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Written Question
Natural History: GCSE
Friday 16th June 2023

Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to sign off the proposed Natural History GCSE.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department announced the introduction of a new natural history GCSE last year. We are committed to developing the GCSE as quickly as possible, provided that it meets the rigorous requirements that apply to all GCSEs. The department is working closely with OCR and other exam boards, and independent experts to develop draft subject content for the GCSE.

The department aims to consult publicly on the draft subject content later this year. Any amendments to subject content will then be made in light of responses to the public consultation.


Written Question
Home Education
Tuesday 21st February 2023

Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is Ofsted's policy regarding its expectation of the duties and actions of Local Authority Elective Home Education Officers.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

When inspecting Local Authority children’s social care services, Ofsted looks at the arrangements for children’s welfare and protection while they are being electively home educated.

Ofsted will look at the ways in which Local Authorities identify children who are not receiving suitable education and what steps the Local Authority takes to deal with that, particularly those children who are either on a child protection plan, education, health and care plan, or are a child in need as part of its children’s social care remit. They may also request a report on children for whom the local authority is responsible who are of school age and who are not in receipt of full-time school education at the time of inspection.

The ‘Evaluating the educational progress of children in care and care leavers’ section of the Ofsted framework for inspections states that Her Majesty’s Inspectors will analyse data and information on elective home educated children and children missing education, as part of these inspections.

Inspectors do not have powers to evaluate or comment on the quality of home education, only the way Local Authorities deal with it as part of their statutory responsibilities.


Written Question
Free School Meals: Ethnic Groups
Monday 6th December 2021

Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government which 50 schools had the highest average Progress 8 scores for (1) boys, and (2) girls, in the summer of 2019; and for those schools, what were the percentage of White British (a) boys, and (b) girls, who received Free School Meals; and for each of these groups, what was their average Progress 8 score.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The attached file contains the top 50 schools with the highest average progress 8 scores for boys and girls in the 2019 academic year. Each of these lists is populated with the closest information currently available. Amongst other variables, each list of schools contains the following information: the adjusted progress 8 score, the adjusted progress 8 score for boys and girls, and the adjusted progress 8 score of disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils.

Disadvantaged status considers whether the pupil has received free school meals in the last six years or were looked after for one day or more.


Written Question
Free School Meals: Ethnic Groups
Monday 6th December 2021

Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government which schools in England had more than 40 per cent of pupils who (1) identified as White British, and (2) were in receipt of Free School Meals, in the summer of 2019.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department publishes annual statistics on the number of pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) and identifying as different ethnicities. The figures are based on January school census data and included in the statistical release ‘Schools, Pupils and their Characteristics’. We do not routinely publish summer term FSM figures and we do not collect ethnicity as part of the summer census. Therefore, figures derived from the spring census 2019 have been provided. Figures for January 2019 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2019.

The attached tables show schools which had more than 40% of pupils identifying as white British and schools that had more than 40% of pupils eligible for FSM in January 2019.


Written Question
Schools: Sanitation
Tuesday 9th November 2021

Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what regulations regarding the provision of toilets apply to (1) maintained schools, (2) academy schools, and (3) independent schools.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 states that, in relation to toilets, a room is a space that, “can be secured from the inside and that is intended for use by one pupil at a time”. This is the standard which is applied to school buildings.

The regulations relating to the provision of toilets for mainstream schools are in the School Premises (England) Regulation 2012. The regulations for independents schools and academies are held in the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014.


Written Question
Schools: Sanitation
Tuesday 9th November 2021

Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to Independent School Standards Regulation 23A in the Advice on Standards for School Premises, published by the Department for Education in March 2015, whether an individual cubicle consisting of only a toilet and no washing facilities, that can be secured from the inside, constitutes a "room"; or whether a "room" constitutes an entire washroom space, including the cubicle and washing facilities outside it.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 states that, in relation to toilets, a room is a space that, “can be secured from the inside and that is intended for use by one pupil at a time”. This is the standard which is applied to school buildings.

The regulations relating to the provision of toilets for mainstream schools are in the School Premises (England) Regulation 2012. The regulations for independents schools and academies are held in the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014.


Written Question
Education: Young People
Monday 19th July 2021

Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of 17 year-olds in each local authority in England; and what proportion of them are studying for (1) academic, and (2) vocational qualifications, at state schools (a) within, and (b) outside, the local authority.

Answered by Baroness Berridge

Information is not available for the specific breakdowns requested.

