Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of SEND delivery in primary schools with single-form entry.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The quality of teaching is the single most important in-school factor for improving pupil outcomes, and it is particularly important for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). High-quality teachers exist everywhere across the system, including in single-form primaries.
To ensure that all teachers, teaching assistants, support staff and leaders across early years, schools and post-16 settings can be trained to support pupils with SEND, we are investing £200 million of new funding to upskill staff and promote inclusive practice. In addition, we are investing £1.8 billion for local area partnerships to develop and deliver an Experts at Hand offer to mainstream settings, including small and single-form entry primary schools. They will have access to specialist education and health professionals who will work alongside staff to build capacity, support earlier intervention and strengthen inclusive practise.
The department is also providing £1.6 billion of additional funding to mainstream settings through an Inclusive Mainstream Fund, to help settings identify commonly occurring needs and take meaningful steps to improve everyday support. We have published guidance to support schools to develop their initial inclusion strategies, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inclusive-mainstream-fund-support-for-school-leaders/developing-an-inclusion-strategy-using-the-inclusive-mainstream-fund.
We are also proposing to introduce new National Inclusion Standards to set out what ordinarily-available provision should be in every setting across the 0 to 25 system, as well as the evidence-based tools, strategies and approaches for educators to draw on to identify and support children and young people with SEND.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, in relation to this year's delays to Pearson exam results, what steps are being taken to ensure that similar delays do not occur in future years.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Schools rightly expect results to be delivered on time, and Pearson Education Limited has fully apologised for failing to return these results on time and for the impact on schools, pupils, parents and carers. Pearson confirmed that their GCSEs, A levels, and vocational qualifications operate through separate systems and processes and are not affected.
We will use all the provisions in the contract to ensure that Pearson is held to account for their failures in delivery and will explore all possible options for future delivery. The government has confirmed that there will be a full independent review into how such serious failings have occurred. Further details and terms of reference will be set out shortly.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, will an independent review be undertaken into the management of this year's KS2 SATs marking process.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Schools rightly expect results to be delivered on time, and Pearson Education Limited has fully apologised for failing to return these results on time and for the impact on schools, pupils, parents and carers. Pearson confirmed that their GCSEs, A levels, and vocational qualifications operate through separate systems and processes and are not affected.
We will use all the provisions in the contract to ensure that Pearson is held to account for their failures in delivery and will explore all possible options for future delivery. The government has confirmed that there will be a full independent review into how such serious failings have occurred. Further details and terms of reference will be set out shortly.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support single-form entry primary schools with reduced student numbers with funding levels.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government recognises the essential role that small schools play in their communities.
All schools have benefited from the increase to core funding allocated through the schools national funding formula (NFF) in the 2026/27 financial year, including the NFF lump sum, which is set at £152,700. The lump sum is particularly beneficial to small schools more reliant on an element of funding that is not driven by pupil numbers.
The sparsity factor in the NFF provides additional support for schools that are small and remote. Eligible primary schools attract up to £58,600 in sparsity funding in the 2026/27 financial year.
We recognise the pressures caused by demographic changes in some areas. The lagged funding system, where schools are funded on the basis of their pupil numbers in the previous October census, helps to give schools more certainty over funding levels, to aid their planning, and is particularly important in giving schools with falling rolls time to re-organise their staffing and costs.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of levels of pupil numbers on single-form entry primary schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government recognises the essential role that small schools play in their communities.
All schools have benefited from the increase to core funding allocated through the schools national funding formula (NFF) in the 2026/27 financial year, including the NFF lump sum, which is set at £152,700. The lump sum is particularly beneficial to small schools more reliant on an element of funding that is not driven by pupil numbers.
The sparsity factor in the NFF provides additional support for schools that are small and remote. Eligible primary schools attract up to £58,600 in sparsity funding in the 2026/27 financial year.
