schools, colleges, universities, and employers to develop these proposals. The department will consult extensively over the coming months, and this will inform our plan for subjects and EEP, which the department will set out in a White Paper this year.
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 promote healthy eating in schools.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department encourages a healthy balanced diet and healthy life choices through school funding, legislation and guidance.
The standards for school food are set out in the Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014. These regulations are designed to ensure that schools provide pupils with healthy food and drink options, and to make sure that pupils have the energy and nutrition they need throughout the school day.
Under the benefits-based criteria, over 2 million of the most disadvantaged pupils are eligible for and claiming a free school meal. An additional 1.3 million infants enjoy a free, healthy and nutritious meal at lunchtime following the introduction of Universal Infant Free School Meals.
The School Fruit and Vegetables Scheme also provides over 2.2 million children in Reception and key stage 1 with a portion of fresh fruit or vegetables each day at school. Schools are encouraged to use it as an opportunity to educate children and to assist a healthy, balanced diet.
The importance of a healthy diet is also included in the science curriculum for both primary and secondary school. Healthy eating is covered through topics relating to nutrition and digestion, which cover the content of a healthy diet and the impact of diet on how the body functions.
The Relationships, Sex and Health Education statutory guidance states that by the end of primary school, pupils should know what constitutes a healthy diet; the principles of planning and preparing a range of healthy meals; the characteristics of a poor diet; and risks associated with unhealthy eating and other behaviours. By the end of secondary school pupils should know how to maintain healthy eating and the links between a poor diet and health risks.
Healthy eating and opportunities to develop pupils’ cooking skills are covered in the design and technology (D&T) curriculum. Cooking and nutrition are a discrete strand of the D&T curriculum and is compulsory in maintained schools for key stages 1 to 3. The curriculum aims to teach children how to cook and how to apply the principles of healthy eating and nutrition. The department has also introduced a new food preparation and nutrition GCSE to provide pupils with practical cookery experience and teach them the underlying scientific concepts of nutrition and healthy eating.
The Healthy Schools Rating Scheme celebrates the positive actions that schools are delivering in terms of healthy living, healthy eating and physical activity. This voluntary rating scheme is available for both primary and secondary schools.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with the Northern Ireland Administration on SEN teaching provision in Northern Ireland.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Education is a devolved matter and therefore, England and Northern Ireland have different systems for supporting children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Officials in the Department for Education and the Department of Education in Northern Ireland keep in regular touch about SEND policy, sharing information about developments and good practice.
My right hon. Friend, The Secretary of State for Education, has not recently had such contact with the Northern Ireland Administration.
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 support families on low incomes with the cost of school uniforms.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Education is a devolved matter; the response outlines the information for England only, not Northern Ireland.
Rather than subsiding expensive uniform policies with financial assistance, the department published statutory guidance on the cost of school uniform to ensure uniform is affordable for all families. Schools needed to start being compliant with the guidance from September 2022. The guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cost-of-school-uniforms/cost-of-school-uniforms.
Schools must have regard to this guidance when designing and implementing their uniform policy. The guidance requires schools to ensure that their uniform is affordable and secures best value for money for parents.
There is no specific funding for schools to support families to meet the costs of school uniform, but schools may offer additional support in cases of financial hardship where they choose to do so.
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 help ensure that schools are able to carry out high quality repairs on their buildings.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Well-maintained, safe school buildings are a priority for the department in order that they support a high-quality education for all children.
Responsibility for keeping buildings safe and well-maintained lies with schools and their responsible bodies, such as local authorities, academy trusts and voluntary-aided bodies. The department supports them by providing access to annual capital funding, delivering major rebuilding programmes, and offering guidance and support.
The department has allocated over £15 billion since 2015 for keeping schools in England safe and operational, including £1.8 billion in 2023/24. This funding is informed by consistent data on the condition of the school estate. Devolved administrations received funding for education through the Barnett formula at the Spending Review 2021.
