Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help support the mental health of girls in schools.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
This government is committed to improving mental health support for all children and young people. This is key to breaking down barriers to opportunity, helping all pupils to achieve and thrive in education.
The government will provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school, so every young person, regardless of their sex, has access to early support to address problems before they escalate. NHS-funded Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) continue to roll out in schools and colleges and are expected to cover at least 50% of pupils by April 2025.
The department also provides a range of guidance and practical resources for schools on promoting and supporting pupils’ mental health and wellbeing. These include a resources hub for mental health leads, a toolkit to help choose evidence-based early support and guidance on effective whole-school approaches to pupil mental health and wellbeing. This guidance encourages schools to consider groups that are at greater risk of experiencing poor mental health when planning their approach. This might include consideration that girls in some age ranges have been shown to have higher levels of probable mental disorder than boys, or that girls may be more likely to experience certain mental health conditions.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she taking to ensure that children receive sex and relationship education.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
It is compulsory for schools to teach relationships education for primary school pupils, relationships and sex education for secondary school pupils, and health education for all pupils in state-funded schools, in line with the relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) statutory guidance, which has been in place since September 2020.
Oak National Academy are developing new resources to support schools with the delivery of RSHE, which will start to become available later this year.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help tackle misogyny in schools.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Edinburgh South West, to the answer of 1 April 2025 to Question 40591.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the impact of the Graduate route visa scheme on university finances.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The UK has a world-class higher education (HE) sector, with four universities in the world university rankings top 10, and 15 in the top 100, alongside a wide array of leading institutions which attract international students from around the world. The graduate visa enables international students who have successfully completed an eligible qualification to stay in the UK for two years, or three years for doctoral students.
Data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency shows that international students contributed £12.1 billion in tuition fees to UK HE providers in the 2022/23 academic year.
This government has made clear its approach to international students. We welcome international students who enrich our university campuses, forge lifelong friendships with our domestic students and become global ambassadors for the UK.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to encourage academic partnerships between UK and Ukrainian universities.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
As part of the government’s unbreakable 100 Year Partnership with Ukraine, the department is working closely with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine on a range of policy areas including early years, skills and apprenticeships, and the application of digital technologies in schools. There is already higher education (HE) twinning and partnerships underway through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s UK-Ukraine twinning programme and British Council’s Leaders of University Transformation for Ukraine’s Reinvention programme which have set a good foundation for further UK-Ukraine HE partnerships to emerge.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of higher education (a) funding and (b) governance.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Education is a devolved matter and as such issues relating to higher education (HE) in the devolved nations is a matter for the relevant government.
The HE sector needs a secure financial footing to face the challenges of the next decade, and to ensure that all students can be confident they will receive the world-class HE experience they deserve. This is why, after seven years of frozen fee caps under the previous government, the department has taken the difficult decision to increase maximum tuition fee limits for the 2025/26 academic year by 3.1%, in line with the forecast rate of inflation.
In return for the increased investment we are asking students to make, we expect the sector to deliver the very best outcomes, both for those students and for the country. We will publish our plan for HE reform in summer 2025, and work with the sector and the Office for Students (OfS), the regulator of HE in England, to deliver the change that the country needs.
The government also provides funding through the Strategic Priorities Grant on an annual basis to support teaching and students in HE, including expensive-to-deliver subjects such as science and engineering, students at risk of discontinuing their studies, and world-leading specialist providers.
Further, in December, the OfS announced temporary changes to its operations to allow greater focus on financial sustainability. Ultimately, HE providers are independent from government and as such must continue to make the necessary and appropriate financial decisions to ensure their long-term sustainability.
We are clear that HE providers need to ensure their governance arrangements are robust and facilitate prudent financial planning, and are fit for purpose more widely, including upholding academic freedom and freedom of speech and ensuring good quality of provision. The OfS has recently consulted on proposals to strengthen the conditions related to management and governance for providers that wish to join its register.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment has she made of the adequacy of the provision of British Sign Language teaching in schools.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
Schools may choose to offer British Sign Language (BSL) as part of their school curriculum, or as an extra-curricular activity. The government does not hold data on the extent to which BSL is currently taught in schools.
