Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what indicators her Department uses to track the impact of its education Official Development Assistance on foundational literacy and numeracy outcomes.

The UK, where available, uses national data systems to track and monitor progress of its Official Development Assistance spend on foundational literacy and numeracy and in a number of countries is working to strengthen these national systems. UK-funded centrally managed programmes and research programmes are also building the global public goods on evidence and data that are needed to better track foundational learning for all. The UK is committed to press for better accountability and coordination in the international education system to deliver the greatest impact for girls' education. We are working with like-minded partners to deliver stronger accountability for Sustainable Development Goal 4 progress, including through better use of education data to focus global efforts on areas of greatest need. A UK-funded programme in Tanzania was recently included as a leading example in a global review of how best to improve learning at scale. It showed how the programme, EQUIP-T, successfully improved literacy and numeracy skills for pupils, especially girls and the most marginalised. We are committed to ensuring there are more programmes like EQUIP-T - whether funded by governments, donors, or multilaterals - that both improve learning outcomes for all children and can prove it.