Responsible bodies in England, depending on their size and type, are either eligible to receive annual school condition allocation (SCA) funding to use on improving the condition of their schools, or are instead able to bid into the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) each year for specific capital projects. Schools in England also receive funding to spend on their capital priorities or contribute to larger projects through an annual devolved formula capital allocation (DFC). Details on SCA, DFC and CIF can be found on GOV.UK.
CIF eligible schools can apply for urgent capital support at any time in the year, if they have urgent building issues that need to be addressed. Details on how to apply for urgent capital support are available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/condition-improvement-fund.
The department provides extensive guidance for responsible bodies to help them make effective spending decisions and manage their estates strategically and safely through resources such as the ‘Good estate management for schools’ guidance. The guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/good-estate-management-for-schools.
In addition to condition capital funding, the school rebuilding programme (SRP) will transform buildings at 500 schools in Engand over the next decade, prioritising schools in poor condition and with evidence of potential safety issues. The department has announced 400 schools to date, including 239 in December 2022.
The department is providing targeted support for RAAC and will fund emergency mitigation work needed to make school and college buildings safe, including installing alternative classroom space where necessary. Where schools and colleges need additional help with revenue costs, the department expects all reasonable requests will be approved. The department will also fund refurbishment projects, or rebuilding projects where these are needed, to remove RAAC from the school estate, including through the SRP.
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 impact of the apprenticeship levy on the uptake of apprenticeships.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Since 2010, there have been over 5.5 million apprenticeship starts. During that time, the department has built a new skills system from the ground up which better meets the needs of employers and apprentices today.
The apprenticeship levy was introduced in 2017 to incentivise larger businesses to develop and invest in their own apprenticeship programmes whilst ensuring the availability of funding for smaller employers wanting to offer apprenticeships.
There have been over 2.2 million apprenticeship starts in employers of all sizes across England since the levy was introduced. There are now over 680 high quality standards available from entry level right through to masters level, with over 5,000 employers involved in their development. There is now a much broader range of apprenticeships than ever before in occupations such as architect, cyber security, and nursing, in addition to traditional occupations like bricklayer, plumber, or hairdresser.
More apprentices are now taking higher level subjects linked to higher paid jobs in key areas. Starts on higher apprenticeships at Level 4 and above have more than doubled, from 48,150 in the 2017/18 academic year to 106,360 in the 2021/22 academic year. The department has also seen year-on-year growth of degree level apprenticeships with almost 196,000 starts since their introduction in 2014. The department is providing an additional £40 million over the next two years to support degree apprenticeship providers to expand and help more people access them.
The apprenticeship levy has enabled the government to increase investment in the apprenticeships system in England, reaching £2.7 billion by the 2024/25 financial year. In the past two financial years, on average 98% of the English apprenticeship budget was spent showing strong demand by employers for high quality apprenticeships training. Large employers can use their levy contributions to fund apprenticeships in their own business, or they can transfer their funds to other businesses in their supply chain, sector or region. Funds that levy payers do not draw on are used to fund apprenticeship training in small and medium sized businesses which allows employers of all sizes to benefit from training apprentices.
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 children with ADHD in schools.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) improvement plan, the department set out its vision to improve mainstream education by setting standards for the early and accurate identification of needs and for timely access to support to meet those needs, including for children and young people with ADHD. The standards will clarify the types of support that should be ordinarily available in mainstream settings and who is responsible for securing the support.
The department will also develop practitioner standards to equip frontline professionals to make best use of provision and identify needs early, accurately and consistently. The first three practice guides will be published by the end of 2025 and will focus on advice for mainstream settings which is rooted in existing best practice.
