Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what data they keep on the (1) educational, and (2) wellbeing, outcomes of children who are being home-educated at (a) national, and (b) local authority, level.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not hold data on the amount of funding that local authorities allocate to support their existing duties in relation to elective home education. However, new burdens assessments have been undertaken with regards to the proposals for Children Not in School registers and the accompanying support duty for local authorities, which will be used to help determine the level of financial support needed to enable local authorities to comply with their proposed new statutory duties.
The department does not hold data on educational or wellbeing outcomes of children who are being home-educated. Parents have the right to home educate as they choose, provided the education is suitable to the age, ability, aptitude, and the special educational needs of the child. There are no requirements for these children to undertake formal assessments, at set points, which are typically used as part of measuring the outcomes of children attending school. Therefore, no data of this nature is collected.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many children are currently (1) home educated, (2) being taught in an unregistered provision, and (3) missing from schools rolls and unaccounted for.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
There is no statutory requirement for local authorities or the department to hold information on home educated children, children taught in unregistered provision, or children missing from school rolls, though such data may be held by local authorities.
Local authorities have a duty under Section 436A of the Education Act 1996 to identify children of compulsory school age in their area who are not registered at a school, and are not receiving suitable education otherwise.
Information held on children who did not return to full-time education following the COIVD-19 pandemic is not held by the department.
Between 6 October and 4 November 2022, the department requested local authorities aggregate data on elective home education and children missing education to improve understanding of these cohorts. This data is being analysed and will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the total number of children who did not return to full time education following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
There is no statutory requirement for local authorities or the department to hold information on home educated children, children taught in unregistered provision, or children missing from school rolls, though such data may be held by local authorities.
Local authorities have a duty under Section 436A of the Education Act 1996 to identify children of compulsory school age in their area who are not registered at a school, and are not receiving suitable education otherwise.
Information held on children who did not return to full-time education following the COIVD-19 pandemic is not held by the department.
Between 6 October and 4 November 2022, the department requested local authorities aggregate data on elective home education and children missing education to improve understanding of these cohorts. This data is being analysed and will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many children from deprived backgrounds are home educated.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
There is no statutory requirement for local authorities or the department to hold information on home educated children, children taught in unregistered provision, or children missing from school rolls, though such data may be held by local authorities.
Local authorities have a duty under Section 436A of the Education Act 1996 to identify children of compulsory school age in their area who are not registered at a school, and are not receiving suitable education otherwise.
Information held on children who did not return to full-time education following the COIVD-19 pandemic is not held by the department.
Between 6 October and 4 November 2022, the department requested local authorities aggregate data on elective home education and children missing education to improve understanding of these cohorts. This data is being analysed and will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how children are safeguarded when being home educated.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
There is no statutory requirement for local authorities or the department to hold information on home educated children, children taught in unregistered provision, or children missing from school rolls, though such data may be held by local authorities.
Local authorities have a duty under Section 436A of the Education Act 1996 to identify children of compulsory school age in their area who are not registered at a school, and are not receiving suitable education otherwise.
Information held on children who did not return to full-time education following the COIVD-19 pandemic is not held by the department.
Between 6 October and 4 November 2022, the department requested local authorities aggregate data on elective home education and children missing education to improve understanding of these cohorts. This data is being analysed and will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of 12 pages of the AQA Chemistry A-Level examination being leaked on the social media app Snapchat before that examination took place.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is aware of the reports around an alleged leak of material from a A-level Chemistry paper and we take all allegations of wrongdoing extremely seriously. While serious exam malpractice remains rare, it is vital that any breach is thoroughly investigated by the exam boards.
Exam boards have well established processes in place to manage such incidents. AQA have confirmed that their exams integrity team is investigating these reports and they will take any action necessary, including working with the police.
Exam boards have demonstrated previously that they are able to effectively gather evidence about the students who had unauthorised access to any questions before the exam was taken. In the event of a leak, Ofqual will work with the exam board to minimise the impact on students.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Barran on 25 May (HL235), how many Ukrainian university students have been given visas to study at a UK university, following Russia's invasion of that country.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The information requested is not held by the department. The Home Office is responsible for issuing visas, including student visas.
Following Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine we have seen an extremely positive response from the higher education sector in their offer of support to future cohorts of Ukrainian students. We are confident the sector will do their upmost to support Ukrainians wishing to access higher education in the next academic year.
In addition, UUKi are progressing wider efforts to establish a mechanism to match UK universities with Ukrainian institutions through a twinning arrangement. The intention of this programme is to help Ukrainian universities sustain their operations and wherever possible, continue to retain their staff and students, albeit in partnership or remotely.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the requirements of charitable status on independent schools; and who ensures that those requirements are fulfilled.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not regulate the charitable status of independent schools. The Charity Commission is an independent, non-ministerial government department that has responsibility for registering eligible organisations as charities and for outlining the requirements placed on them when achieving charitable status.
The advancement of education is a charitable purpose and so independent schools are capable of being charities. Currently, approximately 50% of independent schools hold charitable status. Irrespective of charitable status or otherwise, all independent schools must always meet the same independent school standards.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many children with special educational needs and disabilities do not have a place in an educational setting.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The information requested is not held for all children with special educational needs and disabilities. However, the department holds data from local authorities on the number of children and young persons with education, health and care (EHC) plans “awaiting provision”, available in the publication ‘Education, health and care plans’ at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans/2022.
The “awaiting provision” category covers children and young people in a wide range of circumstances who are awaiting the provision specified on their EHC plan. This includes, for example, some who are in an education setting but are awaiting provision in another setting, including those currently attending a mainstream school who are to move to a special school, and some who have only recently moved into the area.
The last published figure in May 2022 for the number of children of compulsory school age who have an EHC plan and were not in education on the census date is 1,503, which represents 0.3% of all EHC plans. The equivalent figures for other age groups are also in the published data.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Ukrainian students have been offered at a place at a UK university; and what are those universities.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Latest statistics from the Higher Education Statistics Agency show there were 870 students from Ukraine studying at UK higher education (HE) providers in the academic year 2020/21. Further information on where they were studying can be found here: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-59.
Following Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine, we have seen an extremely positive response from the HE sector in their offer of support to future cohorts of Ukrainian students and I am confident the sector will do their upmost to support Ukrainians wishing to access HE.
To support those who are granted leave under the Home for Ukraine Scheme, the Ukraine Family Scheme or the Ukraine Extension scheme, introduced by the Home Office, we have extended access to HE student support, home fee status, tuition fee caps, Advanced learner loans and FE19+ funding. This ensures Ukrainians who have been affected by the war in Ukraine can access support on the same basis as those within other protection-based categories (such as refugees).
Further information regarding the admissions of Ukrainian students entering UK HE in 2022 will be available through UCAS acceptances data at the end of the year.