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 support schools in reducing (a) energy bills and (b) carbon footprints.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department provides tools, guidance and support to help schools manage their spending:
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 potential impact of the policy paper entitled Restoring control over the immigration system: white paper, published on 12 May 2025, on the finances of higher education institutions.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government welcomes international students who enrich our university campuses, forge lifelong friendships with our domestic students and become global ambassadors for the UK. Our world-class higher education (HE) sector can offer a fulfilling and enjoyable experience to international students from around the world.
The Immigration White Paper sets out a series of measures that will achieve a reduction in net migration, while maintaining the UK’s globally competitive offer to international students and making a significant contribution to growth by boosting our skills base. This includes the commitment to explore the introduction of a levy on HE provider income from international students, with proceeds to be reinvested in the domestic HE and skills system. We will set out more details around this in the Autumn Budget. Analysis of the potential impacts is based on the levy applying to English HE providers only. We will fully consult all the devolved governments on the implementation of the international student levy.
In March, Professor Edward Peck was appointed as substantive Chair of the Office for Students. Professor Peck will continue the excellent work of interim Chair, Sir David Behan, focusing on the sector’s financial sustainability and increasing opportunities in HE.
Moreover, in November, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education announced the difficult decision to increase tuition fee limits in line with forecast inflation. The maximum fee for a standard full-time undergraduate course in the 2025/26 academic year will increase by 3.1%, from £9,250 to £9,535. 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.
Alongside this, we expect all universities to have a sustainable business model. Our forthcoming plans for reform of the HE sector will set out how we will support universities in this regard.
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 potential impact of the proposed levy on higher education provider income from international students on Scottish universities.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government welcomes international students who enrich our university campuses, forge lifelong friendships with our domestic students and become global ambassadors for the UK. Our world-class higher education (HE) sector can offer a fulfilling and enjoyable experience to international students from around the world.
The Immigration White Paper sets out a series of measures that will achieve a reduction in net migration, while maintaining the UK’s globally competitive offer to international students and making a significant contribution to growth by boosting our skills base. This includes the commitment to explore the introduction of a levy on HE provider income from international students, with proceeds to be reinvested in the domestic HE and skills system. We will set out more details around this in the Autumn Budget. Analysis of the potential impacts is based on the levy applying to English HE providers only. We will fully consult all the devolved governments on the implementation of the international student levy.
In March, Professor Edward Peck was appointed as substantive Chair of the Office for Students. Professor Peck will continue the excellent work of interim Chair, Sir David Behan, focusing on the sector’s financial sustainability and increasing opportunities in HE.
Moreover, in November, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education announced the difficult decision to increase tuition fee limits in line with forecast inflation. The maximum fee for a standard full-time undergraduate course in the 2025/26 academic year will increase by 3.1%, from £9,250 to £9,535. 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.
Alongside this, we expect all universities to have a sustainable business model. Our forthcoming plans for reform of the HE sector will set out how we will support universities in this regard.
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.