Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the new Schools Challenges Cymru programme in Wales; and what measures they are taking to tackle underperformance in English state-funded schools.

There is value in all administrations in the UK learning from each other, including from results achieved by Schools Challenge Cymru programme. There is a clear parallel between what this aims to achieve and the academies programme in England: tackling underperformance of schools and encouraging greater collaboration. School-led improvement is at the core of our education reforms and we continue to encourage networks of school-to-school support in which the best schools work with schools in difficulties.

We have a robust and comprehensive framework for tackling underperformance in English state-funded schools. Statutory guidance to local authorities sets out our expectation that they should take swift action where maintained schools are underperforming, including replacing the governing body with an interim executive board and converting the school to an academy with a strong sponsor. The guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/schools-causing-concern--2

The Department for Education will take decisive action where an academy is under-performing, which can ultimately lead to the termination of their funding agreement and transferring a school to another high performing academy chain.

Ofsted has implemented a more rigorous inspection framework, with performance data forming part of the information used to target inspections on the weakest schools.