Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department holds on the number of further education (a) arts, (b) vocational, (c) science and (d) technical courses that have been discontinued in the last two years.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The government’s qualifications reforms are designed to ensure that qualifications at level 3 and below are necessary, high quality, and have a clear purpose. A levels and T Levels should be at the heart of level 3 study programmes going forward. We do allow for other small, alternative academic qualifications in strategically important areas, and additional technical qualifications in areas not covered by T Levels, in specialist occupations and in cross cutting areas, such as health and safety. Our new system places the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education occupational standards at the heart of technical education, because these have been designed by employers and will give young people the knowledge, skills and behaviours that employers need.
The number of further education qualifications from which the department has removed funding approval in the last two years is 5,768 (2021/22 and 2022/23 funding years).
This includes qualifications where funding approval has been removed as a result of the qualification having no or low publicly funded demand, or where qualifications have been reformed and newer qualifications developed in their place, for instance the introduction of new Essential Digital Skills Qualifications, which replaced older ICT qualifications.
This does not cover where an awarding organisation decides to discontinue one of its qualifications or where a college, or other education and training provider, decides to stop offering a qualification.
The department has not removed funding approval from any higher-level qualifications in the last two years.
Where the department intends to remove funding approval from qualifications, further education (FE) colleges or other education and training providers are made aware through the publication and communication of initial lists of qualifications in scope. There is a process for awarding organisations to appeal the decision to remove funding approval, and FE colleges or other education and training providers are encouraged to work with awarding organisations to submit evidence for appeals.
It is also important to point out that the department has and continues to consult on broader qualifications reform with colleges and other education and training providers.
In the last two funding years, 450 arts qualifications and 36 science qualifications have had funding approval removed. 5,282 other vocational and technical qualifications have also had funding approval removed during this period.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the number of (a) further and (b) higher education courses that have been discontinued in England in the last two years.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The government’s qualifications reforms are designed to ensure that qualifications at level 3 and below are necessary, high quality, and have a clear purpose. A levels and T Levels should be at the heart of level 3 study programmes going forward. We do allow for other small, alternative academic qualifications in strategically important areas, and additional technical qualifications in areas not covered by T Levels, in specialist occupations and in cross cutting areas, such as health and safety. Our new system places the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education occupational standards at the heart of technical education, because these have been designed by employers and will give young people the knowledge, skills and behaviours that employers need.
The number of further education qualifications from which the department has removed funding approval in the last two years is 5,768 (2021/22 and 2022/23 funding years).
This includes qualifications where funding approval has been removed as a result of the qualification having no or low publicly funded demand, or where qualifications have been reformed and newer qualifications developed in their place, for instance the introduction of new Essential Digital Skills Qualifications, which replaced older ICT qualifications.
This does not cover where an awarding organisation decides to discontinue one of its qualifications or where a college, or other education and training provider, decides to stop offering a qualification.
The department has not removed funding approval from any higher-level qualifications in the last two years.
Where the department intends to remove funding approval from qualifications, further education (FE) colleges or other education and training providers are made aware through the publication and communication of initial lists of qualifications in scope. There is a process for awarding organisations to appeal the decision to remove funding approval, and FE colleges or other education and training providers are encouraged to work with awarding organisations to submit evidence for appeals.
It is also important to point out that the department has and continues to consult on broader qualifications reform with colleges and other education and training providers.
In the last two funding years, 450 arts qualifications and 36 science qualifications have had funding approval removed. 5,282 other vocational and technical qualifications have also had funding approval removed during this period.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department consulted with Further Education colleges on the discontinuation of courses.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The government’s qualifications reforms are designed to ensure that qualifications at level 3 and below are necessary, high quality, and have a clear purpose. A levels and T Levels should be at the heart of level 3 study programmes going forward. We do allow for other small, alternative academic qualifications in strategically important areas, and additional technical qualifications in areas not covered by T Levels, in specialist occupations and in cross cutting areas, such as health and safety. Our new system places the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education occupational standards at the heart of technical education, because these have been designed by employers and will give young people the knowledge, skills and behaviours that employers need.
The number of further education qualifications from which the department has removed funding approval in the last two years is 5,768 (2021/22 and 2022/23 funding years).
This includes qualifications where funding approval has been removed as a result of the qualification having no or low publicly funded demand, or where qualifications have been reformed and newer qualifications developed in their place, for instance the introduction of new Essential Digital Skills Qualifications, which replaced older ICT qualifications.
