Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many school places would be created at the 44 free school applications that have been placed on hold since 22 October 2024, broken down by each individual project.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is reviewing 44 projects as part of the mainstream free school pipeline review, to ensure they continue to meet localised need for places, consider whether they provide a unique educational offer and are not to the detriment of the other schools locally. These projects would provide approximately 30,000 additional places at capacity.
The National Audit Office set out in 2017 that planned free schools would lead to an estimated 57,500 spare places, and that there is a cost both to the taxpayer and to other local schools via impact on pupil numbers at existing schools.
Since the review was launched, the department has paused development of the sites. Any funding has been in line with managing public money. The department will publicly communicate the outcomes of the review as soon as possible.
We have engaged with trusts, local authorities and other stakeholders in relation to individual projects in scope of the review, including reviewing the evidence they have provided.
As would be expected from a review of this scale, there have been a significant number of meetings, including meetings between ministers and MPs, where local MPs have requested them.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will set out whether (a) primary, (b) secondary, and (c) post-16 schools are required to conduct immigration checks when adding new children to their admissions register.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The law requires children of compulsory school age living in England, including foreign nationals, to receive a suitable full-time education.
If a school has concerns about an individual’s age and lack documentation, they should refer this to the local authority, which may conduct an assessment. Age assessment is the responsibility of local authorities and the Home Office. The local authority may liaise with the Home Office age dispute team and may also seek support from the National Age Assessment Board.
The department does not hold the data requested.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Wyre)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, what discussions the Church of England has had with Church of England academies with admission processes that exclude potential pupils of another faith or none.
Answered by Marsha De Cordova
In a voluntary aided (VA) school or former VA school that has converted to become an academy, school admissions are the responsibility of the governing body or trust directors. Church of England schools, as Church Schools, have to consult with the Diocesan Board of Education as they set their admissions policy and oversubscription criteria. In doing so they will be mindful of the need to be true to their foundation principles and respond to parental preference, whilst meeting their desire to serve the community for which the school was established.
The Church of England Vision for Education sets out our aspiration to be ‘deeply Christian, serving the common good’, and schools, in consultation with their dioceses, will consider how best to achieve this at a local level.
Schools cannot and do not exclude pupils on the basis of faith, but when a school is oversubscribed, they apply oversubscription criteria which have to be fair, clear and objective. It is right for such policies to be set locally (following regular consultation) because each local context varies enormously. For example, a school which is the only school serving a particular community is likely to take a different approach to admissions compared to a context where there are several schools available and where parental demand for the ethos and type of education offered by a Church of England school is more pronounced.
The National Church Institutions can only comment on best practice, I would suggest that if the Hon. Member for Lancaster and Wyre has a specific school in mind, the local diocese education team would be best placed to discuss the matter with her. The details of Blackburn Diocese’s Education team can be found here: https://www.bdeducation.org.uk/schools/
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether any assessment has been made of the potential impact of allowing academy trusts to prioritise feeder schools within their own trust in their admissions policy on the average distance that children have to travel to school.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The School Admissions Code permits a trust naming another school in the trust as a feeder school. As with any selection of a feeder school, the trust must ensure that the named school is chosen on reasonable grounds, and the arrangements must be lawful and fair according to local circumstances.
Admission authorities must consult on any change to their admissions arrangements. Once set, anyone who believes a school's admission arrangements are unfair or unlawful can object to the independent schools adjudicator.
In its 2015/16 annual report, the Office of the Schools Adjudicator (OSA) noted an increasing trend for trusts to name all trust primaries as feeders for a secondary school, for reasons including promoting continuity and reflecting trust-wide links.
The report noted some objections to feeder school arrangements were upheld as unfair where distant feeders were prioritised over local children, resulting in longer journeys. However, where priority for distant feeders came after priority for local children, this was unlikely to be found unfair.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of feeder schools taking priority in school admissions on the average distance that pupils have to travel to school.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
It is for admission authorities to set the oversubscription criteria which are most suitable for their schools according to their local circumstances. The School Admissions Code allows admission authorities to give priority within their oversubscription criteria to pupils attending a named feeder school. The selection of a feeder school or schools as an oversubscription criterion must be transparent and made on reasonable grounds.
Admission authorities must consult on any change to their admissions arrangements, including introducing a new feeder school, to ensure that any local impacts are considered. Once set, anyone who believes a school's admission arrangements are unfair or unlawful can object to the Independent Schools Adjudicator.
