Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funding her Department has allocated to support teachers of (a) maths and numeracy, (b) English and literacy, (c) science, (d) music, (e) history and (f) religious education through (i) subject knowledge enhancement courses for trainees, (ii) Oak National Academy Resources (A) planned and (B) existing (iii) subject hubs, (iv) support for level 3 provision, (v) bursaries and (vi) other support for continuing professional development in each of the last five years.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
Raising standards is at the heart of this government’s agenda and, since 2010, the number of schools rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ has risen to 90% from 68%. The Progress in International Reading Study (PIRLS) 2021 showed that English primary school children are the best in the western world and were ranked 4th out of 43 comparable countries. While the pandemic affected the study, the Programme for International School Assessment 2022 also showed that 15 year old pupils in England performed above the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and development (OECD) average and are now 11th in maths and 13th in reading and science. This was up from 27th in maths, 25th in reading and 16th in science in 2009.
The department has invested significantly to provide a world class education system, ensuring an excellent teacher for every child, high standards of curriculum attendance and behaviour, targeted support for every child that needs it and a stronger and fairer schools system. The overall core schools budget, including the recently announced additional pensions funding, will total £60.7 billion in 2024/25, which is the highest ever level in real terms per pupil. This means school funding will have risen by £11 billion by 2024/25 compared to 2021/22.
The funding breakdown requested since 2019/20 is included below. Figures for the 2023/24 financial year are subject to ongoing data collection and reconciliation and therefore we have not included this year in the table. The department reviews Initial Teacher Training (ITT) bursaries each year to determine the offer for trainees starting ITT the following academic year. In doing this, the department takes into account a number of factors including historic recruitment, forecast economic conditions and teacher supply need in each subject. The department focuses its funded Subject Knowledge Enhancement (SKE) courses in its highest priority subjects with the greatest sufficiency challenges.
In addition to the funding outlined in the table below, the department also offers national professional qualifications (NPQs), including specialist NPQs in leading literacy and leading primary mathematics. Details on scholarship funding available for autumn 2024 is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/funding-for-national-professional-qualifications-npqs.
The quality of teaching is the single most important, in-school factor for improving pupil outcomes and it is particularly important for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. The department is creating a world-class teacher development system, which builds from ITT, through to early career support, specialisation and onto school leadership.
Financial year | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | |
Subject Knowledge Enhancement Courses1 | £28m | £24m | £14m | £10m | |
Oak National Academy resources2 | N/A | £4m | £4m | £7m | |
Subject hubs3 | English Hubs | £11m | £11m | £19m | £24m |
Maths Hubs | £27m | £25m | £16m | £28m | |
Science Hubs | £9m | £9m | £8m | £9m | |
Music Hubs | £76m | £76m | £76m | £76m | |
ITT Bursaries and Scholarships 4 | Maths and Numeracy | £35m | £50m | £53m | £41m |
English and literacy | £33m | £31m | £10m | £0m | |
Science5 | £72m | £77m | £52m | £33m | |
Music | £2m | £3m | £1m | £0m | |
History | £11m | £14m | £4m | £0m | |
Religious Education | £3m | £4m | £2m | £0m | |
1. Due to the way the department allocated funding, it does not have historic data on SKE spending by subject. This total includes all SKE funding, regardless of subject
2. Oak was incubated by The Reach Foundation and predominantly funded through a department grant until 31 August 2022. The 2023/24 financial year is Oak’s arm’s length body allocated budget as 2023/24 actuals are not yet available. The funding for Oak National Academy covers the creation of curriculum resources across all national curriculum subjects for Key Stages 1 to 4
3. Where subject hubs are part of a contract with a supplier, we have included all contract costs, including those not directly for subject hubs but for other Career Progress Development (CPD) or central programme management. The department changed the way Maths Hubs were funded in the 2021/22 academic year, resulting in a visual drop by financial year but not across the academic years. The department also has subject hubs in computing and languages which are not shown in these figures but are included in total subject hub figures set out in WPQ 20499
4. ITT bursaries are paid and assured by academic year rather than financial year. The figures provided for each financial year have been calculated by prorating the total spend for the relevant academic years that the financial year spans. Academic years 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 are subject to ongoing data collection and reconciliation and the figures provided may therefore be subject to change
5. Trainees on general science ITT courses are not eligible for bursaries. However, bursaries are available for biology, chemistry, and physics specialism courses. The figures provided for science are the total spend across the three individual sciences.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funding her Department has allocated to support teachers through (a) subject knowledge enhancement courses for trainees, (b) Oak National Academy Resources (i) planned and (ii) existing, (c) subject hubs, (d) support for level 3 provision and (d) bursaries and other support for continuing professional development for (A) maths and numeracy, (B) English and literacy, (C) science, (D) music, (E) history and (F) Religious Education in the last five years.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
Teachers are the foundation of the education system; there are no great schools without great teachers. The quality of teaching is the single most important in-school factor for improving pupil outcomes. This is particularly important for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The department is creating a world class teacher development system, which builds from Initial Teacher Training (ITT), through to early career support, specialisation, and onto school leadership. The funding breakdown requested over the last five years is included in the attached table. The department is providing support across a range of subjects via a network of hubs that help build teacher capability and pupil access to subjects. This focuses on support for teachers in schools and extends to sixth form provision in some schools.
