Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 10 May 2023 to Question 182611 on Teachers: Qualifications, if she will take steps to make the Education Accreditation Scheme available to online education providers for adult learners.

The Online Education Accreditation Scheme (OEAS) was launched by the department in April 2023. The objective of the scheme is to bring regulatory oversight to an unregulated part of the education sector. The scheme is not designed to cover all forms of online education but to focus where the need for quality assurance is most pronounced, which is to pupils of compulsory school age. The OEAS is only open to applications from those providers offering full-time education online to pupils of compulsory school age. The government has no plans to expand the scheme to online education providers for adults.