Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help school leavers who did not achieve a grade 4 or above in GCSE (a) Maths and (b) English in the 2021-22 academic year to do so in the next two years.

Students who leave education with a good grasp of English and mathematics increase their chances of securing a job or going on to further education. This is why the Department requires young people to continue to study English and mathematics in their 16 to 18 study programmes if they have not achieved a GCSE grade 4 or above by age 16. Since the introduction of the English and mathematics condition of funding policy, there has been consistent improvement for pupils between 16 to 19 in terms of their achievement in level 2 English and mathematics.

The Department recognises the challenges that some students experience in achieving an English or mathematics GCSE grade 4 or pass in Level 2 Functional Skills. That is why the Department continues to fund professional development to help schools and colleges support more students to achieve a Level 2 in these subjects. The Department has invested £30 million to improve mathematics teaching in post-16 institutions through the Centres for Excellence in Maths programme.

Across the next three years, the Department is concentrating funding of up to £15 million in professional development programmes, research, and resources, all specifically focused on supporting teachers of 16 to 19 English and mathematics up to Level 2.

The 16-19 Tuition Fund has also made £400 million available to schools, colleges and all other 16 to 19 institutions over four years, since 2020/21. This funding provides small group tutoring activity for disadvantaged 16 to 19 year old pupils in subjects such as English and mathematics, allowing one to one and small group catch up tuition. In addition, funding has been made available since 2022/23 to support additional hours for more teaching in 16 to 19 study programmes and T Levels. These hours should be used to prioritise mathematics, where there is an identified pupil need.