Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase the uptake of higher technical qualifications.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department is delivering reforms to increase the profile, prestige and uptake of higher technical education. Central to this is the introduction of Higher Technical Qualifications (HTQs). Increasing uptake in HTQs is key to help people climb the ladder of opportunity and progress to more highly skilled jobs and careers.
HTQs became available for teaching from September 2022, starting with Digital HTQs. There are over 70 providers able to deliver HTQs from September 2022, with the majority being further education colleges. 106 qualifications have now been approved as HTQs across Digital, Construction and Health and Science routes, with HTQs in the latter two routes available for teaching from September this year. HTQs across all occupational routes are due to be rolled out by academic year 2025/26 where relevant occupational standards are available.
To support more people studying HTQs as they roll out, we are promoting HTQs as part of national government skills communications and engagement campaigns for young people, adults and employers, as well as working with partners such as UCAS and National Careers Service to improve the information and support available.
We have also announced investments of around £70 million to date to support the growth of high quality higher technical education (HTE). This includes supporting providers to grow capacity through the HTE Growth Fund and Skills Injection Fund. We are also supporting the Open University to deliver validation services and support for up to 10 further education providers to give them the confidence and capability to deliver the courses local people want and develop the skills base local employers need.
The department has extended student finance access for HTQs. From September 2023 learners studying HTQs part-time will be able to access maintenance loans, as they can with degrees. This will help learners fit study around work and other commitments.
HTQs will be among the first courses eligible for modular funding when the Lifelong Loan Entitlement launches in academic year 2025/26, as announced on 7 March 2023, providing more flexible options for learning.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase the uptake of degree apprenticeships.
Answered by Robert Halfon
There were over 43,000 starts at levels 6 and 7 in the 2021/22 academic year, which is an increase of 10.3% on the previous year.
The department wants to see continued growth year-on-year in degree-level apprenticeships, and want to ensure that these opportunities are accessible to young people from all backgrounds. To support this, over the next two years the department is making up to £40 million available to higher education providers through the Strategic Priorities Grant, to grow their degree apprenticeship provision and form new employer partnerships, on top of the department’s £8 million investment in 2022/23.
We are also promoting apprenticeships in schools and further education colleges to students of all backgrounds through our Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge programme. The department has published the Higher and Degree apprenticeship vacancy listing, which highlights over 350 vacancies across the country that are available for young people to apply for in 2023 and 2024. This listing is available here: https://amazingapprenticeships.com/app/uploads/2022/11/Higher-Degree-Listing-FEB-2023.pdf.
In addition, the department is working with UCAS on the expansion of their apprenticeships service. From this autumn, young people will see more personalised options on UCAS, including apprenticeships. This will help put technical and vocational education on an equal footing with traditional academic routes.
Alongside this, the department continues to work on a programme of ‘simplification’, exploring ways we can remove unnecessary bureaucracy, complexity, and barriers to engagement for apprentices, employers, and providers.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve the standard of teaching in schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The quality of teaching is the most important in-school factor in improving outcomes for children, especially for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Department is transforming the training and support for new and existing teachers and aims to deliver 500,000 teacher training and development courses by the end of 2024.
The Department has introduced improved quality requirements that all initial teacher training (ITT) courses must meet from September 2024. This is based on a review by an expert advisory group, and 179 providers have been successful following a rigorous accreditation process in 2022 designed to drive up the quality and consistency of teacher training. Together with the new Early Career Framework, these reforms will ensure that new teachers will now benefit from at least three years of evidence based training, across ITT and into their induction.
The Department has also provided a renewed suite of National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) for teachers and school leaders at all levels, from those who want to develop expertise in high quality teaching practice to those leading multiple schools across trusts. Since autumn 2021, eligible teachers and leaders have been able to access scholarships to undertake fully-funded NPQs.
These measures will create a golden thread of teacher training running from ITT through to school leadership, rooting teacher and leader development in the best available evidence.
The Department is also funding several subject specific curriculum programmes that help improve the quality of teaching and offer high quality Career Professional Development for schools. The Department funds a range of networks of curriculum hubs for subjects including maths, science, computing, English, languages, and music. Plans to expand the reach of maths hubs support were announced on 17 April 2023. Further details can be found on here: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2023-04-17/hcws715.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she taking with Cabinet colleagues to ensure that education and training programmes meet local skills needs.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department is working with colleagues across government to put employers at the heart of local skills systems, through the rollout of Local Skills Improvement Plans. These employer-led plans will help ensure that skills provision better meets the needs of employers and helps people develop the skills they need to get good jobs and succeed.
Additionally, the Unit for Future Skills (UFS) was set up in 2022 to provide decision makers in the skills system with information they need to invest in the right skills to meet national and local employer needs and support economic growth.