Asked by: Tom Tugendhat (Conservative - Tonbridge)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what correspondence she has had with (a) primary and (b) secondary schools to evaluate the impact of pupil transfers on (i) admissions, (ii) SEND provisions for existing students and (iii) SEND provisions for new students since 1 January 2025.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
HM Treasury published a tax information and impact note (TIIN) on applying VAT to independent school fees, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-on-private-school-fees/applying-vat-to-private-school-fees#who-is-likely-to-be-affected. The note contains information on the impacts on individuals and families, and the government’s estimates of the number of pupils expected to enter the state sector as a result of this policy. The government does not collect pupil-level data from private schools and therefore cannot track pupil movements out of private schools into the state sector. Latest published figures confirm that pupil numbers remain within historical patterns seen for over 20 years, with no evidence of excessive pressure on the state system. The department works with local authorities to help them fulfil their duty to secure school places, including for children with special educational needs and disabilities.
The reforms to VAT and business rates, ending the exemptions which private schools previously enjoyed, are expected to raise £1.8 billion a year by 2029/30. This measure will raise essential revenue that will be invested in our public services, such as our £3.7 billion increase to school funding in 2025/26, taking core school funding to £65.3 billion compared to £61.6 billion in 2024/25.
Asked by: Tom Tugendhat (Conservative - Tonbridge)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to support Kent County Council with levels of admissions following the introduction of VAT on private schools.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
HM Treasury published a tax information and impact note (TIIN) on applying VAT to independent school fees, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-on-private-school-fees/applying-vat-to-private-school-fees#who-is-likely-to-be-affected. The note contains information on the impacts on individuals and families, and the government’s estimates of the number of pupils expected to enter the state sector as a result of this policy. The government does not collect pupil-level data from private schools and therefore cannot track pupil movements out of private schools into the state sector. Latest published figures confirm that pupil numbers remain within historical patterns seen for over 20 years, with no evidence of excessive pressure on the state system. The department works with local authorities to help them fulfil their duty to secure school places, including for children with special educational needs and disabilities.
The reforms to VAT and business rates, ending the exemptions which private schools previously enjoyed, are expected to raise £1.8 billion a year by 2029/30. This measure will raise essential revenue that will be invested in our public services, such as our £3.7 billion increase to school funding in 2025/26, taking core school funding to £65.3 billion compared to £61.6 billion in 2024/25.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 8 October 2025 to Question 72845 on City of Sanctuary UK, on which dates officials from her Department met with Schools of Sanctuary since July 2024; and what was discussed at each meeting.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Three meetings have taken place between officials and Schools of Sanctuary during the 2024/25 academic year. One meeting was to discuss school admissions policy and processes, and two were to hear about the work of the organisation.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has held discussions with the Secretary of State for Education on the availability of state school places for children of armed forces personnel who are relocated during the academic year.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Ministry of Defence (MOD) officials collaborate with colleagues in the Department for Education (DfE) regarding the education of children from Armed Forces families. MOD officials are members of the DfE Admissions Working Group and are presently engaged with the DfE in helping to shape revisions to the 2021 School Admissions Code.
The Code already recognises the unique circumstances of Armed Forces families and includes specific provisions to help mitigate disadvantage due to mobility, and the revision will include a focus upon improving Service children’s transition arrangements when they move between schools.
In addition, the MOD works with key local authorities and is formally consulted by MOD Local Authority Partnership (MODLAP) admissions authorities when changes to their school admissions arrangements are proposed.
Further, this Government plans to extend the Armed Forces Covenant Legal Duty to more policy areas and across the UK so that Armed Forces personnel and their families will have their unique circumstances legally protected by central and devolved governments for the first time. The Covenant Legal Duty will be extended to cover a broader scope of policy areas, including education.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has held discussions with the Secretary of State for Education on the availability of state school places for children of armed forces personnel.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Ministry of Defence (MOD) officials collaborate with colleagues in the Department for Education (DfE) regarding the education of children from Armed Forces families. MOD officials are members of the DfE Admissions Working Group and are presently engaged with the DfE in helping to shape revisions to the 2021 School Admissions Code.
The Code already recognises the unique circumstances of Armed Forces families and includes specific provisions to help mitigate disadvantage due to mobility, and the revision will include a focus upon improving Service children’s transition arrangements when they move between schools.
In addition, the MOD works with key local authorities and is formally consulted by MOD Local Authority Partnership (MODLAP) admissions authorities when changes to their school admissions arrangements are proposed.
Further, this Government plans to extend the Armed Forces Covenant Legal Duty to more policy areas and across the UK so that Armed Forces personnel and their families will have their unique circumstances legally protected by central and devolved governments for the first time. The Covenant Legal Duty will be extended to cover a broader scope of policy areas, including education.