Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what language assistance he is providing to (a) schools and (b) colleges to assist them in serving the needs of (i) Afghan and (ii) Ukrainian children.

Schools are responsible for ensuring that all of their pupils, including those who are classed as having a first language other than English, can access the full curriculum and have opportunity to achieve their potential.

Through the English as an additional language (EAL) factor in the national funding formula (NFF), schools are allocated funding for pupils who are classed as having EAL and who have started in the state-funded education system in England within the last three years. This equates to an additional £565 per primary school pupil and £1,530 per secondary school pupil in the 2022/23 financial year. The NFF will distribute a total of £410 million through the EAL factor in the current financial year. Schools have flexibility over how they use their overall funding budget to support their EAL pupils, as they are best placed to understand and respond to the particular needs of their pupils.

Ukrainians aged 16 to 19 living in the UK under the Ukraine Family Scheme, and the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (Homes for Ukraine) are eligible to enrol as a student in 16 to 19 education providers, although providers may ask to see evidence of their eligibility.

Afghans aged 16 to 19 recognised as having a legal right to reside in UK are immediately entitled to 16 to 19 funding and are therefore able to enrol at 16 to 19 education providers.

16 to 19 education providers include further education colleges, sixth form colleges and school sixth forms. 16 to 19 study programmes can include English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) courses or other English tuition, depending on the needs of the student.