Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support students whose courses have been affected by the insolvency of Supporting Minds CIC.

Supporting Minds is a private organisation that neither has contracts with, nor receives government funding from, the Education and Skills Funding Agency or the Office for Students in respect of the provision it delivers and students it has enrolled.

The department’s advice to any individuals affected by the closure of this organisation is to contact the National Careers Service to seek advice about the options for enrolling onto another course with a different provider.

The National Careers Service provide careers information, advice and guidance to people of all ages and can help individuals to make decisions on learning, training and work at all stages of their career. Their website is available at: https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk.

As a private provider not receiving government funding, the department assumes it will have charged students for its provision. Affected students will need to make a claim with the insolvency practitioner to try and recover those funds.