Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will ensure that schools support students who were unable to take A-levels in summer 2020 and wish to take those exams in autumn 2020 by (a) offering completion of those A-level syllabuses, (b) offering revision classes and (c) providing access to (i) libraries, (ii) text books, (iii) online and (iv) other resources.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In most cases, students will have received grades in the summer which will enable them to move onto their next step. Students who were unable to receive grades or are not happy with their grades are able to take exams in the autumn if they choose. If a student wants to sit an exam, we expect the school or college that entered them in the summer to enter them in autumn. Schools are able to provide additional support to students sitting their exams in the autumn if they have capacity to do so. The Department is offering an Exam Support Service to help all schools and colleges run the autumn series. Schools and colleges will be able to book fully funded space for the exams if they need it to avoid disruption to teaching. They will also be able to claim funding for autumn exam fees and invigilation costs if these exceed the savings they have made in the summer.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has for the re-opening of before and after school club provision for children of working parents as covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We recognise that breakfast and after-school provision are important sources of additional childcare for working parents and carers. It is for this reason that, as of 4 July, all providers offering before or after-school care and other out-of-school activities to children have been able to open with protective measures in place.
As outlined in guidance for the full opening of schools, we are encouraging schools to resume offering breakfast and after-school provision, where possible, from the start of the autumn term. Schools should also work closely with any external wraparound providers which their pupils may use, to ensure as far as possible, children can be kept in a group with other children from the same bubble they are in during the school day. The full opening of schools guidance is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.
We have published further updated guidance for providers who run before and after-school clubs, tuition and other out-of-school settings for children on the protective measures that should be put in place from the start of the autumn term. This is to ensure they are operating as safely as possible when all children return to school. The guidance is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protective-measures-for-holiday-or-after-school-clubs-and-other-out-of-school-settings-for-children-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/protective-measures-for-out-of-school-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
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 postponing autumn A-level exams to the end of November 2020 to give students unable to take their A-levels in summer 2020 additional time to prepare for those exams.
Answered by Nick Gibb
We want students who wish to sit autumn exams to be able to do so at the earliest opportunity following the cancellation of exams in the summer. A level exams will be sat in October so that students receive results before Christmas and can use them to progress to their next step as soon as possible.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to extend access to breakfast clubs prior to the start of the school day.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We are committed to supporting schools and children so that they are able to benefit from our breakfast club programme. The department is investing up to £35 million into the National School Breakfast Programme, using funds from Soft Drinks Industry Levy revenues. We have also announced that the programme will be extended by a further year, until March 2021, with up to an additional 650 schools being supported.
Many schools operate their own breakfast and after school clubs, and from the start of the autumn term should be working to resume this provision. As part of our guidance to schools on full opening, we have provided guidance to schools to help them in reopening this valuable support, more information is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools#wraparound-provision-and-extra-curricular-activity.
We have also published updated guidance for providers who run before and after-school clubs, tuition and other out-of-school settings for children on the protective measures that should be put in place from the start of the autumn term, to ensure they are operating as safely as possible when all children return to school. The guidance is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protective-measures-for-holiday-or-after-school-clubs-and-other-out-of-school-settings-for-children-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/protective-measures-for-out-of-school-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether free schools meals are being offered to all pupils in the first three years of primary school in England.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We allocate £600 million per year to ensure that 1.4 million infants enjoy a free, healthy and nutritious meal at lunchtime following the introduction of the universal infant free school meals (UIFSM) policy in 2014. Now that schools are reopen to all children, those in reception, year 1 and year 2 in England’s state-funded schools will receive a free meal. During the period in which schools were largely closed, the government continued to provide support to those eligible for benefits related free school meals (FSM) through the National Voucher Scheme.
Now that schools and their kitchens are open again, we expect them to provide free school meals to all those entitled to benefits related FSM and UIFSM to those children attending school. If a child needs to miss school for COVID-19 related matters, such as self-isolation due to a case of COVID-19, then we have asked schools to provide meals to those entitled to benefits related FSM.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether UK students enrolled at US universities who cannot continue their studies there as a result of the covid-19 pandemic are eligible to apply for a student loan to finish their studies at a UK university.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Eligibility for student finance is governed by a range of criteria, including residency, type of course, where and how a student is studying, previous study and whether or not the student holds a higher education qualification.
