Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of short notice funding decisions on Music and Dance Scheme schools’ ability to plan for future cohorts of students.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department has already committed to a continuation of the Music and Dance Scheme.

The department has been considering multi-year funding for the scheme to support future planning by all the providers, including the eight private schools. Further announcements will be made shortly.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support student provision under the Music and Dance Settlement Grant.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department has already committed to a continuation of the Music and Dance Scheme.

The department has been considering multi-year funding for the scheme to support future planning by all the providers, including the eight private schools. Further announcements will be made shortly.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what notice her Department plans to provide to Music and Dance Scheme Schools of funding decisions for the next academic year.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department has already committed to a continuation of the Music and Dance Scheme.

The department has been considering multi-year funding for the scheme to support future planning by all the providers, including the eight private schools. Further announcements will be made shortly.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions her Department has had with Multiverse following its recent Ofsted rating.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Ofsted is the single national inspectorate for further education and skills providers, ensuring a consistent and rigorous approach to evaluating training quality across the sector. All organisations delivering apprenticeships must operate within the Apprenticeship Accountability Framework. This sets out how Ofsted inspection outcomes are used to inform the department’s assessment of risk and provider performance for the delivery of apprenticeship training.

Where providers do not meet Ofsted’s expected standards, departmental officials may initiate a management conversation to better understand the reasons for the judgements. We will evaluate each case according to its individual circumstances and take a proportionate approach, which may include contractual action as defined within funding agreements and contracts. These actions protect learners and uphold the integrity of the skills system.

We do not comment on any individual apprenticeship provider contracts due to commercial sensitivities.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure Multiverse improves its exam outcomes.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Ofsted is the single national inspectorate for further education and skills providers, ensuring a consistent and rigorous approach to evaluating training quality across the sector. All organisations delivering apprenticeships must operate within the Apprenticeship Accountability Framework. This sets out how Ofsted inspection outcomes are used to inform the department’s assessment of risk and provider performance for the delivery of apprenticeship training.

Where providers do not meet Ofsted’s expected standards, departmental officials may initiate a management conversation to better understand the reasons for the judgements. We will evaluate each case according to its individual circumstances and take a proportionate approach, which may include contractual action as defined within funding agreements and contracts. These actions protect learners and uphold the integrity of the skills system.

We do not comment on any individual apprenticeship provider contracts due to commercial sensitivities.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with Multiverse on its Ofsted rating.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Ofsted is the single national inspectorate for further education and skills providers, ensuring a consistent and rigorous approach to evaluating training quality across the sector. All organisations delivering apprenticeships must operate within the Apprenticeship Accountability Framework. This sets out how Ofsted inspection outcomes are used to inform the department’s assessment of risk and provider performance for the delivery of apprenticeship training.

Where providers do not meet Ofsted’s expected standards, departmental officials may initiate a management conversation to better understand the reasons for the judgements. We will evaluate each case according to its individual circumstances and take a proportionate approach, which may include contractual action as defined within funding agreements and contracts. These actions protect learners and uphold the integrity of the skills system.

We do not comment on any individual apprenticeship provider contracts due to commercial sensitivities.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help Multiverse improve its Ofsted rating.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Ofsted is the single national inspectorate for further education and skills providers, ensuring a consistent and rigorous approach to evaluating training quality across the sector. All organisations delivering apprenticeships must operate within the Apprenticeship Accountability Framework. This sets out how Ofsted inspection outcomes are used to inform the department’s assessment of risk and provider performance for the delivery of apprenticeship training.

Where providers do not meet Ofsted’s expected standards, departmental officials may initiate a management conversation to better understand the reasons for the judgements. We will evaluate each case according to its individual circumstances and take a proportionate approach, which may include contractual action as defined within funding agreements and contracts. These actions protect learners and uphold the integrity of the skills system.

We do not comment on any individual apprenticeship provider contracts due to commercial sensitivities.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the skills mix required to supply the Experts at Hand offer.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department has applied a set of principles when determining which workforce roles are eligible for funding through the Experts at Hand grant, aligning with our reform ambitions and supporting greater inclusion in mainstream settings. These include evidence of a workforce shortage, current utilisation within the statutory system, and the extent to which expertise can address unmet needs in mainstream provision.

Based on these principles, the model brings together key health and specialist education practitioners, including speech and language therapists and support workers or assistants; occupational therapists and support workers or assistants; educational psychologists and trainees; and specialist teachers, both local authority-based and those working in specialist or alternative provision settings.

This multidisciplinary approach reflects the range of needs presented by children and young people, particularly in areas such as communication, sensory processing, and learning.

By building on existing evidence and delivery experience, this model is designed to provide timely, specialist advice while making best use of available workforce capacity. The department will continue to keep this approach under review to ensure it remains responsive to demand and supports greater inclusion in mainstream settings.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the training places required to supply the proposed Experts at Hand offer.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department is investing around £1.8 billion over the next three years for local area partnerships, including local authorities and integrated care boards (ICBs), to develop a new ‘Experts at Hand’ offer. This offer is designed to strengthen the capability of mainstream education settings by providing access to support across health and education, including from educational psychologists and trainees, speech and language therapists and support workers or assistants, occupational therapists and support workers or assistants; and specialist teachers, both local authority-based and those based in specialist or alternative provision settings.

To support delivery of the offer, we are investing over £40 million in the specialist workforce, including £26 million to train at least 200 educational psychologists per year from 2026 and 2027, followed by additional funding from 2028 to train more educational psychologists than we currently do, subject to future spending review. This is in addition to the £31 million already invested to train educational psychologists since 2023.