To support the needs of pupils with SEND, particularly in mainstream settings where most of these learners are educated, the department has funded the Universal Services programme. This programme, backed by almost £12 million of funding, will help the school and further education workforce to identify and meet the needs of children and young people with SEND earlier and more effectively. It will also help them successfully prepare children and young people for adulthood, including employment.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to ensure a high standard of primary religious education training in (a) Initial Teacher Training and (b) early career teacher induction.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Religious education (RE) is an essential part of a school’s curriculum and remains a compulsory subject in all state funded schools, including academies, to all pupils up to the age of 18. RE develops an individual’s knowledge and understanding of the religions and beliefs which form part of contemporary society, as well as serving to inform their own values and behaviour.
The department is offering a £10,000 bursary for RE trainee teachers starting Initial Teacher Training courses in the 2024/25 academic year. The department has published this information on the ‘Get Into Teaching’ website and will be marketing the offer to prospective teachers through other channels.
The mandatory Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Core Content Framework (CCF) sets out a core minimum entitlement for all trainees of what should be covered during their teacher training. While all ITT courses must encompass the CCF in full, it remains for accredited ITT providers to design their full course curricula in a way that is appropriate to the needs of trainees and for the subject, phase, and age range that the trainees will be teaching, which for some ITT courses, would include religious education training.
To be awarded Qualified Teacher Status, trainee teachers must demonstrate that they satisfy all of the Teaching Standards at the appropriate level, including Part Two of the standards, which requires all teachers to demonstrate consistently high standards of personal and professional behaviour.
The department has publicly committed to reviewing the ITT CCF and Early Career Framework (ECF) alongside each other. Building on lessons learned from the first few years of CCF implementation and ECF delivery, the department plans to revise the CCF and ECF into a more closely combined framework, or set of frameworks, which cover the first three years or more at the start of a teacher’s career articulating what trainee and new teachers need to know and need to know how to do.
This underpins a joined-up sequence of training and development over at least the first three years of new teachers’ careers to support them at the start of their new career. The department aims to ensure that what new teachers learn across these early years of their career delivers continuous, coherent and complementary learning for all trainees and new teachers, and provides the confidence and skills for a lifelong career in teaching.
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 take steps to fund network hubs for Religious Education; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Religious education (RE) is an essential part of a school’s curriculum and remains a compulsory subject in all state funded schools, including academies, to all pupils up to the age of 18. RE develops an individual’s knowledge and understanding of the religions and beliefs which form part of contemporary society, as well as serving to inform their own values and behaviour.
Although the Department has not been involved in the establishment of the RE Hubs project, the Department welcomes its work to support teachers and practitioners. The Department currently has no plans to provide funding for the project. The Department does, however, provide support for RE in other ways.
The Department is offering a £10,000 bursary for RE trainee teachers starting Initial Teacher Training courses in the 2024/25 academic year. The Department has published this information on the ‘Get Into Teaching’ website and will be marketing the offer to prospective teachers through other channels.
To ensure high standards of RE teaching, resources will be procured by Oak National Academy during the second tranche of its work. Oak will work closely with the sector and utilise sector experience when producing new materials for RE. This will ensure that high quality lessons are available nationwide, benefitting both teachers and pupils, should schools opt to use them.
To support high standards of RE teaching in all schools, the Department is continuing to offer eight week subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) courses in the 2023/24 academic year, for candidates who have the potential to become outstanding teacher but need to increase their subject knowledge. The eight week SKE course, available in RE, can be undertaken on a full time or part time basis, but must be completed before qualified teacher status can be recommended and awarded. Eligible candidates could be entitled to a SKE bursary of £175 per week to support them financially whilst completing their SKE course. More information on these courses is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/subject-knowledge-enhancement-an-introduction.
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 is taking steps to ensure that regulations on the teaching of religious education are the same for individual academies and multi-academy trusts; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Religious education (RE) is an essential part of a school’s curriculum and remains a compulsory subject in all state funded schools in England, including academies, for all pupils up to the age of 18.
There are no regulations relating to teaching of RE. The statutory duty for maintained schools to teach the subject is set out in primary legislation. This requirement is mirrored in funding agreements for mainstream academies and multi-academy trusts.