Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of endometriosis on school attendance and attainment among girls and young women.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government recognises that endometriosis can affect a pupil’s health, wellbeing and ability to attend school and participate fully in education. Regular attendance is important for pupils’ attainment, wellbeing and wider development, and schools should work with pupils and families to understand and address health-related barriers to attendance.
Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions, which would include endometriosis. Schools must have regard to the department’s statutory guidance about support for pupils at school with medical conditions, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3.
This guidance makes clear that pupils with medical conditions should be properly supported so that they can play a full and active role in school life, remain healthy and achieve their academic potential.
The statutory guidance regarding collaboration between schools, academy trusts, governing bodies and local authorities is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance. This guidance promotes a 'support first' approach and expects schools to be particularly mindful of absent pupils because of physical or mental ill health. Schools should work in partnership with families to understand the individual barriers a pupil faces, put appropriate support in place and consider reasonable adjustments where relevant.
In March, the department consulted on revised guidance on supporting children and young people with medical conditions, and this will be published in due course.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department provides to schools on recognising and accommodating the impact of endometriosis and related conditions on pupils' education and attendance.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government recognises that endometriosis can affect a pupil’s health, wellbeing and ability to attend school and participate fully in education. Regular attendance is important for pupils’ attainment, wellbeing and wider development, and schools should work with pupils and families to understand and address health-related barriers to attendance.
Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions, which would include endometriosis. Schools must have regard to the department’s statutory guidance about support for pupils at school with medical conditions, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3.
This guidance makes clear that pupils with medical conditions should be properly supported so that they can play a full and active role in school life, remain healthy and achieve their academic potential.
The statutory guidance regarding collaboration between schools, academy trusts, governing bodies and local authorities is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance. This guidance promotes a 'support first' approach and expects schools to be particularly mindful of absent pupils because of physical or mental ill health. Schools should work in partnership with families to understand the individual barriers a pupil faces, put appropriate support in place and consider reasonable adjustments where relevant.
In March, the department consulted on revised guidance on supporting children and young people with medical conditions, and this will be published in due course.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of potential merits of providing free school meals to all school children.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and reducing child poverty. We have allocated over £1 billion towards expanding free school meals to all children in households on Universal Credit. This new entitlement will mean over 500,000 of the most disadvantaged children will begin to access free meals, pulling 100,000 children out of poverty. This is in addition to the money we already spend, around £1.5 billion annually, so that over 3 million pupils receive a healthy, nutritious meal during the school day.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 8 May 2025 to Question 51054 on Teachers: Workplace Pensions, what progress has been made on reducing the number of teachers waiting for compensation since 30 May 2025.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
As part of the Transitional Protection (McCloud) remedy, affected members of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) can choose either final salary or career average benefits for the remedy period (April 2015 to March 2022). From June 2025, the TPS administrator began adjusting pensions for members who selected benefits different from those already in payment.
As of 17 September 2025, 254 pensions had been adjusted. This process takes time, due to the complexity of the calculations required for the Remediable Service Statement (RSS), which reflects benefit choices as of its issue date. Additional calculations are needed if members opt for different benefits, as the pension position may change between RSS issuance and payment adjustment and some of these calculations cannot currently be automated so are done manually by clerical staff. The member’s existing pension benefits continue to be paid during this period, with any subsequent changes backdated with interest applied.
The department continues to monitor these issues very closely and work with Capita to ensure issues of this nature are resolved as quickly as possible, and the Teachers’ Pension Scheme is delivered to the highest possible standard.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will take steps to ensure that media literacy is a core component of the Curriculum and Assessment Review, in the context of increases in the use of generative AI.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review’s interim report notes the rise of artificial intelligence and trends in digital information and that it is necessary that the curriculum keep pace with these changes, including a renewed focus on digital and media literacy and critical thinking skills. The interim report is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/curriculum-and-assessment-review-interim-report. The Review’s final report and recommendations will be published in autumn with the government’s response.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to provide (a) additional resources, (b) teacher training and (c) additional curriculum support on media literacy in schools.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Media literacy is covered in the citizenship, relationships, sex and health education and computing curriculums.