We recognise the pressures caused by demographic changes in some areas. The lagged funding system, where schools are funded on the basis of their pupil numbers in the previous October census, helps to give schools more certainty over funding levels, to aid their planning, and is particularly important in giving schools with falling rolls time to re-organise their staffing and costs.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her department will make an assessment of the economic impact of lost working hours due to disruption caused to parents by school closures during periods of extreme heat.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
The department publishes fortnightly data on pupil attendance in schools but does not specifically collect data on school days lost due to high temperatures, or on which parents may be unable to work as a result.
Decisions on full or partial school closures are taken by individual settings, based on local risk assessments. Schools should remain open where it is safe to do so, with closure considered only as a last resort where it is not reasonable or safe for pupils to attend. In these cases, schools should provide high-quality and meaningful remote education.
The department will keep under review how it can better understand the wider impacts of disruption during emergencies like severe weather events.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her department is making plans to offer support for schools that require air conditioning or other cooling technologies for continued function in amber and red weather warnings.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department takes periods of hot weather and heatwaves seriously and has published a climate risk assessment at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/impact-of-uk-climate-change-risk-on-the-delivery-of-education/summary-of-findings-in-relation-to-3-climate-risks-overheating-flooding-and-water-scarcity.
The department has also published guidance on hot weather at: https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2026/06/hot-weather-and-heatwaves-guidance-for-schools-and-other-education-settings/. This advice draws on guidance from the UK Health Security Agency.
We are supporting settings by strengthening resilience across the education estate through a long‑term strategy. This includes a new £710 million Renewal and Retrofit Programme to improve condition and climate resilience investing almost £3 billion per year by 2034/35 in capital maintenance and improvement of schools and colleges. We are also investing almost £20 billion in the School Rebuilding Programme through to 2034/35, delivering climate‑resilient buildings at over 750 schools. Alongside this, the Sustainability Support Programme is helping education settings address risks such as overheating.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her department plans to make an assessment of the number of hours of education lost due to high temperatures in the week beginning 22nd June 2026.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not specifically collect data on school days lost due to high temperatures.
It is for individual settings and responsible bodies to determine their approach to closure based on their own risk assessment. Closures should be considered a last resort, and the imperative is for settings to remain open where it is safe to do so.
Schools play an important safeguarding role and access to education remains a priority for pupils’ wellbeing and safety. Settings should seek to remain open and manage high temperatures through practical adjustments, with closure considered only where it is not reasonable or safe for pupils and staff.
Where settings are temporarily closed, they should provide remote education for the duration of the closure, in line with departmental guidance. Where possible, pupils should receive regular teaching and interaction with teachers, including live or structured input alongside independent work.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the level of the Adoption Support and Special Guardianship Support Fund on the amount of therapy available for adopted children.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The revised criteria for the adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF) were introduced in April 2025 and were designed to ensure support for all those applying for ASGSF funding. An Equalities Impact Assessment was published in July 2025. More details on this assessment are available at: https://depositedpapers.parliament.uk/depositedpaper/2287315/files.
Analysis shows that, in 2024/25, users of the fund had an average spend of £3,170. In 2025/26, the average spend was reduced slightly to £2,537, well within the Fair Access Limit of £3,000. Local authorities and regional adoption agencies may supplement funding where additional support is assessed to be required. There were 22,166 recipients of funding in 2025/26, including nearly 1,800 specialist assessments, demonstrating continued access to support.
The department announced in February the continuation of the ASGSF to 2028, the end of the Spending Review period. A consultation on the longer-term future of adoption support, including a call for evidence, recently concluded, and the department is continuing to assess input and findings.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what consideration her department has given to the potential benefits of changing Pupil Premium rules so that funding goes directly towards supporting the eligible child’s care.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The purpose of pupil premium funding is to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in state-funded schools in England.
Pupil premium is not a personal budget for individual pupils. It is for schools to decide how to allocate the funding, after assessing the needs of their disadvantaged cohort, including previously looked after children.
To ensure that pupil premium is focused on effective approaches to raising the educational attainment of disadvantaged pupils, schools must use their pupil premium in line with the evidence-informed 'menu of approaches'. Under the ‘wider strategies’ category this can include supporting pupil’s social and emotional needs.
Previously looked after children and young people under adoption orders, special guardianship orders and child arrangements orders are eligible for funding for therapy through the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund.