Asked by: Sarah Jones (Labour - Croydon Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of changes to Level 3 Qualifications on the education of 16 to 18 year-olds.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department has published impact assessments to reflect the potential effect of reforms to Level 3, post-16 qualifications in England on the education of 16 to 19 year olds.
The most recent impact assessment, published in March 2023, provides an overview of the potential effects on students aged 16 to 19 resulting from the proposed removal of public funding approval from those qualifications that have been assessed as overlapping with T Levels. This can be accessed here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1146228/EIA_updated_final_wave_1_2_T_Level_overlap_inc_Health_and_Science.pdf.
A further impact assessment, published in July 2022, which reflects all planned reforms to qualifications at Level 3, is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1091841/Revised_Review_of_post-16_qualifications_at_level_3_in_England_impact_assessment.pdf.
Asked by: Sarah Jones (Labour - Croydon Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has plans to review statutory guidance on school uniforms in the context of increases in the cost of living.
Answered by Jonathan Gullis
Schools must regard the statutory guidance when they are developing and implementing their uniform policy. This demonstrates the Government’s commitment to keeping the cost of school uniform reasonable. The Department will monitor the impact of the guidance on an ongoing basis.
It is important that schools carefully consider the cost of their uniform and comply with the guidance, which is designed to ensure the cost of uniforms is reasonable and secures best value for money for parents.
Headteachers know their school communities best and can make decisions on the branded items that are most appropriate to their school. Branded items create a sense of common identity and prevent pupils from competing against one another in the latest fashion trends. The guidance requires headteachers to carefully consider the overall cost implications of their chosen approach, including whether requiring a branded item is the most cost-effective way of achieving the desired result for their uniform. To ensure that school uniform acts as a social leveller, optional branded items should be kept to a minimum.
Schools should be compliant with the majority of the guidance by September 2022, except where this would mean breaching a pre-existing contract, or where they need time to put a contract in place.
There are currently no plans to review the statutory guidance on the cost of school uniforms, published in November 2021, in the context of current increases in the cost of living. The guidance comes into force this month and requires schools to ensure their uniform is affordable.
Asked by: Sarah Jones (Labour - Croydon Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of offering more support to families on low incomes with school uniform costs.
Answered by Jonathan Gullis
Schools must regard the statutory guidance when they are developing and implementing their uniform policy. This demonstrates the Government’s commitment to keeping the cost of school uniform reasonable. The Department will monitor the impact of the guidance on an ongoing basis.
It is important that schools carefully consider the cost of their uniform and comply with the guidance, which is designed to ensure the cost of uniforms is reasonable and secures best value for money for parents.
Headteachers know their school communities best and can make decisions on the branded items that are most appropriate to their school. Branded items create a sense of common identity and prevent pupils from competing against one another in the latest fashion trends. The guidance requires headteachers to carefully consider the overall cost implications of their chosen approach, including whether requiring a branded item is the most cost-effective way of achieving the desired result for their uniform. To ensure that school uniform acts as a social leveller, optional branded items should be kept to a minimum.
Schools should be compliant with the majority of the guidance by September 2022, except where this would mean breaching a pre-existing contract, or where they need time to put a contract in place.
There are currently no plans to review the statutory guidance on the cost of school uniforms, published in November 2021, in the context of current increases in the cost of living. The guidance comes into force this month and requires schools to ensure their uniform is affordable.
Asked by: Sarah Jones (Labour - Croydon Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will issue guidance limiting the amount of branded clothing that schools may require pupils to wear as part of school uniform, in order to reduce the financial burden on low-income families.
Answered by Jonathan Gullis
In November last year, the department published statutory guidance on the cost of school uniforms, to which schools must have regard when designing and implementing their uniform policies. The guidance, which comes into effect this month, requires schools to ensure that their uniform is affordable and secures best value for money for parents, including keeping branded items to a minimum and limiting them to low-cost or long-lasting items.
It also requires schools to:
School leaders know their pupils and the community they serve best and can make decisions on the branded items that are most appropriate to their school. Branded items create a sense of common identity and prevent pupils from competing against one another in the latest fashion trends. The guidance requires school leaders to consider carefully the overall cost implications of their chosen approach, including whether requiring a branded item is the most cost-effective way of achieving the desired result for their uniform.
The guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cost-of-school-uniforms/cost-of-school-uniforms.
Asked by: Sarah Jones (Labour - Croydon Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
What steps he is taking to ensure that the attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their peers does not widen during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The government has already committed over £100 million to boost remote education, including by providing devices and internet access to vulnerable children who need it most.
Schools also continue to receive the pupil premium – worth around £2.4 billion annually – to help them support their disadvantaged pupils.