This does not cover where an awarding organisation decides to discontinue one of its qualifications or where a college, or other education and training provider, decides to stop offering a qualification.
The department has not removed funding approval from any higher-level qualifications in the last two years.
Where the department intends to remove funding approval from qualifications, further education (FE) colleges or other education and training providers are made aware through the publication and communication of initial lists of qualifications in scope. There is a process for awarding organisations to appeal the decision to remove funding approval, and FE colleges or other education and training providers are encouraged to work with awarding organisations to submit evidence for appeals.
It is also important to point out that the department has and continues to consult on broader qualifications reform with colleges and other education and training providers.
In the last two funding years, 450 arts qualifications and 36 science qualifications have had funding approval removed. 5,282 other vocational and technical qualifications have also had funding approval removed during this period.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he plans to take to help ensure that students from disadvantaged backgrounds are not impacted adversely by the withdrawal of funding for Applied General Qualifications.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The department will continue to fund a range of qualifications similar to current Applied General qualifications that can be taken alongside and as alternatives to A levels where they meet new criteria for quality and necessity. These qualifications will continue to play an important role for students taking mixed programmes with A levels and to support progression to higher education in areas where there are no A levels or T Levels.
Overall, we expect the impacts of our reforms to be positive because students will have access to higher quality qualifications in future, including new T Levels. This will put students, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, in a stronger position to progress into further study or skilled employment. We are committed to supporting students to progress onto T Levels in future and have launched the T Level Transition Programme for those who are not yet ready to progress to a T Level but have the potential to succeed on it after some further preparation. We will also be exploring further through the upcoming consultation on study at level 2 and below what additional forms of support students may need to be ready to move onto A levels and other academic qualifications at level 3.
The impact assessment published alongside the response to the level 3 review consultation recognises that there will be some cost to providers in implementing changes, but we have not made an estimate of the overall cost to providers of changes stemming from the review. The updated impact assessment published alongside the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill in October 2021 provided some estimates of costs of providers familiarising themselves with the new qualification categories. However, the most significant costs are likely to come from the implementation of T Levels and we have provided significant support for providers to enable them to switch. This includes over £400 million in capital funding to put in place the industry standard equipment and facilities needed to deliver the first four T Level waves, over £200 million to build capacity for industry placements delivery, and the launch of the T Level Professional Development offer, which has so far ensured that almost 8,500 teachers and leaders have the support they need to deliver T Levels well.
Our reforms to the qualifications landscape are rightly ambitious, but we know that we would be wrong to push too hard and risk compromising quality. In November, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, adjusted the reform timetable to allow an additional year of T Level implementation before overlapping qualifications are removed. This extra year will allow us to continue to work hard to support the growth of T Levels and gives more notice to providers, awarding organisations, employers, students and parents so that they can prepare for the changes when they come in from August 2024.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has been made of the potential cost to (a) providers and (b) the public purse for the changes to providers’ curriculum offer that will be necessary following the withdrawal of funding for Applied General Qualifications.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The department will continue to fund a range of qualifications similar to current Applied General qualifications that can be taken alongside and as alternatives to A levels where they meet new criteria for quality and necessity. These qualifications will continue to play an important role for students taking mixed programmes with A levels and to support progression to higher education in areas where there are no A levels or T Levels.
Overall, we expect the impacts of our reforms to be positive because students will have access to higher quality qualifications in future, including new T Levels. This will put students, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, in a stronger position to progress into further study or skilled employment. We are committed to supporting students to progress onto T Levels in future and have launched the T Level Transition Programme for those who are not yet ready to progress to a T Level but have the potential to succeed on it after some further preparation. We will also be exploring further through the upcoming consultation on study at level 2 and below what additional forms of support students may need to be ready to move onto A levels and other academic qualifications at level 3.
The impact assessment published alongside the response to the level 3 review consultation recognises that there will be some cost to providers in implementing changes, but we have not made an estimate of the overall cost to providers of changes stemming from the review. The updated impact assessment published alongside the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill in October 2021 provided some estimates of costs of providers familiarising themselves with the new qualification categories. However, the most significant costs are likely to come from the implementation of T Levels and we have provided significant support for providers to enable them to switch. This includes over £400 million in capital funding to put in place the industry standard equipment and facilities needed to deliver the first four T Level waves, over £200 million to build capacity for industry placements delivery, and the launch of the T Level Professional Development offer, which has so far ensured that almost 8,500 teachers and leaders have the support they need to deliver T Levels well.
Our reforms to the qualifications landscape are rightly ambitious, but we know that we would be wrong to push too hard and risk compromising quality. In November, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, adjusted the reform timetable to allow an additional year of T Level implementation before overlapping qualifications are removed. This extra year will allow us to continue to work hard to support the growth of T Levels and gives more notice to providers, awarding organisations, employers, students and parents so that they can prepare for the changes when they come in from August 2024.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he plans to take to help ensure that education providers are supported in making changes to their curriculum offer that will be necessary following the withdrawal of funding for Applied General Qualifications.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The department will continue to fund a range of qualifications similar to current Applied General qualifications that can be taken alongside and as alternatives to A levels where they meet new criteria for quality and necessity. These qualifications will continue to play an important role for students taking mixed programmes with A levels and to support progression to higher education in areas where there are no A levels or T Levels.
Overall, we expect the impacts of our reforms to be positive because students will have access to higher quality qualifications in future, including new T Levels. This will put students, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, in a stronger position to progress into further study or skilled employment. We are committed to supporting students to progress onto T Levels in future and have launched the T Level Transition Programme for those who are not yet ready to progress to a T Level but have the potential to succeed on it after some further preparation. We will also be exploring further through the upcoming consultation on study at level 2 and below what additional forms of support students may need to be ready to move onto A levels and other academic qualifications at level 3.
The impact assessment published alongside the response to the level 3 review consultation recognises that there will be some cost to providers in implementing changes, but we have not made an estimate of the overall cost to providers of changes stemming from the review. The updated impact assessment published alongside the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill in October 2021 provided some estimates of costs of providers familiarising themselves with the new qualification categories. However, the most significant costs are likely to come from the implementation of T Levels and we have provided significant support for providers to enable them to switch. This includes over £400 million in capital funding to put in place the industry standard equipment and facilities needed to deliver the first four T Level waves, over £200 million to build capacity for industry placements delivery, and the launch of the T Level Professional Development offer, which has so far ensured that almost 8,500 teachers and leaders have the support they need to deliver T Levels well.
Our reforms to the qualifications landscape are rightly ambitious, but we know that we would be wrong to push too hard and risk compromising quality. In November, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, adjusted the reform timetable to allow an additional year of T Level implementation before overlapping qualifications are removed. This extra year will allow us to continue to work hard to support the growth of T Levels and gives more notice to providers, awarding organisations, employers, students and parents so that they can prepare for the changes when they come in from August 2024.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the impact on providers of the Department’s proposed timeline of one year for withdrawing funding for Applied General Qualifications.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The department will continue to fund a range of qualifications similar to current Applied General qualifications that can be taken alongside and as alternatives to A levels where they meet new criteria for quality and necessity. These qualifications will continue to play an important role for students taking mixed programmes with A levels and to support progression to higher education in areas where there are no A levels or T Levels.
Overall, we expect the impacts of our reforms to be positive because students will have access to higher quality qualifications in future, including new T Levels. This will put students, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, in a stronger position to progress into further study or skilled employment. We are committed to supporting students to progress onto T Levels in future and have launched the T Level Transition Programme for those who are not yet ready to progress to a T Level but have the potential to succeed on it after some further preparation. We will also be exploring further through the upcoming consultation on study at level 2 and below what additional forms of support students may need to be ready to move onto A levels and other academic qualifications at level 3.
The impact assessment published alongside the response to the level 3 review consultation recognises that there will be some cost to providers in implementing changes, but we have not made an estimate of the overall cost to providers of changes stemming from the review. The updated impact assessment published alongside the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill in October 2021 provided some estimates of costs of providers familiarising themselves with the new qualification categories. However, the most significant costs are likely to come from the implementation of T Levels and we have provided significant support for providers to enable them to switch. This includes over £400 million in capital funding to put in place the industry standard equipment and facilities needed to deliver the first four T Level waves, over £200 million to build capacity for industry placements delivery, and the launch of the T Level Professional Development offer, which has so far ensured that almost 8,500 teachers and leaders have the support they need to deliver T Levels well.