The UFS proactively works across departments and with organisations beyond government to:
For example, the Local Skills Dashboard supports local skills planning and delivery, including up-to-date information and published data on local skills, education and employment. Data is provided at bespoke geographies, including Local Skills Improvement Plan areas, in an easy-to-navigate format alongside links to additional resources and data downloads. The dashboard is available at: https://department-for-education.shinyapps.io/local-skills-dashboard/.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve early years teacher training.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Woking, to the answer I gave on 16 January 2023 to Question 177575.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve reading standards.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In 2018, the Department launched the English Hubs Programme to spread best practice in the teaching of reading, with a focus on phonics, early language development and reading for pleasure. Since its launch, the Department has concentrated over £40 million of funding in this programme to improve the teaching of reading. The English Hubs are currently delivering intensive support to over 1,000 partner schools, reaching approximately 50,000 pupils in Reception and Year 1.
These schools contain an above average proportion of free school meal pupils, who are over represented in the programme, along with those schools underperforming in phonics.
In 2021, the Department published non-statutory guidance, The Reading Framework, aimed at improving the teaching of the foundations of reading in primary schools, by defining pedagogy and best practice.
These form part of a supportive package of measures which also includes an updated list of validated phonics programmes, and a new National Professional Qualification for Leading Literacy, as well as the funding for the purchase of phonics programmes.
To help schools measure progress, the Government introduced a statutory phonics screening check in 2012 for pupils at the end of Year 1. By 2022, 87% of 7 year olds met this standard, which is a significant predictor of later reading comprehension performance.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to improve the quality of apprenticeships.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department’s reforms have transformed apprenticeships. The department wants to further improve the quality of apprenticeships so that as many apprentices as possible benefit from these opportunities. The department has set an aim of reaching a 67% achievement rate for apprenticeship standards by the end of the 2024/25 academic year. To support this ambition, we are taking a range of actions to drive up apprenticeship quality and achievements.
The content of every apprenticeship is now designed directly by employers. Every apprentice has protected time off the job to dedicate to their training and all apprentices complete a rigorous end point assessment to confirm their competency. These changes mean that apprenticeships are now higher quality and better meet the needs of employers and individuals.
To support employers give their apprentices a high-quality experience, the department is working with them to improve their apprenticeship programmes and providing them with targeted support including through our Employer Quality Roadmap which provides guidance on what employers need to be doing at each stage of the apprenticeship.
To support providers to deliver high quality provision, the department is continuing to invest in a professional development programme for teachers and trainers of apprentices. We have strengthened our measures for holding training providers to account, using a wider range of quality indicators and user feedback. Ofsted will also be fully inspecting all apprenticeship providers by 2025.
To support apprentices to make the right choices, the department is making sure they get the best possible advice and support at every stage of their apprenticeship journey, supported by new digital support services and better careers advice. The department has also launched a new exit feedback tool for apprentices who have withdrawn, and a new feedback tool for existing apprentices to provide feedback on their training provider. We will use this feedback to inform further improvements.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve early years teacher training.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The department is committed to ensuring there are routes to graduate level qualifications in the early years sector. The department funds the level 6 Early Years Initial Teacher Training programme qualification. This provides up to £5,000 per eligible trainee in bursaries, and £7,000 per eligible employer with a trainee on the programme.
The department is investing up to £180 million in training, qualifications and support for the early years workforce as part of the early years education recovery programme. One element of this is significantly expanding the number of fully funded Early Years Initial Teacher Training places for the current and next academic year. We are also reviewing the level 3 early years educator qualification criteria.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to improve the quality of school buildings.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Well maintained, safe school buildings are a priority for the Department.
The Department allocates annual condition funding to schools and those responsible for school buildings to maintain and improve the condition of the school estate. The Department has allocated over £13 billion for this purpose since 2015, including £1.8 billion committed for the current financial year.
The Department has recently announced that eligible schools will also receive an allocation from an additional £447 million in capital funding in 2022/23 for capital improvements to buildings and facilities, prioritising works to improve energy efficiency. Condition allocations are published online at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-capital-funding.
The School Rebuilding Programme (SRP) will carry out major rebuilding and refurbishment projects at 500 schools across England, with buildings prioritised based on their condition. There are now 400 projects in the programme. The most recent set of 239 schools were announced in December 2022. Confirmed projects can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme.
All new and refurbished school buildings delivered by the Department must meet the same high standard of design and construction. The specification is updated on a four year cycle based on good industry practice. The latest specification (S21) is the first to have net zero carbon in operation standards and includes approaches to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of foster care placements.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The department recognises the urgency of action in ensuring sufficient foster placements. The department continues to fund Fosterline and Fosterline Plus, a free-to-access helpline and support service for current and prospective foster carers, to provide high quality, independent information and advice on a range of issues.
Since 2014, the department has provided over £8 million to help embed the Mockingbird programme, an innovative model of peer support for foster parents and the children in their care. The department is also committed to engaging widely with those with care experience and all interested stakeholders to help us agree an implementation strategy that will drive the right change and scale up good practice across the country.
The department is currently working with local authorities to recruit more foster carers and improving the conversion rate from expressions of interest to approval. This includes local recruitment campaigns that build towards a national programme, to help ensure children have access to the right placements at the right time.
The department is carefully considering the recommendations made in the independent review of children’s social care and will publish a detailed and ambitious implementation strategy early in 2023.