Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce bullying in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Tackling and preventing bullying in schools is essential to ensuring that schools can provide calm and inclusive learning environments. All schools are legally required to have a behaviour policy with measures to prevent all forms of bullying. They have the freedom to develop their own anti-bullying strategies appropriate to their environment and are held to account by Ofsted.
Where bullying is reported, it is important that schools take prompt action to support the pupil and prevent the bullying from happening again. Ofsted’s renewed Education Inspection Framework, which has been in use from November 2025, evaluates a school’s approach to bullying during school inspections. This is considered through the lens of the attendance and behaviour evaluation area.
To support schools, the department has procured for the development of a bespoke evidence-based toolkit for teachers to guide them through approaches to tackling misbehaviour and bullying, and actions to focus on prevention.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to reduce regional inequalities in the ability to access private tutoring.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ White Paper sets out plans to build on support at home with a stretching, enriching and inclusive school experience to ensure every child has what they need to get on in life.
We know that many schools use their pupil premium to fund tuition. Schools can use their pupil premium to provide peer tutoring and one-to-one or small group tuition when choosing support that will most improve progress, using the department’s ‘menu of approaches’, which is informed by evidence of how best to improve disadvantaged pupils’ attainment.
Through our AI Tutoring Tools Programme, we will be co‑creating and trialling curriculum‑aligned, safe‑by‑design AI tutoring tools with teachers, pupils and experts. This will support teaching, build evidence of impact on attainment and inclusion to ensure pupils, including those who often cannot access private tuition, benefit from high quality individual learning support.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure children from disadvantaged backgrounds can access private tutoring.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ White Paper sets out plans to build on support at home with a stretching, enriching and inclusive school experience to ensure every child has what they need to get on in life.
We know that many schools use their pupil premium to fund tuition. Schools can use their pupil premium to provide peer tutoring and one-to-one or small group tuition when choosing support that will most improve progress, using the department’s ‘menu of approaches’, which is informed by evidence of how best to improve disadvantaged pupils’ attainment.
Through our AI Tutoring Tools Programme, we will be co‑creating and trialling curriculum‑aligned, safe‑by‑design AI tutoring tools with teachers, pupils and experts. This will support teaching, build evidence of impact on attainment and inclusion to ensure pupils, including those who often cannot access private tuition, benefit from high quality individual learning support.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support her Department offers to state schools to ensure the provision of adequate tutoring for pupils.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ White Paper sets out plans to build on support at home with a stretching, enriching and inclusive school experience to ensure every child has what they need to get on in life.
We know that many schools use their pupil premium to fund tuition. Schools can use their pupil premium to provide peer tutoring and one-to-one or small group tuition when choosing support that will most improve progress, using the department’s ‘menu of approaches’, which is informed by evidence of how best to improve disadvantaged pupils’ attainment.
Through our AI Tutoring Tools Programme, we will be co‑creating and trialling curriculum‑aligned, safe‑by‑design AI tutoring tools with teachers, pupils and experts. This will support teaching, build evidence of impact on attainment and inclusion to ensure pupils, including those who often cannot access private tuition, benefit from high quality individual learning support.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much their Department has spent on (a) advertising and (b) marketing in each of the last three years.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department's combined expenditure on advertising and marketing for the last three financial years is shown below:
• 2022/23: £34,652,453.53
• 2023/24: £45,761,086.36
• 2024/25: £ 49,833,936.25
This paid marketing activity directly supports operational delivery by helping to recruit more school and college teachers and early years staff, and by ensuring parents are aware of the support available to them and their families, including childcare entitlements and Best Start Family Hubs. It also raises awareness and understanding, and encourages take-up, of government-funded technical qualifications, skills and training offers amongst young people and adults, which is vital to economic growth and opportunity across the country.
The rising spend reflects the changing media landscape and high levels of media inflation, and where paid-for advertising and marketing is used, it is subject to Cabinet Office spending controls, which ensure taxpayer money is spent cost-effectively and reflects professional best practice.
Where possible, activity is delivered in-house as part of cross-government campaigns or at low cost through partner coordination.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of incorrect information in AI (a) learning resources and (b) tutoring on children’s educational attainment.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department recognises the importance of ensuring that artificial intelligence (AI) used in education is safe, evidence-based and supports genuine learning.
