Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the potential use of computer programming in primary schooling.

The Government is committed to ensuring that pupils receive high quality computing education. That is why we have introduced computing as a National Curriculum subject at all four Key Stages. All maintained schools must follow the curriculum and other schools can use it as a benchmark. The curriculum has been designed to ensure that pupils acquire the knowledge and skills they need to become active creators of digital technology, not just passive consumers of it.

In Key Stages 1 and 2, the computing curriculum has a strong focus on programming. It includes an understanding of algorithms and how they are implemented as programs. In addition, pupils are taught about designing, writing and debugging simple programs, using logical reasoning, and using a variety of software to design and create a range of programs, systems, and content.