Our reforms to the qualifications landscape are rightly ambitious, but we know that we would be wrong to push too hard and risk compromising quality. In November, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, adjusted the reform timetable to allow an additional year of T Level implementation before overlapping qualifications are removed. This extra year will allow us to continue to work hard to support the growth of T Levels and gives more notice to providers, awarding organisations, employers, students and parents so that they can prepare for the changes when they come in from August 2024.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of the 18 January 2021 to Question 134396 on Children: Computers, how many schools in Birmingham have been in contact with his Department regarding a shortage of electronic devices during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government is investing over £400 million to support access to remote education and online social care services. The Department is securing 1.3 million laptops and tablets for disadvantaged and vulnerable children and young people through the Get Help With Technology programme. This programme enables schools to support disadvantaged children in Years 3 to 11 who would not otherwise have access to an appropriate device for online learning.
As of Monday 8 February 2021, this includes over 980,000 laptops and tablets that were delivered to schools, academy trusts and local authorities.
All schools, academy trusts, and local authorities have now been given the opportunity to order devices. Laptops and tablets are owned by schools, academy trusts or local authorities to lend to children and young people who need them most during the current COVID-19 restrictions.
Figures on the number of devices already delivered is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/laptops-and-tablets-data.
The Department is also able to supply routers and mobile data through this scheme. We have partnered with the UK’s leading mobile operators to provide free data to help disadvantaged children get online as well as delivering 4G wireless routers for pupils without connection at home. We are grateful to EE, O2, Sky Mobile, Smarty, Tesco Mobile, Three, Virgin Mobile, Vodafone, BT Mobile and Lycamobile for their collaboration. The Department is currently engaged with additional mobile network operators and continues to invite a range of mobile network providers to support the offer.
Information and guidance for schools on how to register with the scheme and apply for devices and connectivity support can be found at: https://get-help-with-tech.education.gov.uk/.
Where schools need additional devices, above their allocations, they should contact the Department’s service team at covid.technology@education.gov.uk. They should include the number of disadvantaged pupils in Years 3 to 13 who require support and an explanation of how they have gathered this evidence.
This injection of devices is on top of an estimated 2.9 million laptops and tablets already owned by schools before the start of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions his Department has with local education authorities on children with no access to remote learning equipment during the covid-19 outbreak who will be designated as vulnerable children and the'r local schools' ability to provide face-to-face learning in schools during the January 2021 lockdown.
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.
This includes over 750,000 laptops and tablets that were delivered to schools, trusts and local authorities by the end of last week.
Laptops and tablets are owned by schools, trusts or local authorities who can lend these to children and young people who need them most during the current COVID-19 restrictions.
Some pupils who have difficulty engaging in remote education may be considered to be vulnerable children and therefore eligible to attend school. It is up to the child’s school or local authority to make this decision. The decision would be based on the needs of the child and their family, and a range of other factors, as set out in our published guidance.
The Department understands that schools may face staffing pressures that can create challenges in trying to deliver both high quality on site and remote education, especially where pupil attendance on site remains high due to high numbers of key worker and vulnerable children. Leaders in schools and colleges should ensure the balance of on site and remote teaching is manageable for staff and reflect this in the offer posted on their school or college website.
For schools that do not already have a full remote education curriculum or resources in place, or where they may face staffing pressures, the Department strongly recommends that they consider using Oak National Academy or other high quality resource providers.
9,294 laptops have been delivered directly to Birmingham local authority this academic year. Further devices have also been delivered to academy trusts that include schools located in Birmingham local authority which are not included in this figure.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how will parents will be notified that they have a right for their children to attend school if they do not have access to remote learning equipment during the January 2021 covid-19 lockdown period.
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.
This includes over 750,000 laptops and tablets that were delivered to schools, trusts and local authorities by the end of last week.
Laptops and tablets are owned by schools, trusts or local authorities who can lend these to children and young people who need them most during the current COVID-19 restrictions.
Some pupils who have difficulty engaging in remote education may be considered to be vulnerable children and therefore eligible to attend school. It is up to the child’s school or local authority to make this decision. The decision would be based on the needs of the child and their family, and a range of other factors, as set out in our published guidance.
The Department understands that schools may face staffing pressures that can create challenges in trying to deliver both high quality on site and remote education, especially where pupil attendance on site remains high due to high numbers of key worker and vulnerable children. Leaders in schools and colleges should ensure the balance of on site and remote teaching is manageable for staff and reflect this in the offer posted on their school or college website.
For schools that do not already have a full remote education curriculum or resources in place, or where they may face staffing pressures, the Department strongly recommends that they consider using Oak National Academy or other high quality resource providers.
9,294 laptops have been delivered directly to Birmingham local authority this academic year. Further devices have also been delivered to academy trusts that include schools located in Birmingham local authority which are not included in this figure.