Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to gather information about the number of education professionals who have training on autism.

The department does not hold or plan to gather information on the number of education professionals who have training specifically on autism.

Once teachers qualify and are employed in schools, headteachers and school staff use their professional judgement to identify any further training, including specific specialisms, for individual staff that is relevant to them, the school, and its pupils. Schools do not report information to the department on additional specialist training of this nature. However, all teachers are teachers of students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and we are committed to ensuring that all pupils can reach their potential and receive excellent support from their teachers.

Consideration of SEND underpins both the initial teacher training (ITT) core content framework (CCF) and early career framework (ECF), which were both produced with the support of sector experts.

ITT courses must be designed so that teacher trainees can demonstrate that they meet all of the Teachers' Standards at the appropriate level, including the requirement in Standard 5, that all teachers must have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils.

The government invested £74 million into the first year of our new National Autism Strategy, published in July 2021 and extended to children and young people for the first time. It aims to improve the lives of people with autism, for example through improving access to quality education. We will publish our second implementation plan this year.

In February, the department announced funding which includes nearly £12 million for the new Universal Services contract, to deliver SEND-specific continuing professional development to the school and further education workforce. This will help schools and colleges to support children and young people with SEND, including autism, and includes specific support on the needs of autistic children and young people.