Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress his Department has made on the introduction of emergency life saving skills lessons in schools.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Schools are now required to teach first aid as part of statutory health education. In this subject, pupils are taught how to deal with common injuries, call the emergency services, administer CPR and understand the purpose of defibrillators.
To support teachers to deliver this topic the department published a first aid teacher training module, which was produced with expert input from St John Ambulance and Resuscitation Council UK. This module is freely available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-training-basic-first-aid. Many schools use organisations such as St John Ambulance, the British Heart Foundation and the British Red Cross to support delivery of the topic.
The national curriculum for physical education (PE) also sets out that schools should teach water safety skills by the end of key stage 2 alongside compulsory swimming lessons. These include a requirement for children to be able to perform safe self-rescue in a variety of water-based situations. Oak National Academy, funded by the department, have also made virtual water safety lessons available. To further support schools, the government has committed to invest £30 million over the next three financial years, which will include a specific programme to improve provision of PE, school sport and physical activity in primary schools in England, including swimming and water safety.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding schools in Swindon have received per pupil in each of the last 5 years.
Answered by Jonathan Gullis
The schools block funding allocated to schools from the 2018/2019 to the 2022/2023 financial year for Swindon local authority is as follows:
Swindon Local Authority | Primary funding per pupil | Secondary funding per pupil |
2018-19 | £3,735.80 | £4,894.86 |
2019-20 | £3,789.21 | £5,042.79 |
2020-21 | £3,986.98 | £5,259.99 |
2021-22 | £4,345.79 | £5,702.33 |
2022-23 | £4,460.37 | £5,872.04 |
Further information on school funding statistics can be found here:
https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-funding-statistics.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to encourage more women to take up STEM qualifications.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
To ensure a strong pipeline of qualified students into science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) areas, the department has committed substantial spending on mathematics, digital and technical education. This includes funding the Stimulating Physics Network which provides tailored support to schools to increase rates of progression to physics A level and funding an Inclusion in Schools project, delivered by the Association for Science Education, which is designed to increase the uptake of A level physics from students in underrepresented groups, including girls. The department has also funded an £84 million programme to improve computing teaching and participation at GCSE and A level, particularly amongst girls.
Additionally, the department has funded research programmes to investigate ways to tackle gender balance in STEM subjects, including the Improving Gender Balance national research trial for physics and the Gender Balance in Computing Programme. The computing research, led by the Raspberry Pi Foundation, has now concluded and its findings will be published in due course.
The department has introduced T Levels as a high-quality technical alternative to A levels. The current T Levels in Science and Digital, as well as the upcoming T Levels in Engineering and Manufacturing, will provide opportunities for all students to study STEM-related subjects. To challenge stereotypes which may hold young people back, including gender stereotypes, we are using T Level ambassadors to showcase a wide range of voices from those already studying T levels, including girls taking STEM-related T Levels.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps the Government has taken to encourage young people to take up STEM qualifications.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
To ensure a strong pipeline of qualified students into science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) areas, the department has committed substantial spending on mathematics, digital and technical education. This includes funding the Stimulating Physics Network which provides tailored support to schools to increase rates of progression to physics A level and funding an Inclusion in Schools project, delivered by the Association for Science Education, which is designed to increase the uptake of A level physics from students in underrepresented groups, including girls. The department has also funded an £84 million programme to improve computing teaching and participation at GCSE and A level, particularly amongst girls.
Additionally, the department has funded research programmes to investigate ways to tackle gender balance in STEM subjects, including the Improving Gender Balance national research trial for physics and the Gender Balance in Computing Programme. The computing research, led by the Raspberry Pi Foundation, has now concluded and its findings will be published in due course.
The department has introduced T Levels as a high-quality technical alternative to A levels. The current T Levels in Science and Digital, as well as the upcoming T Levels in Engineering and Manufacturing, will provide opportunities for all students to study STEM-related subjects. To challenge stereotypes which may hold young people back, including gender stereotypes, we are using T Level ambassadors to showcase a wide range of voices from those already studying T levels, including girls taking STEM-related T Levels.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to help make school uniforms more affordable.