The department is in the process of developing a BSL GCSE. The BSL GCSE is a key feature of our commitment to enhancing the status of BSL in education and society. This landmark GCSE is an important step towards greater recognition of BSL as a language and will foster better communication between deaf and hearing communities.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to widen access to higher education by underrepresented groups.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
Access to higher education (HE) should be based on ability, not someone’s background. Opportunity should be available to all, and it is the department’s aspiration that no one is left behind.
The department wants to close the gap in entries for disadvantaged students, by ensuring there are quality options which are flexible to their needs, with sound advice and fair and transparent admission processes.
The department is continuing with and delivering the Lifelong Learning Entitlement to provide high quality, flexible and modular education, with the new student finance system underpinning and facilitating fuller access and flexible study. From September 2026, learners will be able to apply for Lifelong Learning Entitlement funding for the first time for courses and modules starting from January 2027 onwards.
The government continues to provide means-tested non-repayable grants to low income full-time undergraduate students with children and/or adults who are financially dependent on them. The department has announced an increase to maximum dependants’ grants for the 2025/26 academic year by 3.1%, based on forecast inflation using the RPIX (Retail Price Index Excluding Mortgage Interest) inflation index. We have also increased maximum non-means-tested disabled students’ allowance for full-time and part-time undergraduate and postgraduate students with disabilities by 3.1% for 2025/26.
Students undertaking nursing, midwifery and allied health profession courses also qualify for non-repayable grant support through the NHS Learning Support Fund.
Additionally, the department is increasing maximum loans for living costs for the 2025/26 academic year by 3.1% to ensure that more support is targeted at students from the lowest income families. Higher rates of loan for living costs are also paid to students eligible for benefits, such as lone parents and some disabled students, as well as care leavers, who are normally assessed as low income independent students. In addition, care leavers are also entitled to a £2000 statutory bursary, paid via their local authority.
The government also provides financial support through the Office for Students (OfS) to support student access and success, including for disadvantaged students. £301 million was provided for the 2024/25 academic year.
The department recognises that there is still much more to do to expand access and improve outcomes for disadvantaged students. Too many people across our country do not get the opportunity to succeed. We will act to change this. We are calling for providers to go further and play a stronger role in expanding access and improving outcomes for disadvantaged students, making sure that they are delivering robust and ambitious access and participation plans. By summer, we will set out our plan for HE reform and the part we expect HE providers to play in this.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes in the level of international student visa applications to UK universities in 2024 on the sector.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The latest Home Office data shows that there were 350,700 visa applications made by international students for a sponsored study visa between January and September 2024. This is 16% lower than between January and September 2023 when 417,000 sponsored study visas applications were made by international students.
There are many factors that influence international students when they choose to study abroad. These may include the range and quality of available courses, the visa rules that apply in countries they are considering and the appeal of living and studying in those countries.
The government recognises that international students enrich our university campuses, forge lifelong friendships with our domestic students and become global ambassadors for the UK, as well as making a significant economic contribution to the higher education (HE) sector and our country as a whole. It is for these reasons that the government offers international students the opportunity to remain in the UK on a graduate visa for two to three years after their studies come to an end.
The department will continue to monitor available data and engage closely with the HE sector to assess the level of international student admissions to UK universities in the 2024/25 academic year.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the causes of changes in the level of international student visa applications to UK universities in 2024.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The latest Home Office data shows that there were 350,700 visa applications made by international students for a sponsored study visa between January and September 2024. This is 16% lower than between January and September 2023 when 417,000 sponsored study visas applications were made by international students.
There are many factors that influence international students when they choose to study abroad. These may include the range and quality of available courses, the visa rules that apply in countries they are considering and the appeal of living and studying in those countries.
The government recognises that international students enrich our university campuses, forge lifelong friendships with our domestic students and become global ambassadors for the UK, as well as making a significant economic contribution to the higher education (HE) sector and our country as a whole. It is for these reasons that the government offers international students the opportunity to remain in the UK on a graduate visa for two to three years after their studies come to an end.
The department will continue to monitor available data and engage closely with the HE sector to assess the level of international student admissions to UK universities in the 2024/25 academic year.