In January 2026, to complement work on the safe and effective use of AI, including our 5-point plan for AI in education, benchmarking, and the AI Education Content Store, the department announced that it was updating its generative AI product safety standards. Through programmes such as the EdTech testbeds and AI tutoring trials, we are generating robust evidence on the impact of AI on attainment, ensuring schools can make informed choices and that tools genuinely enhance teaching and learning.
Following the recommendations of the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, we are strengthening digital education, with topics such as AI being incorporated within the revised computing curriculum. Alongside this, updated relationships, sex and health education statutory guidance, required from September 2026, includes additional content on online safety, including identification of deepfakes and other misinformation.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with relevant stakeholders in education to discuss antisocial behaviour amongst school children.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department engages regularly with teachers and headteachers and their representative bodies on a range of issues, including pupil behaviour.
All schools are required by law to have a behaviour policy which outlines effective strategies that encourage good behaviour.
The department’s existing ‘Behaviour in schools’ guidance states that schools should make clear to pupils that good behaviour does not end at the school gate. Schools have the power to sanction pupils for misbehaviour outside of the school premises to a reasonable extent.
To support schools, the department is establishing 93 new regional improvements for standards and excellence Attendance and Behaviour Hubs. These hubs will be led by schools with excellent attendance and behaviour practice which will work closely with other schools to help improve their approach.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle persistent absence at (a) primary and (b) secondary schools.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department is taking a range of measures to tackle persistent absence in both primary and secondary schools. The statutory guidance ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ requires schools to take a support-first approach, including appointing a Senior Attendance champion, publishing a clear and easily-accessible attendance policy and to work in partnership with local authorities to reduce levels of absence. The full guidance is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66bf300da44f1c4c23e5bd1b/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance_-_August_2024.pdf.
Schools, trusts and local authorities also benefit from the department’s real-time attendance data tools and attendance toolkits, which enable early identification of emerging issues and support adoption of effective practice. Bespoke minimum attendance targets further assist schools in returning to pre-pandemic levels.
To support schools requiring additional intervention, the department launched new regional improvements for standards and excellence (RISE) attendance and behaviour hubs in January, with the capacity to support over 3,000 schools and deliver targeted assistance to up to 500. The national attendance mentoring programme is providing one-to-one support for 10,000 persistently absent pupils.
We are also addressing wider barriers through expanded primary breakfast clubs and increased access to specialist mental health professionals in every school.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of AI use on academic integrity.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department monitors the emerging impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) on education, including risks to academic integrity. Our published policy position on generative AI is evidence-based and sets out clear expectations for schools and colleges on safe, responsible and ethical use.
We work closely with regulators to ensure that academic integrity is protected and that providers have the support they need to prevent and respond to misuse of AI. In 2025 the Joint Council for Qualifications supported by Ofqual updated their guidance for schools on AI use in assessments. This provides clarity for teachers and assessors in identifying and managing potential malpractice and maintaining integrity of assessment. We have also made wider support materials publicly available that help education staff manage risks, promote ethical use, and reinforce robust approaches to detecting and addressing issues.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of guidelines on support for SEND children in the mainstream education system.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
To support children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), we will help mainstream settings to make the necessary changes to embed inclusive practice. We will develop new National Inclusion Standards to bring greater clarity and evidence to this space. These will set out, for the first time, support that should be available in every mainstream setting, and we will appoint an expert panel to develop and make recommendations regarding the content of the National Inclusion Standards.
The SEND Code of Practice provides statutory guidance for organisations supporting children with SEND. We have committed to updating the Code to reflect changes in the SEND system and findings of recent independent scrutiny, including from the Education Select Committee. The updated Code will clarify responsibilities for mainstream settings and establish a consistent approach to supporting children with SEND.
We are consulting on proposals to reform the SEND system, and the consultation is accessible at: https://consult.education.gov.uk/send-strategy-division/send-reform-putting-children-and-young-people-firs/. We will undertake a separate, full public consultation on the proposed changes to the Code of Practice to reflect best practice and the views of children and young people, families and professionals.