Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of the levels of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Automated External Defibrillator training being taught in (a) privately funded schools and (b) higher and further education settings.

All state funded schools in England are required to teach first aid as part of statutory Health Education, which includes basic first aid. Pupils in secondary schools are taught further first aid, including how to administer CPR and the purpose of defibrillators. Schools may also incorporate further defibrillator awareness and training materials to support this as part of the wider curriculum.

In 2022, the Department announced it would provide automated external defibrillators (AEDs) to schools in England to plug local gaps and provide more schools and local communities access to first aid equipment. Since the start of the programme, over 9,300 devices have been delivered to state funded schools in England.

The Department has not made an assessment of the effectiveness of CPR and AED training in schools and is undertaking an evaluation of Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) generally. The Department has contracted IFF Research to undertake quantitative and qualitative research into the quality of the implementation of RSHE, including teacher confidence in teaching the statutory requirements. The Department anticipates that the final report from IFF Research will be published in early 2024. Details of the IFF Research contract are available at: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/0cc4d6b1-d266-459e-aaee-f5e22e4ad4c6.

As part of the Ofsted assessment of a school’s support for pupils’ personal development, inspectors make a professional judgement on whether the school is providing appropriate and effective teaching in the range of curriculum subjects, including RSHE. Schools are accountable for what they teach and should ensure that all RSHE content is factual, age appropriate, and suitable for their pupils. As part of their personal development judgement, inspectors would consider whether schools are teaching content in line with the RSHE statutory guidance.

Independent or fee paying schools are regulated by the Independent School Standards. Schools not meeting the Standards face regulatory action up to and including de-registration, or effective closure. Independent schools are not required by the Standards to provide CPR and AED training, so no such assessment has been made of the degree to which they do so. Independent schools are required to teach Health Education as part of Personal, Social, Health and Economic education and it is good practice to follow the statutory Health Education curriculum.

Further education colleges and Higher Education Institutions are autonomous organisations and as such are responsible for matters of health and safety training in their organisations.