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.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what timeframe her Department uses to determine how long young people are out of education, employment or training before they are categorised as NEET.
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.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department engages with local authorities for the collection of data of the number of people not in education, employment or training.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department regularly engages with local authorities with regard to monitoring not in education, employment or training (NEET) data and fulfilling their statutory duties. Statutory guidance directs local authorities to track information about all 16 and 17-year-olds (and up to 25 for those with education, health and care plans) and report monthly via the National Client Caseload Information System. This information will include whether they are NEET or have characteristics that put them at risk of becoming NEET, so that they and their delivery partners can effectively target and support those young people.
This management information is published annually and includes a NEET comparative scorecard that supports local authorities in benchmarking their performance and helps them to identify weaknesses in tracking and engagement. This information can be accessed at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/participation-in-education-training-and-neet-age-16-to-17-by-local-authority/2024-25. .
The department also works with local authorities to support the use of data tools to identify those at an increased risk of becoming NEET, so they can be monitored and targeted with extra support.