Answered by Jonathan Gullis
The ‘Cost of school uniform’ guidance, which was published in November 2021 and came into force at the start of September, requires schools to ensure that their uniform is affordable and secures best value for money for parents. It requires schools to:
Headteachers know their school communities best and can make decisions on the branded items that are most appropriate to their school. Branded items create a sense of common identity and prevent pupils from competing against one another in the latest fashion trends. The guidance requires school leaders to carefully consider the overall cost implications of their chosen approach, including whether requiring a branded item is the most cost-effective way of achieving the desired result for their uniform. To ensure that school uniform acts as a social leveller, optional branded items should be kept to a minimum.
The guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cost-of-school-uniforms/cost-of-school-uniforms.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to recruit adequate numbers of computing teachers in schools.
Answered by Jonathan Gullis
In 2021, there were almost 6,600 computing teachers in state-funded secondary schools in England, which is 520 more than in 2020.
Recruitment to computing is supported by tax free scholarships of £26,000 and bursaries of £24,000 for postgraduate trainees, as it is considered a high priority subject.
The teaching marketing campaign provides inspiration and support to explore a career in teaching and directs people to the Get Into Teaching service. Prospective trainees can access support and advice through expert one-to-one Teacher Training Advisers, a contact centre and a national programme of events.
Additionally, the Get School Experience digital service arranges school experience placements between prospective candidates and schools. Get Into Teaching is also developing innovative activities to ensure future interest in teaching, with a focus on shortage subjects, such as teaching internships for computing, physics and maths undergraduates.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking with local authorities to help ensure that school facilities are available for use by local communities.
Answered by Jonathan Gullis
The Department encourages all schools to take an active part in their local communities with many schools already opening up their facilities to support local groups. These include sports teams using school pitches, or community groups using school halls in the evening. For academies, the Department has also taken steps to ensure community use through the funding agreement which states that academy trusts ‘must ensure that each of its academies is at the heart of its community, promoting community cohesion and sharing facilities with other schools and/or other educational institutions and the wider community.’
The Department announced in October 2021 that it will invest nearly £30 million per year to open up school sport facilities in England, as well as to improve the teaching of Physical Education in primary schools. The Department is currently procuring phase 3 of the Opening School Facilities programme, which will provide further support to schools to open their sport and leisure facilities in the evenings, at weekends and during the school holidays.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of setting different school term times for different regions in order to spread the demand for school holidays and thereby reduce holiday costs for parents and school staff.
Answered by Robin Walker
The department does not have any plans to propose changes to term dates. School holidays are not determined at national level, they are agreed locally by trusts, schools, and local authorities (depending on school type). We believe that they are best placed to set school term and holiday dates in the interests of the pupils at their schools and their parents.
If schools do decide to change their term dates, they are required to act reasonably, giving parents notice and considering the impact on those affected. This includes pupils, teachers, the local community, parents’ work commitments and childcare options for both parents and teachers.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of encouraging schools to use their powers to alter term dates in order to spread the demand for school holidays and reduce holiday costs for parents and school staff.
Answered by Robin Walker
The department does not have any plans to propose changes to term dates. School holidays are not determined at national level, they are agreed locally by trusts, schools, and local authorities (depending on school type). We believe that they are best placed to set school term and holiday dates in the interests of the pupils at their schools and their parents.
If schools do decide to change their term dates, they are required to act reasonably, giving parents notice and considering the impact on those affected. This includes pupils, teachers, the local community, parents’ work commitments and childcare options for both parents and teachers.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of concerns highlighted by The Independent Game Developers’ Association on the impact of removing funding for BTECs for young people on people wishing to pursue a career in the video games industry.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
In July 2021 the department published the response to the second stage consultation in its review of post-16 qualifications at level 3 which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reforms-to-post-16-qualifications-at-level-3-in-england. The consultation outlines the types of qualifications that we plan to fund in the future.
This will include some applied general type qualifications, for example BTECs, as part of mixed programmes alongside A levels where there is a need and they meet quality and other criteria. We will also fund high-quality alternative qualifications as a whole study programme in areas not well served by A levels and where they do not overlap with a T Level.
The department has made no decisions on the individual qualifications. We will shortly publish a provisional list of qualifications that will have public funding approval withdrawn as they duplicate the content and purpose of wave one and two T Levels. Qualifications that do not overlap with T Levels will be replaced by high quality reformed technical qualifications in future.
The updated impact assessment published alongside the response to the second stage consultation can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-post-16-qualifications-at-level-3-in-england. The assessment looked at the potential impact of the review on students, but it did not look specifically at those looking to pursue a career in the video games industry.