Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has for improving provision of financial education as part of the adult education curriculum.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The essential skills entitlements, funded through the adult skills fund (ASF), support adults without a GCSE maths grade 4 or higher, or equivalent qualification, or are assessed at working below this level, to undertake a range of free courses including maths GCSEs and functional skills qualifications.
As part of the ASF, Tailored Learning funding can also be used to fund provision supporting learners to address specific needs such as financial education.
Currently, approximately 68% of the ASF is devolved to 12 strategic authorities and delegated to the Mayor of London acting through the Greater London Authority. These authorities are responsible for the provision of adult education and allocation of the ASF in their local areas.
The Department for Work and Pensions is responsible for the remaining ASF in non-devolved areas where colleges and training providers have the freedom and flexibility to determine how they use their ASF to meet the needs of their communities.
Alongside, there is a range of apprenticeships available which provide training in occupationally specific financial knowledge and skills, for example, in payroll, investment or financial services-related roles. We also continue to fund apprentices to secure up to a L2 maths qualification as part of their apprenticeship.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to funding for physical education and sports on child obesity.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Physical activity is an important part of a healthy lifestyle that plays a role in tackling childhood obesity.
Too many children and young people do not meet the Chief Medical Officer’s recommendation of 60 minutes of daily physical activity. The department is taking action to ensure all children and young people have access to high quality PE, physical activity and sport.
Good PE lessons are important in securing a solid foundation for leading active lives. That is why we are reforming the PE curriculum to support participation and development across all four key stages.
We are setting up a new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network, which will bring together schools, grass-roots clubs, and sport national governing bodies, so children and young people get a range of opportunities to take part in sport and physical activity inside and outside of school.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to help support students who are retaking (a) maths and (b) English GCSE whilst in further education.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is committed to supporting high quality teaching and learning for students who are continuing their English and maths study during 16 to 19 under the maths and English condition of funding. The department has already introduced the requirement for providers to offer 100 hours minimum of classroom teaching per subject, supported by additional funding for providers, and set clearer expectations on which students should typically be entered into November resits, to avoid unnecessary repeated resits which we recognise are demoralising for students.
We are also introducing new level 1 stepping stone qualifications to support post-16 students to consolidate foundational skills and knowledge, preparing those with lower prior attainment for successful GCSE resits the following year. In addition, we are working with the further education Commissioner to gather and share effective practice, to help providers support their students.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help further education colleges support young people who are not in education, employment or training through (a) flexible funding arrangements and (b) supporting collaborative working with local authorities.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Through the Post-16 education and skills white paper, the department is committed to enabling local and strategic authorities, schools, and further education (FE) providers to more effectively identify, track and share data about young people. These measures aim to prevent young people falling out of education/training and becoming not in education, employment, or training, and look to ensure that those without a post-16 study plan are automatically allocated a place at a local college or FE provider.
We will provide £1.2 billion of additional investment per year in skills by 2028-2029. This investment will enable us to support 1.3 million learners each year. This significant investment will ensure there is increased funding to colleges and other 16-19 providers to maintain real terms per-student funding in the next academic year to respond to the demographic increase in 16 to 19-year-olds. This will enable the recruitment and retention of expert teachers in high value subject areas, and interventions to retain top teaching talent.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether those who leave further education before the end of their course are included in the without education, employment or training statistics in the year of departure.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department publishes statistics on those not in education, employment or training (NEET) for England from the labour force survey (LFS) for young people aged 16-24. These are accessible at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/neet-statistics-annual-brief/2024.
Additionally, estimates of young people aged 16 to 18 participating in education and training using the department’s administrative data are published at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/participation-in-education-and-training-and-employment/2024. This release contains the most robust measure for 16 to 18 year olds NEET.
Both NEET sources are based on status at time of data collection and therefore the definition does not rely on being out of education and employment for a specific length of time before being categorised as NEET.
Neither source can be used to estimate the number of young people who left school/further education before the end of their course. However, they will be included in the statistics as NEET if they had left their course prior to the reporting timeframe and not taken part in any employment or alternative education at that time.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure that further education colleges are able to apply discretion in relation to retaining students who may have been absent from maths or English GCSE lessons.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Further education colleges can decide to retain students who have been absent from their maths or English lessons, but they will have their future funding allocations reduced by half the national funding rate for every eligible student who is not offered the minimum planned teaching hours. This demonstrates the importance of supporting all students to make progress towards and attain level 2 in English and maths. A provider is permitted to opt out up to 2.5% of their 16- to 19 cohort from this requirement without financial penalty, where it is not appropriate to offer a student the minimum planned teaching hours.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to provide pathways for students who have been withdrawn from further educations due to their absence from Maths and English GCSE lessons.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Further education colleges can decide to retain students who have been absent from their maths or English lessons, but they will have their future funding allocations reduced by half the national funding rate for every eligible student who is not offered the minimum planned teaching hours. This demonstrates the importance of supporting all students to make progress towards and attain level 2 in English and maths. A provider is permitted to opt out up to 2.5% of their 16- to 19 cohort from this requirement without financial penalty, where it is not appropriate to offer a student the minimum planned teaching hours.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion or people without education, employment or training (a) left school and (b) left further education before the end of their course.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department publishes statistics on those not in education, employment or training (NEET) for England from the labour force survey (LFS) for young people aged 16-24. These are accessible at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/neet-statistics-annual-brief/2024.
Additionally, estimates of young people aged 16 to 18 participating in education and training using the department’s administrative data are published at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/participation-in-education-and-training-and-employment/2024. This release contains the most robust measure for 16 to 18 year olds NEET.
Both NEET sources are based on status at time of data collection and therefore the definition does not rely on being out of education and employment for a specific length of time before being categorised as NEET.
Neither source can be used to estimate the number of young people who left school/further education before the end of their course. However, they will be included in the statistics as NEET if they had left their course prior to the reporting timeframe and not taken part in any employment or alternative education at that time.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the number of students who are at risk of being withdrawn from their study programme for not attending their GCSE retake lessons.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Wyre Forest to the answer of 31 October 2025 to Question 83275.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department applies the same methodology for the number of people not in employment, education or training who are (a) 16 to 18 and (b) 18 to 24 years of age.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department publishes statistics on those not in education, employment or training (NEET) for England from the labour force survey (LFS) for young people aged 16-24. These statistics are accessible at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/neet-statistics-annual-brief/2024.
The methodology is consistent for all age groups and further details can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/methodology/neet-age-16-to-24-methodology. Estimates relate to the status of young people as recorded for the associated response period.
Additionally, estimates of young people age 16 to 18 participating in education and training using departmental administrative data are published annually at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/participation-in-education-and-training-and-employment/2024.
This methodology enables an administrative estimate of those not in education or training. The LFS is used to estimate the proportion in employment. This source is considered the most robust measure for 16 to 18 year olds NEET. This release is a snapshot of participation and employment at the end of the calendar year.
Both NEET sources are based on status at time of data collection and therefore the definition does not rely on being out of education and employment for a specific length of time before being categorised as NEET.