Asked by: Paul Bristow (Conservative - Peterborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has plans to assist university students affected by marking and assessment boycotts.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Unlike some other education sectors where the government has taken part in negotiations with trade unions, universities are autonomous. They are therefore responsible for the pay and pension provision of their staff.
While government plays no formal role in such disputes, the department is deeply concerned about the impact of the marking and assessment boycott on students. It is unacceptable that students, many of whom have already suffered significant disruption to their studies over recent years, face further disruption and uncertainty. This disruption is particularly damaging to those students who are due to graduate and looking to enter the jobs market or progress to further study. The department has made clear that whatever the rights and wrongs of the current dispute, action that damages students' prospects is the wrong thing to do.
Our current understanding is that the vast majority of students have been unaffected by the industrial action and, in most cases, have received their full results on time, and progressed or graduated as normal. However, the department appreciates that, at some higher education (HE) providers, the impact of the boycott has been more significant.
This government believes students should be at the heart of the HE system. This is why the Office for Students (OfS) has been set up to regulate the HE sector in England, protect student rights and ensure the sector is delivering real value for money. The OfS wrote to institutions affected by the boycott on 12 June to reiterate its expectations in relation to its conditions of registration. The OfS have also published guidance to students on their rights during industrial action and will continue to monitor this ongoing situation through their normal regulatory mechanisms.
I have held discussions with the Russell Group, Universities UK and the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) to better understand the impact on students and the mitigating actions their members are taking to minimise disruption. I have also written to the Russell Group and Universities UK, encouraging them to continue to do everything within their powers to protect the interests of students during this phase of industrial action. On 11 August, I wrote to UCEA and the University and College Union (UCU) urging them both to resume negotiations which, if successful, will bring an end to the boycott and further industrial action.
Universities have worked to reduce the impact on students in a variety of ways, including reallocating marking to other staff members and hiring external markers. Moreover, many universities have awarded degrees when they have enough evidence of a student’s prior attainment to do so. Others have assigned provisional grades to students to allow them to progress, and, once all papers have been marked, most institutions will award degree classifications that either remain as provisionally assigned or are uplifted to reflect the student’s achievements.
The department strongly urges all parties involved in this industrial dispute to resume negotiations. We will continue to engage with the HE sector to help better understand how students’ interests can be protected during this time.
Asked by: Paul Bristow (Conservative - Peterborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to help children with (a) autism, (b) ADHD and (c) other neuro-diverse conditions in mainstream education.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
In the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) improvement plan, the department set out our vision to improve mainstream education through setting standards for early and accurate identification of needs and timely access to support to meet those needs, including for autistic and neurodiverse children and young people. The standards will clarify the types of support that should be ordinarily available in mainstream settings, who is responsible for securing the support and from which budgets. The SEND and AP improvement plan can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-and-alternative-provision-improvement-plan.
The department will also develop new practice guides to support frontline professionals. The first three practice guides will be published by the end of 2025, focusing on advice for mainstream settings, and will include a practice guide on autism.
To support the needs of pupils with SEND, particularly in mainstream settings where most of these learners are educated, the department has funded the Universal Services programme. This programme, backed by almost £12 million, will help the school and further education workforce to identify and meet the needs of children and young people with SEND, including those with autism, earlier and more effectively. It will also help them successfully prepare children and young people for adulthood, including employment. The programme includes autism awareness training, which over 80,000 professionals have already undertaken.
Improving joined-up support is vital. The Department for Education is working closely with the Department for Health and Social Care on the cross-government Autism Strategy, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-strategy-for-autistic-children-young-people-and-adults-2021-to-2026/the-national-strategy-for-autistic-children-young-people-and-adults-2021-to-2026#improving-autistic-children-and-young-peoples-access-to-education-and-supporting-positive-transitions-into-adulthood-1. A key theme of this is improving autistic children and young people’s access to education and supporting positive transitions into adulthood.
Asked by: Paul Bristow (Conservative - Peterborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to tackle cyber bullying in schools.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
The department has sent a clear message to schools that bullying, including cyberbullying, for whatever reason, is unacceptable. It can have a devastating effect on individuals, harm their education, and have serious and lasting consequences for their mental health.
All schools are legally required to have a behaviour policy with measures to prevent all forms of bullying. They have the freedom to develop their own anti-bullying strategies appropriate to their environment and are held to account by Ofsted.