Upon graduating, trainees who have had their training funded by the department are required remain in local authority employment for a minimum period (three years, or two for earlier cohorts, dependent on when their training started). Investment in this vital workforce will therefore help to ensure that the local authority educational psychology workforce is able to support all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

The remaining £15 million will be invested to establish new speech and language therapist (SaLT) advanced practitioners in every ICB geographical area, to get more SaLTs working in educational settings.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to help tackle workforce shortages among educational psychologists.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department is investing around £1.8 billion over the next three years for local area partnerships, including local authorities and integrated care boards (ICBs), to develop a new ‘Experts at Hand’ offer. This offer is designed to strengthen the capability of mainstream education settings by providing access to support across health and education, including from educational psychologists and trainees, speech and language therapists and support workers or assistants, occupational therapists and support workers or assistants; and specialist teachers, both local authority-based and those based in specialist or alternative provision settings.

To support delivery of the offer, we are investing over £40 million in the specialist workforce, including £26 million to train at least 200 educational psychologists per year from 2026 and 2027, followed by additional funding from 2028 to train more educational psychologists than we currently do, subject to future spending review. This is in addition to the £31 million already invested to train educational psychologists since 2023.

Upon graduating, trainees who have had their training funded by the department are required remain in local authority employment for a minimum period (three years, or two for earlier cohorts, dependent on when their training started). Investment in this vital workforce will therefore help to ensure that the local authority educational psychology workforce is able to support all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

The remaining £15 million will be invested to establish new speech and language therapist (SaLT) advanced practitioners in every ICB geographical area, to get more SaLTs working in educational settings.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle potential barriers to progression for learners completing Level 6 architecture apprenticeships who are unable to access Level 7 apprenticeship funding due to age eligibility requirements.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

This Government is investing in young people’s futures and reversing the sharp decline in apprenticeship starts amongst young people – which have fallen by 40% over the last decade

Since January 2026, the government no longer funds level 7 apprenticeships, equivalent to master’s degree level, except for young apprentices under the age of 22, and those under 25 who are care leavers or have an Education, Health and Care Plan. This will create more opportunities for those entering the labour market and help apprenticeships opportunities to be rebalanced towards young people.

This decision was informed by a range of evidence, including Skills England’s analysis of official apprenticeship statistics and engagement with a wide range of stakeholders. Skills England’s evidence suggested there was unlikely to be a significant or unavoidable fall in the supply of these skills in the long term, post-defunding. Skills England have published a report on their findings: Skills England: evidence on defunding of level 7 apprenticeships - GOV.UK.

We are encouraging more employers to invest in upskilling their staff over 22 to level 7 where it delivers a benefit to the business and the individual. It will be for employers to determine the most appropriate training. There are alternative training options available to employers at level 7 including non-apprenticeship routes. The department has published guidance on privately funded apprenticeships, which will enable employers to privately fund level 7 apprenticeships for staff aged over 22:  Privately funded apprenticeships: rules and guidance - GOV.UK.

Where a student has studied architecture at level 6 via an apprenticeship route, they are unable to access undergraduate support for a level 7 masters’ qualification in architecture. Students may be eligible for a Postgraduate Master’s Loan for a Master’s in Architecture. This is subject to meeting the eligibility criteria for a Postgraduate Master’s Loan.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of allowing learners who complete a Level 6 architecture apprenticeship to access undergraduate student finance to complete their professional training at postgraduate level.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

This Government is investing in young people’s futures and reversing the sharp decline in apprenticeship starts amongst young people – which have fallen by 40% over the last decade

Since January 2026, the government no longer funds level 7 apprenticeships, equivalent to master’s degree level, except for young apprentices under the age of 22, and those under 25 who are care leavers or have an Education, Health and Care Plan. This will create more opportunities for those entering the labour market and help apprenticeships opportunities to be rebalanced towards young people.

This decision was informed by a range of evidence, including Skills England’s analysis of official apprenticeship statistics and engagement with a wide range of stakeholders. Skills England’s evidence suggested there was unlikely to be a significant or unavoidable fall in the supply of these skills in the long term, post-defunding. Skills England have published a report on their findings: Skills England: evidence on defunding of level 7 apprenticeships - GOV.UK.

We are encouraging more employers to invest in upskilling their staff over 22 to level 7 where it delivers a benefit to the business and the individual. It will be for employers to determine the most appropriate training. There are alternative training options available to employers at level 7 including non-apprenticeship routes. The department has published guidance on privately funded apprenticeships, which will enable employers to privately fund level 7 apprenticeships for staff aged over 22:  Privately funded apprenticeships: rules and guidance - GOV.UK.

Where a student has studied architecture at level 6 via an apprenticeship route, they are unable to access undergraduate support for a level 7 masters’ qualification in architecture. Students may be eligible for a Postgraduate Master’s Loan for a Master’s in Architecture. This is subject to meeting the eligibility criteria for a Postgraduate Master’s Loan.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what measures is she taking to address absenteeism, particularly relating to white working-class pupils.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

Absence is a key barrier to opportunity. For children to achieve and thrive, they need to be in school.

The department’s real-time data tools and attendance toolkits help schools and local authorities to identify the drivers of absence and adopt effective practice to improve attendance. In January, we launched our new regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE) Attendance and Behaviour hubs, which can support over 3000 schools, including enhanced support for up to 500 schools.

We recognise that white working-class children have among the highest overall absence rates. The white paper sets out our plans to support this group, including rebuilding early family support, designing a new model for targeting disadvantage funding, and developing insights into the relationships between white working-class children and families with schools, in order to strengthen parental engagement.