Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much exam boards have charged each educational establishment that falls into the exam boards criteria in the academic year 2020-21 compared to the academic year 2018-19.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department recognises that head teachers and staff have worked hard over last year to support their pupils. It would not have been possible for pupils to have received their results without the commitment and expertise of head teachers, teachers and support staff.
Awarding Organisations (AOs) are responsible for setting their exam fees, including any refunds on fees this year. The AOs have been clear that they do not intend to profit from reductions in costs this year. The Department understands that AOs have made commercial decisions on fees and refunds, taking into account the range of costs they incurred as part of their processes, which led to the awarding of qualifications. We are providing approximately £25 million to schools, colleges and exam boards to help with the delivery of 2021 Teacher Assessed Grades and the autumn series. The Department confirmed that it would directly fund AOs to support them with appeals costs and any autumn series losses they make, so that in turn they could increase rebates to centres. AOs have announced their rebates levels for the 2020/21 academic year as follows: AQA 26%, OCR 42%, Pearson 33% and WJEC 42%. Further details of individual AOs’ fees and any refunds can be accessed on AOs' websites.
As AOs are independent bodies, the Department does not hold data on the number of moderators employed. The quality assurance process this year was not designed to moderate grades, but support teachers to make their professional judgements so that pupils received grades that are meaningful.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the accuracy of teacher assessed grades introduced as a result of the covid-19 outbreak that are required by examination boards.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Grades were based on a range of evidence and determined by their teachers. Teachers were best placed to understand the content students have covered and their pupils’ performance in the absence of exams.
To support teachers in assessing, marking and making judgements on pupils’ work, the Joint Council for Qualifications and the exam boards published guidance, training and other support materials. Where available, exemplar answers and data on past performance were provided to centres to assist teachers with marking these questions and making fair and consistent judgements of the standard of a pupil’s performance. There was also a process for both internal and external quality assurance to support teachers and ensure consistency. Ofqual worked closely with awarding organisations to ensure robust and similar quality assurance processes were also in place for vocational and technical qualifications being awarded via Teacher Assessed Grades in 2021.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to announce Sports Premium funding for 2021-22.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is considering arrangements for the Primary PE and sport premium for the 2021-22 academic year and will confirm the position as soon as possible.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to ensure that sustainability and climate change are taught as (a) part of the school curriculum and (b) a stand-alone subject to equip future generations with the skills and knowledge needed for the green jobs of the future.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It is vital that young people are taught about climate change. For this reason, climate change and related topics, such as sustainability, are included throughout both the science and geography curricula and GCSEs. In primary science and geography, pupils are given a firm foundation for the further study of the environment in secondary school. For example, in primary science pupils are taught about how environments can change as a result of human actions. They will learn about animals’ habitats, including that changes to the environment may pose dangers to living things. In geography at primary pupils will be taught about seasonal and daily weather patterns, climate zones and human geography, including land use, economic activity, and the distribution of natural resources.
In secondary science, pupils are taught about the production of carbon dioxide by human activity and the effect this has on the climate. This is expanded on in GCSE science where pupils will consider the evidence for additional anthropogenic causes of climate change. In secondary geography pupils will look at how human and physical processes interact to influence and change landscapes, environments, and the climate. As part of GCSE geography, pupils will look at the causes, consequences of and responses to extreme weather conditions and natural weather hazards. In 2017, we also introduced a new environmental science A level. This will enable students to study topics that will support their understanding of climate change and how it can be tackled. School and teachers can go beyond the topics set out in the National Curriculum, or do more in-depth teaching of these topic areas, if they so wish.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to announce his next allocation of sports premium funding; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government will confirm arrangements for the Primary PE and Sport Premium in the 2020/21 academic year as soon as possible. The funding for PE and school sport in the 2021/22 academic year and beyond will be considered at the forthcoming Spending Review.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 2020 to Question 51707 on Private Education: Coronavirus, whether independent schools are permitted to reopen for year 8 pupils when that is their final year before moving on to secondary education.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department has asked primary schools to welcome back children in nursery, Reception, year 1 and year 6, alongside priority groups. Where primary and middle schools have already made provision for these children and where they have capacity, they may choose to welcome back additional pupils, in line with wider protective measures. It is up to schools to decide which pupils to prioritise, based on their knowledge of their children and communities.
Where middle schools choose to invite year 8 pupils back, they should be confident they can manage this within the strict measures the Department has asked primary schools to adopt. This includes having no more than 15 pupils in a class, and maintaining consistency of these groups. This guidance covers independent schools where year 8 pupils are in their final year before moving on to another school.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of apprenticeship levy funds logistics businesses have drawn down to pay for apprenticeships; and will he make a statement.
Answered by Anne Milton
The information requested is not held centrally.
The Education and Skills Funding Agency does not require levy-paying employers to register an industry sector when registering an apprenticeship service account and is therefore unable to supply the information requested on the proportion of levy funds drawn down by logistics businesses.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many logistics apprenticeships have been taken up since the apprenticeship levy was introduced.
Answered by Anne Milton
The department regularly publishes figures for apprenticeship starts broken down by sector subject area and by framework or standard. The latest figures, published in March 2019, can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/788809/201819_March_MonthlyAppStartsFwk_FINAL.xlsx.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many road haulage apprenticeships at each level were started in each of the last three years for which data is available; how many of those apprenticeships were completed; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Anne Milton
The attached table shows the number of apprenticeship starts and achievements by each academic year for road haulage-related apprenticeships. These figures are published in the apprenticeships data library, which can be accessed at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-apprenticeships.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has for the future of the Careers and Enterprise Company; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Anne Milton
The Careers & Enterprise Company has made excellent progress to date. It is building an Enterprise Adviser Network of business volunteers to work with schools and distributing funding so that more careers and enterprise activities reach young people in most need of support.
The company will have an important role delivering the government’s careers strategy, including:
More information about The Careers & Enterprise Company’s activities can be found on their website: https://www.careersandenterprise.co.uk/.