In addition to this funding, in 2021, as part of the government’s long term recovery plan, £184 million of new funding was allocated to enable teachers employed at state-funded organisations to access fully funded training scholarships for National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) for three years until the end of the 2023/24 academic year. This includes two specialist NPQs in Leading Literacy (NPQLL) and the NPQ in Leading Primary Mathematics (NPQLPM). In March 2024, the government announced scholarship funding for NPQs for the October 2024 cohort. This includes a guarantee that the NPQLPM will be fully funded until October 2025 to further expand teaching of mathematics mastery approaches through primary education.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to publish additional non-statutory guidance on religious education syllabus content in schools.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
Religious education (RE) is an important part of a school’s curriculum and can contribute to a young person’s personal, social, and academic development. When done well, it can develop children’s knowledge of British values and traditions, help them better understand those of other countries, and refine pupils’ ability to construct well-informed, balanced, and structured arguments. This is why RE remains a compulsory subject in all state-funded schools in England for each pupil up to the age of 18.
The department has no plans to publish additional non-statutory guidance on RE syllabus content in schools. The department’s policy is to allow RE curricula to be designed at a local level, whether this is through a locally agreed syllabus conference or by individual schools and academy trusts developing their own curricula. The department feels this is the most appropriate way for local demographics to be accounted for.
The department does however welcome the work that the Religious Education Council has done to assist curriculum developers by publishing its National Content Standard for RE in England.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her Department's expected timeline is for determining the location of the new primary SEND school in West Sussex .
Answered by David Johnston
The department is currently pursuing negotiations with West Sussex County Council for the department’s preferred location for the new special school, in West Durrington. Subject to this agreement, the department will be in a position to begin the process of acquiring the site. The department will ensure that the project director continues to keep my hon. Friend, the member for Worthing West updated as things progress.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of regional variations in levels of supply and demand for religious education teachers in secondary schools.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
One of our top priorities is to ensure that the department continues to attract, retain and develop the highly skilled teachers we need to inspire the next generation. There are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state-funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes it the highest FTE of teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.
The department understands there is further to go to improve recruitment in some subjects. That is why the department has put in place bursaries worth £10,000 tax-free to encourage talented trainee teachers to teach Religious Education (RE).
The 2023/24 pay award means that teachers and leaders in maintained schools received the highest pay award in over thirty years and it delivers our manifesto commitment of at least a £30,000 starting salary for school teachers in all regions of the country in all subjects, including RE.
RE is an essential part of a school’s curriculum and remains a compulsory subject in all state-funded schools, including academies, to all pupils up to the age of 18.
Whilst no detailed assessment of primary teacher’s confidence in teaching RE has taken place, it is right that teachers feel confident in delivering the content for this subject. To ensure high standards and confidence in RE teaching, RE resources are being procured by Oak National Academy as part of the second tranche of its work. Oak will work closely with the sector and utilise sector experience when producing new materials for RE. This will ensure that high quality lessons are available nationwide, benefitting both teachers and pupils. These resources will begin to be available from Autumn 2024 and be fully available by September 2025
Data on numbers of qualified RE teachers are available on a national scale only. Using the Teacher Workforce Census there were 15,721 RE teachers in state-funded secondary schools nationally in 2022/23, which represents an increase from 15,529 in 2021/22 (up 192 teachers or 1.2%).
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department (a) is taking and (b) plans to take steps to increase the number and proportion of teachers trained in religious education teaching.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
One of our top priorities is to ensure that the department continues to attract, retain and develop the highly skilled teachers we need to inspire the next generation. There are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state-funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes it the highest FTE of teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.
The department understands there is further to go to improve recruitment in some subjects. That is why the department has put in place bursaries worth £10,000 tax-free to encourage talented trainee teachers to teach Religious Education (RE).
The 2023/24 pay award means that teachers and leaders in maintained schools received the highest pay award in over thirty years and it delivers our manifesto commitment of at least a £30,000 starting salary for school teachers in all regions of the country in all subjects, including RE.
RE is an essential part of a school’s curriculum and remains a compulsory subject in all state-funded schools, including academies, to all pupils up to the age of 18.
Whilst no detailed assessment of primary teacher’s confidence in teaching RE has taken place, it is right that teachers feel confident in delivering the content for this subject. To ensure high standards and confidence in RE teaching, RE resources are being procured by Oak National Academy as part of the second tranche of its work. Oak will work closely with the sector and utilise sector experience when producing new materials for RE. This will ensure that high quality lessons are available nationwide, benefitting both teachers and pupils. These resources will begin to be available from Autumn 2024 and be fully available by September 2025
Data on numbers of qualified RE teachers are available on a national scale only. Using the Teacher Workforce Census there were 15,721 RE teachers in state-funded secondary schools nationally in 2022/23, which represents an increase from 15,529 in 2021/22 (up 192 teachers or 1.2%).