The department funds the National Centre for Computing Education, which provides teachers with continuing professional development and resources to support the teaching of computing. This includes units on messaging in digital media, the credibility of sources, and identifying ‘fake’ news and edited images, supporting the teaching of artificial intelligence (AI) and media literacy.
In 2024, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) provided £0.5 million to scale up two programmes, to provide media literacy support to teachers, children aged 11 to 16, parents/carers and other professionals working with families.
The Educate against Hate website also hosts a series of online media literacy resources which seek to help young people evaluate the validity of information. This can be accessed at: https://www.educateagainsthate.com/.
The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review’s interim report notes the rise of AI and trends in digital information and that it is necessary that the curriculum keep pace with these changes, including a renewed focus on digital and media literacy and critical thinking skills. The interim report is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/curriculum-and-assessment-review-interim-report. The Review’s final report and recommendations will be published in autumn with the government’s response.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the report by Together Trust and National Star entitled What comes after education? Transitions to adulthood for disabled young people, published on 8 December 2023.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The report raises concerns around the challenges young people face when transitioning from education into adulthood, including uncertainty around post-16 options, employment and transitions to adult services. The department will consider these themes and the issues raised in the report and discuss with stakeholders as we progress our special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reform work.
The department knows that successful transitions must be well-planned. Preparing all children and young people with SEND for adulthood is a key part of the SEND system and should begin from the earliest point. All local authorities must set out the support available to help children and young people with SEND prepare for and transition to adulthood as part of their local offer. This includes support to help children and young people move between phases of education and preparation for adult life.
For those with an education, health and care (EHC) plan, there must be a focus from year 9 onwards on preparing the young person for adulthood as part of their plan’s annual review. This focus must continue until the young person’s EHC plan ceases. Planning for the transition to adulthood should result in clear outcomes being agreed that are ambitious and stretching, and which are tailored to the needs and interests of the young person.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of amending the lifelong loan entitlement to offer maintenance loans for remote learners.
Answered by Janet Daby
The Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE) will deliver a transformational change to the student finance system in England, by broadening access to high-quality, flexible education and training.
All courses and modules with in-person attendance that are eligible for LLE tuition funding will also be eligible for maintenance loans. This represents an expansion of the maintenance offer for part-time learners and those studying technical courses.
Eligibility and qualifying conditions for LLE funding will broadly mirror existing policy. As such, remote learners will continue to have access to tuition fee loan funding but be out of scope of the maintenance offer. However, it is government's intention that the existing exemptions will continue to apply, for example remote learners who qualify for maintenance support due to a disability.
Decisions on student finance have had to be taken alongside other spending priorities to ensure the system remains financially sustainable. The department has therefore decided to continue targeting living costs support at courses that require students to attend their institution.
The government, and the department, will keep this policy under review.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to review the School Food Standards.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
It is important that children eat nutritious food at school and the department encourages schools to have a whole school approach to healthy eating. The School Food Standards regulate the food and drink provided at lunchtime and at other times of the school day, including, for example, breakfast clubs. The School Food Standards restrict foods high in fat, salt and sugar, as well as low quality reformed or reconstituted foods. They ensure that pupils always have healthy options for their school lunch.
School governors have a responsibility to ensure compliance and should provide appropriate challenge to ensure the school is meeting its obligations.
To support governors in their role around compliance, the department, along with the National Governance Association, is running a pilot online training course on school food for governors and trustees. This launched on 4 November 2024 and will run until 1 April 2025. This will help governors to improve their understanding of the standards and give governing boards confidence to hold their school leaders to account on their whole school approach to food. The department will evaluate the training programme’s reception and effectiveness in the short term.
The department’s aim is to deliver better life chances for all through a system which works for all. As part of this, as with all government programmes, we will keep our approach to school food under continued review.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had recent discussions with local authorities on the future of the Holiday Activities and Food programme after March 2025.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The department has received its overall budget and we are now working through the details of the budget settlement. Departmental budgets for 2025/26 will be confirmed in due course, including the exact funding available for this type of support for children, young people and families during the holidays.