Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support Ukrainian refugee children into education in Hertfordshire.

The department is supporting all local authorities, including Hertfordshire, to create sufficient school places for Ukrainian refugee children. As of 1 September, a total of 382 Ukrainian children had applied for school places in Hertfordshire, including 232 primary and 150 secondary applications. 221 Ukrainian children have been offered a place in a primary school and 138 children in a secondary school, a total of 359 places. Further information can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-placements-for-children-from-outside-of-the-uk#dataBlock-0d7ea979-5308-4894-dbfb-08da76d991a7-tables.

Moreover, the department will provide additional funding on a per pupil basis for Ukrainian children for the three phases of education at the following annual rates:

• Early years (ages 2 to 4) - £3,000
• Primary (ages 5 -11) - £6,580
• Secondary (ages 11-18) - £8,755

In August 2022, the department made initial payments to all local authorities that have children who arrived between March and May 2022 via the Homes for Ukraine visa route. Further payments will be made on a quarterly basis. Hertfordshire received £2,158,450 in August. The funding is for local authorities to spend on providing early years education and primary and secondary school places for children from overseas. It can be used to provide a wide range of support, including funding teachers and other school staff, school transport, uniform, English language tuition and emotional/mental health support.

Ukrainian parents can apply for a school place through the in-year admissions process. We have set out this process in the Ukrainian welcome pack. For younger children, all local authorities, including Hertfordshire, will work with families to enable all children access to early years provision in their local area as soon as possible, even if these places are not in the immediate vicinity of their accommodation.