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of levels of confidence among primary school teachers in teaching religious education.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
One of our top priorities is to ensure that the department continues to attract, retain and develop the highly skilled teachers we need to inspire the next generation. There are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state-funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes it the highest FTE of teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.
The department understands there is further to go to improve recruitment in some subjects. That is why the department has put in place bursaries worth £10,000 tax-free to encourage talented trainee teachers to teach Religious Education (RE).
The 2023/24 pay award means that teachers and leaders in maintained schools received the highest pay award in over thirty years and it delivers our manifesto commitment of at least a £30,000 starting salary for school teachers in all regions of the country in all subjects, including RE.
RE is an essential part of a school’s curriculum and remains a compulsory subject in all state-funded schools, including academies, to all pupils up to the age of 18.
Whilst no detailed assessment of primary teacher’s confidence in teaching RE has taken place, it is right that teachers feel confident in delivering the content for this subject. To ensure high standards and confidence in RE teaching, RE resources are being procured by Oak National Academy as part of the second tranche of its work. Oak will work closely with the sector and utilise sector experience when producing new materials for RE. This will ensure that high quality lessons are available nationwide, benefitting both teachers and pupils. These resources will begin to be available from Autumn 2024 and be fully available by September 2025
Data on numbers of qualified RE teachers are available on a national scale only. Using the Teacher Workforce Census there were 15,721 RE teachers in state-funded secondary schools nationally in 2022/23, which represents an increase from 15,529 in 2021/22 (up 192 teachers or 1.2%).
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the longest length of time a primary school has been waiting for a response from Edenred relating to a query about free school meal vouchers since the beginning of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Vicky Ford
As my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have both made clear, the government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by Covid-19.
During this period, we are asking schools to support pupils eligible for benefits-related free school meals by providing meals or food parcels through their existing food providers wherever possible. However, we recognise that providing meals and food parcels is not a practicable option for all schools. That is why, on 31 March, we launched a national voucher scheme as an alternative option, with costs covered by the Department for Education.
Voucher codes are being processed and many thousands of families are redeeming them. As of 28 April, Edenred have indicated that over 16,500 schools have placed orders for codes under this scheme. As of Friday 7 May, Edenred reported that over £58 million worth of voucher codes have been redeemed into supermarket e-gift cards by schools and families.
Schools can contact Edenred using either the email address or phone number setup specifically for the Department of Education’s national voucher scheme (freeschoolmeals@edenred.com or 0333 400 5932). We do not hold details of the time taken to respond to individual queries. We are working closely with Edenred regarding the performance of the voucher scheme and their engagement with queries from schools.
We are working tirelessly with Edenred to resolve any outstanding technical problems so that children eligible for free schools meals are supported quickly. As always, we thank schools for their patience while we expand the system to meet the high demand and for ensuring that the families who are most in need continue to receive the support that they require.
These are rapidly developing circumstances and we will continue to keep the situation under review and to keep Parliament updated accordingly.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether arrangements are in place to allow schools to purchase free school meal vouchers direct from local supermarkets during the covid-19 lockdown.
Answered by Vicky Ford
As both my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have made clear, the government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID-19.
Our latest guidance on providing free school meals at this time is available at the following link:
Through the national voucher scheme, schools and families could initially access eGift cards for Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Waitrose and M&S. On Monday 27 April Aldi were added to this scheme and on Wednesday 29 April McColl’s were also added. As of the 7th May, Edenred report that £58 million has been converted into supermarket vouchers by families and schools. We recognise that it may not be convenient or possible for some families to visit one of these supermarkets and we are continuing to work to see if additional supermarkets can be added to this list.
If families are not able to access any of the supermarkets which are part of the national voucher scheme, schools are able to purchase vouchers directly for alternative supermarkets. Schools can be reimbursed for the cost of these alternatives through the schools coronavirus exceptional costs fund, up to £15 per pupil per week. This funding covers unavoidable additional costs incurred due to the COVID-19 outbreak that cannot be met from their existing resources.
These are rapidly developing circumstances; we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy to calculate and update each year the amount of high needs funding to be allocated on the number of children being diagnosed with special needs; and what his policy is on directly correlating funding with need.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The high needs national funding formula allocates funding to local authorities through a range of proxy factors, including socio-economic deprivation, low attainment and disability. This is to avoid the perverse incentive to label children as having special educational needs (SEN) or a disability to secure additional funding, which would arise if the number of education, health and care plans determined the amount of funding allocated. As identified in ‘research on funding for young people with special educational needs’, a report by ISOS Partnership in 2015, there is a significant correlation between these proxy indicators and SEN. The use of these proxy indicators means that local authorities with higher proportions of SEN children typically attract additional funding.The research report can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/445519/DFE-RR470_-_Funding_for_young_people_with_special_educational_needs.pdf.