There are 2 table attachments for this response. The first table attachment (titled ‘Annex A’), has local authority level data showing the proportion of the population aged 17 in education and training as at March 2020. The proportion of 17 year olds participating will include those studying academic and vocational qualifications, participating on an apprenticeship or in wider training or re-engagement activity that complies with raising the participation age requirements. Activity can take place in schools, general further education colleges, sixth form colleges or private training providers.

The second table attachment for this response (titled ‘Annex B’), has local authority level data giving the proportion of children aged 17 in each local authority who attend state schools within and outside the local authority they reside, as at January 2020.


Written Question
Pupil Exclusions
Tuesday 25th May 2021

Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the new national Behaviour Survey, outlined by the Education Secretary in his speech to the Confederation of School Trusts on 28 April, will set out the connection between the details of pupil behaviour and any sanctions applied; if not, whether the survey will record the details of behaviour that results in exclusions; and whether such information will be linked to the unique pupil number so that related pupil characteristics can be explored.

Answered by Baroness Berridge

This government is committed to improving behaviour and discipline in schools because we know the impact poor pupil behaviour can have on education as well as teacher wellbeing and retention.

On 28 April, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced that a new termly national Behaviour Survey will be running during the next academic year to give a regular snapshot of the state of behaviour in our schools. Further details on its scope will be made clear in due course.

Statistics on suspensions and permanent exclusions can be found from the National Statistics release ‘Permanent and fixed-period exclusions in England 2018 to 2019’ across state-funded schools. This includes the reasons schools report for excluding and exclusion by different pupil characteristics. The release is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/permanent-and-fixed-period-exclusions-in-england-2018-to-2019.


Written Question
Schools: Admissions
Tuesday 6th April 2021

Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for requiring schools that are responsible for their own admissions policies to provide their local education authority with (1) data on the most recent admissions round, and (2) their current admissions policies.

Answered by Baroness Berridge

Local authorities will hold data on the most recent admission round because they receive all applications in the normal admissions round and send out offers of places on the national offer days, which are 1 March for secondary schools and 16 April for primary schools.

All admission arrangements for state-funded schools are also published in the local authority composite admissions prospectus which can be found on each local authority’s website.

Admission authorities are required, by the School Admissions Code and the School Information (England) Regulations 2008, to send their admission arrangements to their local authorities for inclusion in the composite prospectus by 8 August each year.


Written Question
Home Education
Monday 8th March 2021

Asked by: Lord Lucas (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government on what basis the Office of the Children's Commissioner for England categorises 'children withdrawn from school to be home educated' as 'vulnerable children'.

Answered by Baroness Berridge

The Office of the Children’s Commissioner is independent of the government and Parliament.

Children can be vulnerable for many different reasons. For the majority, being home educated will not affect the risk they are at. The government supports the right of parents to educate children at home when they wish to do so. Educating children at home works well when it is a positive choice and carried out with a proper regard for the needs of the child. However, we are looking carefully at the rise in Elective Home Education (EHE), particularly in respect to those children who have a social worker, education health and care plan or are known to children’s social care.

Following the announcement made by my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, on 22 February 2021, children are expected to attend provision from 8 March 2021. We are working closely with local authorities to encourage a return to full attendance in school and will be monitoring the situation, particularly to ensure that vulnerable children make a good transition back to school where they have not attended during the period of national restrictions. Where parents are anxious about the safety of their children returning to school, local authorities and school leaders will be reinforcing that it is in the best interests of pupils to return to school, particularly those who are vulnerable and might miss out most from time away from the classroom.

It is the responsibility of local authorities to take action when it appears that the EHE provision made by parents is unsuitable or a request for a child to be electively home educated would place the child at risk. If parents are unable to satisfy the local authority that the provision is suitable then the local authority can serve a school attendance order on the parents. In April 2019 we issued new and strengthened guidance to local authorities on how they can exercise these powers.

On 20 October 2020 we published advice for parents considering EHE, see link https://dfemedia.blog.gov.uk/2020/10/20/all-you-need-to-know-about-home-schooling-and-elective-home-education-ehe. This is designed to be shared with parents, schools, social workers and local authorities, where the option of EHE is raised. The document is intended to make clear implications of withdrawing their child from school and the challenge involved in providing EHE. At the same time we also produced information for local authorities and those who work with children, to set out how we expect those with duties to ensure children receive a suitable education to use their powers to engage with parents considering EHE where appropriate. This is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/elective-home-education.