We recognise that bullying of any kind can now just as easily occur online as face-to-face. Cyberbullying can be a means by which face-to face-bullying is extended beyond the school day and by which bullying can start online and follow the child into school.
The department is providing over £3 million of funding between 10 August 2021 and 31 March 2024 to five anti-bullying organisations to support schools to tackle bullying. This includes projects targeting bullying of particular groups, such as those who are victims of hate related bullying and homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying.
In November 2018, the department published ’Respectful School Communities’, a self-review and signposting tool to support schools to develop a whole-school approach which promotes respect and discipline. This can combat bullying, harassment and prejudice of any kind, including sexual bullying and sexual harassment. It will help schools to identify the various elements that make up a whole school approach, consider gaps in their current practice, and get further support. Respectful School Communities is available at: https://www.educateagainsthate.com/resources/respectful-school-communities-self-review-signposting-tool-2/.
We are also making sure that all children in England will learn about respectful relationships, in person and online, as part of new mandatory relationships, sex and health education (RSHE). These subjects are designed to give pupils the knowledge they need to lead happy, safe, and healthy lives and to foster respect for other people and difference, and to include teaching about online safety and harms.
Asked by: Paul Bristow (Conservative - Peterborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps her Department is taking to tackle bullying in schools.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
The department has sent a clear message to schools that bullying, including cyberbullying, for whatever reason, is unacceptable. It can have a devastating effect on individuals, harm their education, and have serious and lasting consequences for their mental health.
All schools are legally required to have a behaviour policy with measures to prevent all forms of bullying. They have the freedom to develop their own anti-bullying strategies appropriate to their environment and are held to account by Ofsted.
We recognise that bullying of any kind can now just as easily occur online as face-to-face. Cyberbullying can be a means by which face-to face-bullying is extended beyond the school day and by which bullying can start online and follow the child into school.
The department is providing over £3 million of funding between 10 August 2021 and 31 March 2024 to five anti-bullying organisations to support schools to tackle bullying. This includes projects targeting bullying of particular groups, such as those who are victims of hate related bullying and homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying.
In November 2018, the department published ’Respectful School Communities’, a self-review and signposting tool to support schools to develop a whole-school approach which promotes respect and discipline. This can combat bullying, harassment and prejudice of any kind, including sexual bullying and sexual harassment. It will help schools to identify the various elements that make up a whole school approach, consider gaps in their current practice, and get further support. Respectful School Communities is available at: https://www.educateagainsthate.com/resources/respectful-school-communities-self-review-signposting-tool-2/.
We are also making sure that all children in England will learn about respectful relationships, in person and online, as part of new mandatory relationships, sex and health education (RSHE). These subjects are designed to give pupils the knowledge they need to lead happy, safe, and healthy lives and to foster respect for other people and difference, and to include teaching about online safety and harms.
Asked by: Paul Bristow (Conservative - Peterborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will provide attainment data for deaf students at key stage 4 broken down by local authority for each of the last five years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department reports on pupils with hearing impairments as follows in the attached Excel file.
Asked by: Paul Bristow (Conservative - Peterborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to assess the effectiveness of its support for deaf pupils by tracking attainment post-education.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
Key stage 4, and 16 to 18 destination measures published by the department provide clear and comparable information on the success of schools and colleges in helping their pupils to continue in sustained education, apprenticeships or employment. Destinations data is shared with schools and colleges on an annual basis to help them assess whether the guidance and support they offer their pupils provides them with the best possible progression opportunities.
The latest available data shows that 94.5% of pupils with identified hearing impairment had a sustained education, apprenticeship or employment destination after key stage 4, compared with 94.1% of all pupils in state-funded mainstream schools. The data can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/afc520d7-8fe3-43e8-9b5d-08db5ac222d7.
The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Code of Practice is clear that all children and young people with SEND should be prepared for adulthood. This includes supporting children and young people to develop independence, contribute to their community, develop positive friendships, be as healthy as possible, and, for the majority of young people, prepare them for higher education and/or employment.
The department understands that with the right preparation and support, the overwhelming majority of young people with SEND are capable of sustained, paid employment. All professionals working with them should share that presumption, and should provide the career advice and support that help young people to develop the skills and experience, and achieve the qualifications, that they need to succeed in their careers.
The Post-16 education and labour market activities, pathways and outcomes (LEO) report published in May 2021 uses the LEO administrative data set to explore the pattern and nature of the pathways that people take from completing school, through their education and into the labour market, broken down by a number of key characteristics including Special Education Need (further split by those with a statement and those without). This provides information on their educational and labour market activities, including earnings, employment rates and out-of-work benefits uptake, for up to 15 years after leaving school. The Post-16 education report can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/post-16-education-and-labour-market-activities-pathways-and-outcomes-leo.
