Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take to improve the attainment of, and outcomes for, pupils attending schools in rural and coastal areas; and, in particular, what assessment they have made of the use of partnerships between schools.

The Department for Education recently published the report, ‘Unlocking Talent, Fulfilling Potential’, which sets out the department’s plan for improving social mobility through education. The report, which has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses, consists of a targeted response to direct resources to where they are needed most. It includes prioritising support for 108 Category 5&6 local authority districts with the weakest educational performance but with capacity to improve. These districts, some of which are located in rural or coastal areas, were identified using the composite ‘Achieving Excellence Area’ indicator, which measures the educational performance of an area and its capacity to improve.

The Opportunity Area programme seeks to improve outcomes for pupils in 12 social mobility ‘cold spots’ by overcoming barriers in those geographic areas where the educational challenges are greatest and opportunity is lacking. The areas represent a wide geographic spread, and take into account different challenges faced in different contexts - including in coastal and rural areas - which will help us to build a strong evidence base on what works in a wide range of varied settings.