Generally, tuition fee support for full-time courses is available for the length of a student’s course, plus one extra year if needed, minus any years of previous study. Where a student has undertaken a previous full-time higher education course but has not achieved a qualification, previous study rules will generally apply to the calculation of tuition fee loan entitlement, apart from when the previous course was wholly self-funded (i.e. that the student received no public support from within the UK or elsewhere).
However, the regulations make provision for students to receive a year’s additional tuition fee support where Student Finance England is satisfied that the student has been unable to complete a year of study for compelling personal reasons. Maintenance loans and supplementary grants are generally available to eligible students until an honour’s degree has been achieved.
Student Finance England will assess students’ entitlement to funding in line with existing regulations and guidance. Subject to meeting the eligibility criteria, UK students who start studying in the US and later transfer to a UK higher education provider due to the COVID-19 outbreak may be able to access some student support for their new course.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will provide guidance to the Student Loans Company on how to handle applications from UK students enrolled in US universities who cannot continue their studies there as a result of the covid-19 pandemic and wish to resume higher education in Britain.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Eligibility for student finance is governed by a range of criteria, including residency, type of course, where and how a student is studying, previous study and whether or not the student holds a higher education qualification.
Generally, tuition fee support for full-time courses is available for the length of a student’s course, plus one extra year if needed, minus any years of previous study. Where a student has undertaken a previous full-time higher education course but has not achieved a qualification, previous study rules will generally apply to the calculation of tuition fee loan entitlement, apart from when the previous course was wholly self-funded (i.e. that the student received no public support from within the UK or elsewhere).
However, the regulations make provision for students to receive a year’s additional tuition fee support where Student Finance England is satisfied that the student has been unable to complete a year of study for compelling personal reasons. Maintenance loans and supplementary grants are generally available to eligible students until an honour’s degree has been achieved.
Student Finance England will assess students’ entitlement to funding in line with existing regulations and guidance. Subject to meeting the eligibility criteria, UK students who start studying in the US and later transfer to a UK higher education provider due to the COVID-19 outbreak may be able to access some student support for their new course.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will include Barnet within the scope of his transitional funding for maintained nursery schools.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Maintained nursery schools are an important part of the early years sector and provide valuable services, especially in disadvantaged areas. The government announced on 24 August that up to £23 million of supplementary funding will be provided to local authorities to enable them to continue protecting the funding of maintained nursery schools during the summer term in 2021. This provides maintained nursery schools with certainty about funding for the 2020-21 academic year. It is a one-term continuation of current maintained nursery school supplementary funding; it is not a new transitional fund.
What happens after the 2020-21 academic year will be determined by the Comprehensive Spending Review in the context of our priorities across early years as a whole. Future arrangements will be for all maintained nursery schools, including those in Barnet.
This government remains committed to the long-term funding of maintained nursery schools, and any reform to the way they are funded will be accompanied by appropriate funding protections.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to announce a new funding settlement for maintained nursery schools.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Maintained nursery schools are an important part of the early years sector and provide valuable services, especially in disadvantaged areas. The government announced on 24 August that up to £23 million of supplementary funding will be provided to local authorities to enable them to continue protecting the funding of maintained nursery schools during the summer term in 2021. This provides maintained nursery schools with certainty about funding for the 2020-21 academic year.
What happens after the 2020-21 academic year will be determined by the Comprehensive Spending Review in the context of our priorities across early years as a whole. Future arrangements will be for all maintained nursery schools, including those in Barnet.
This government remains committed to the long-term funding of maintained nursery schools, and any reform to the way they are funded will be accompanied by appropriate funding protections.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will ensure that a new funding settlement for maintained nursery schools includes the Borough of Barnet.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Maintained nursery schools are an important part of the early years sector and provide valuable services, especially in disadvantaged areas. The government announced on 24 August that up to £23 million of supplementary funding will be provided to local authorities to enable them to continue protecting the funding of maintained nursery schools during the summer term in 2021. This provides maintained nursery schools with certainty about funding for the 2020-21 academic year.
What happens after the 2020-21 academic year will be determined by the Comprehensive Spending Review in the context of our priorities across early years as a whole. Future arrangements will be for all maintained nursery schools, including those in Barnet.
This government remains committed to the long-term funding of maintained nursery schools, and any reform to the way they are funded will be accompanied by appropriate funding protections.