Asked by: Paul Bristow (Conservative - Peterborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to help improve educational attainment by Romani children.
Answered by Robin Walker
The department recognises the issues faced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children and young people and understands how schools can make a difference. While some Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils perform very well at school, as a group, their attainment and attendance at school is particularly low at every key stage of education.
The department understands that the most significant factor affecting pupil attainment, which cuts across all ethnicities, is economic disadvantage. That is why the department has continued to provide pupil premium funding and has increased the funding to over £2.5 billion in the 2021/22 financial year. The department has also reformed its funding system so that funding is distributed based on schools’ and pupils’ needs and characteristics. We have focused our education recovery funding on pupils most in need.
Schools serving pupils from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller backgrounds are likely to attract funding through additional needs factors in the schools national funding formula (NFF). This specifically includes the mobility factor, English as an additional language (EAL), and deprivation factors.
The NFF allocates 17%, or £6.7 billion of all funding in the 2022/23 financial year through additional needs factors based on deprivation, low prior attainment, EAL, and mobility. The total amount allocated through the deprivation factors in the NFF is increasing by £225 million, or 6.7%, in 2022/23. In addition, the 2022/23 schools supplementary grant will provide significant additional funding for deprivation.
The department wants to ensure all children and young people are able to reach their potential and experience the transformative effect of a high-quality education. We continue to support schools and leaders to respond to the needs of their schools and communities, including Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children.
Asked by: Paul Bristow (Conservative - Peterborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish an Equality Impact Assessment of The Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2021.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The department completed both an equality impact assessment and a Children’s Rights Impact Assessment before introducing the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2021, which will ban the placement of children under 16 in independent and semi-independent settings from September. We can confirm that the government will publish both documents shortly.
Asked by: Paul Bristow (Conservative - Peterborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish a Child Rights Impact Assessment of The Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2021.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The department completed both an equality impact assessment and a Children’s Rights Impact Assessment before introducing the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2021, which will ban the placement of children under 16 in independent and semi-independent settings from September. We can confirm that the government will publish both documents shortly.
Asked by: Paul Bristow (Conservative - Peterborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on the return of SEND pupils to school.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Supporting all children and young people and keeping them safe is the highest priority for the government, especially at this time. That is why, throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, educational settings have been asked to ensure that children and young people with education, health and care (EHC) plans can continue to attend where appropriate and, following a risk assessment, where their needs can be safely met in the educational environment.
Returning to normal educational routines as quickly as possible will be critical for children and young people’s education and wellbeing. From 1 June, we asked special educational settings to welcome back as many children and young people as could be safely catered for in their setting, based on their risk assessment as the primary deciding factor. In mainstream settings, we asked that children and young people with EHC plans in eligible year groups experience the same return to settings as their peers without EHC plans in the same year group, informed by their risk assessments. However, the prevalence of COVID-19 has decreased and the balance of risk is now overwhelmingly in favour of all children and young people, including those with special educational needs and disability (SEND), returning to their educational setting so that they can receive high-quality teaching and specialist professional care.
On 2 July, the government published detailed plans for schools and colleges that set out what is needed to plan for a full return of their pupils and students in September, including for special education settings. We have also updated the guidance for higher education providers on reopening university campuses.
The guidance has been developed with medical experts from Public Health England and we continue to work closely with the country’s best scientific and medical experts to ensure that children, young people and staff are as safe as possible. The guidance provides specific advice on approaches for reducing the risk of transmission as well as other operational considerations for educational settings to follow as they prepare for welcoming back all pupils and students with SEND in both mainstream and specialist settings.
The guidance for special educational settings can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-full-opening-special-schools-and-other-specialist-settings.
The guidance for mainstream settings is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.
The guidance for further education settings is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-further-education-provision/what-fe-colleges-and-providers-will-need-to-do-from-the-start-of-the-2020-autumn-term.
The guidance for higher education settings is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-reopening-buildings-and-campuses/higher-education-reopening-buildings-and-campuses.
We will continue to work closely with special education settings, parents and carers, local authorities and other partner organisations ahead of September. For instance, we know that specific transport arrangements for children and young people with SEND will be critical. We will publish guidance for local authorities who provide dedicated school transport shortly.