Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what methodology his Department uses to calculate the allocation of devices to schools to facilitate remote working.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government is investing over £400 million to support access to remote education and online social care services, including securing 1.3 million laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children and young people.
The laptops and tablets are an injection of support to help schools, academy trusts and local authorities to provide access to remote education and online social care. Schools, colleges, academy trusts, and local authorities are responsible for distributing the laptops and tablets and are best placed to know which children and young people need access to a device.
The Department has based allocations on estimates of the need of disadvantaged children in Years 3 to 11 using data on the number of pupils eligible for Free School Meals data and external estimates of the number of devices that schools already own.
We have extended support to disadvantaged 16-to-19 year olds, including those in further education. Schools with sixth forms, colleges and other further education institutions are being invited to order laptops and tablets to further support disadvantaged students to access remote education.
Where schools need additional devices, in order to support disadvantaged children, they should contact the Department’s service team at covid.technology@education.gov.uk. They should include the number of children who require support and an explanation of how they’ve gathered this evidence.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Department for Education:
What assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 lockdown on (a) the attainment gap and (b) children’s mental health and wellbeing.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Understanding the impact of COVID-19 disruption is a key priority for the Government.
The Department has commissioned an independent research agency to analyse catch-up needs and monitor progress over this academic year. This research is based on a large sample of pupils and will identify whether particular groups of pupils have been more affected by time out of school – including the most disadvantaged, those with historically poor outcomes, and those in particular areas.
The Government is providing a £1 billion catch-up programme, including a ‘Catch-up Premium’ of £650 million, to help address lost teaching time and support pupils’ social and emotional needs. Additionally, the £350 million National Tutoring Programme is an ambitious scheme that will provide additional, targeted tuition support for disadvantaged pupils who need the most help to catch-up.
The Department is working with the Department of Health and Social Care to understand the impact on children’s mental health and wellbeing. Public Health England is monitoring the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak, including on children and young people, and have published a report about population mental health and wellbeing in England during the COVID-19 outbreak: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-mental-health-and-wellbeing-surveillance-report.
The Department will also be convening a task force to look at the effects on children, young people and staff in the education system and we will confirm the next steps in due course.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students are studying a (a) T-level and (b) non-T-level study programme on a full-time basis in the 2020-21 academic year.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
Figures showing numbers of students aged 16-18 participating in T levels and other study programmes (at end 2020), will be published in the June 2021 release 'Participation in Education, Training and Employment 2020'.
44 providers are now teaching the first three T levels. We have been monitoring T level recruitment closely and are confident that a viable cohort of young people will benefit from taking these new, high quality qualifications, leaving them in a great position to move into skilled employment or further training.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average programme funding per student is for 16 to 19 year olds studying a (a) T-level and (b) non-T-level study programme on a full-time basis in the 2020-21 academic year.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The base funding rate for a full time student (band 5) on a non T level study programme is £4,188 in the current academic year.
For this academic year, the first three T levels are funded in the medium T level band (band 7), which attracts a base funding rate of £5,061 per student, per year. T level students attract a higher funding rate as T levels include more teaching hours. In addition, industry placements are a compulsory element of T levels, which we are funding at £275 per student, for each of the two years of the T level.
The overall average funding per student will be determined by the national 16-19 funding formula and will reflect the characteristics of the students, courses, and institutions.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will extend eligibility for the £1 billion Covid-19 catch-up funding to students studying in sixth form colleges.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
It is our ambition that all pupils and students have the chance to make up for lost education. Where breaks in learning have been required, we want to ensure that learners can resume their ‘classroom’ learning and continue to a successful completion.
For many students in post-16 education, we know that remote learning has been working well. We are currently looking at how we can best support 16-19 providers to help their learners catch up and we will provide more details soon.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer on 15 May to Question 43779 on Civil Servants, in how many multi-hub locations employees of his Department are working together with employees of another Department or agency in London managed by the Government Property Agency; what the addresses are of those locations; and what other Departments and agencies employ staff at those locations.
Answered by Nick Gibb
I refer the hon. Member to the answer my hon. Friend, Chloe Smith gave on 12 June 2020 to Question 54314.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support UK universities affected by reduced international recruitment as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
We understand that the COVID-19 outbreak and a possible reduction in the number of international students poses significant financial challenges to the sector and are extremely grateful for the work that universities are doing in response.
My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has announced an unprecedented package of support. This support includes the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and a range of business loan schemes to help pay wages, keep staff employed and support businesses whose viability is threatened by the outbreak. We recently confirmed universities’ eligibility for these schemes.
We are also working closely with the sector, the Office for Students and across the government to understand the financial risks that providers are facing and to stabilise the admissions system and help providers to access the support on offer.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support universities to prevent digital poverty amongst students during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
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.
Higher education (HE) providers take their responsibilities seriously and are best placed to identify the needs of their student body as well as how to develop the services needed to support it. When making changes to the delivery of their courses, HE providers need to consider how they support all students, particularly the most vulnerable, to achieve successful academic and professional outcomes. Where students do not have access to the Internet, a computer at home, or cannot afford to purchase it, the expectation is that HE providers will provide support through their own hardship funds
We have worked closely with the Office for Students to enable providers to draw upon existing funding to increase hardship funds and support disadvantaged students impacted by COVID-19. As a result, providers will be able to use the funding, worth around £23 million per month for April and May, towards student hardship funds, including the purchase of IT equipment, and mental health support, as well as to support providers’ access and participation plans
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will increase funding for schools in Luton schools in 2020.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government is increasing school funding nationally by £14 billion over the next three years. Funding will increase by £2.6 billion in 2020-21, followed by increases of £4.8 billion and £7.1 billion in 2021-22 and 2022-23 respectively, compared to 2019-20.
The Department will continue to distribute this funding through the National Funding Formula, which ensures that funding is based on schools’ and pupils’ needs and characteristics. This will ensure that per pupil funding for every school can at least rise in line with inflation next year and faster than inflation for most.
In 2020-21, Luton will attract an additional £5.5 million in total cash funding in its schools block – a 3.1% increase compared to this year. This will take Luton’s total cash funding up to £181.4 million. In addition, Luton will receive £33 million in its high needs block to help support children with complex special educational needs – a cash increase of £4.5 million.