Asked by: Kate Green (Labour - Stretford and Urmston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the steps his Department has taken to help children’s education recover from the impact of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Robin Walker
Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 disruption on the attainment and progress of all students is a key research priority for the government. That is why we invested in research into academic progress over the 2020/21 and 2021/22 academic years with Renaissance Learning and the Education Policy Institute. The latest findings from this research, published 28 March, include data from the first half of the 2021-22 autumn term. The findings from this research have been published on gov.uk at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupils-progress-in-the-2020-to-2022-academic-years
Our latest evidence suggests recovery is happening, with primary pupils recovering around 0.1 months in reading and 0.9 months in maths since Summer 2021, and recovering 1.5 months in reading and 1.7 months in maths since Spring 2021, with pupils now only 0.8 months and 1.9 months behind in reading and maths respectively.
This is equivalent to recovering around two thirds of progress lost due to the pandemic in primary reading and around half of progress lost in primary maths since Spring 2021.
Progress for secondary pupils in key stage 3 remains a concern, with pupils now on average around 2.4 months behind in reading, having seen losses since Summer 2021.
We are making some progress in closing gaps between disadvantaged pupils and their peers, additional gaps created by the COVID-19 pandemic appear to have reduced in primary maths and secondary reading since Summer 2021. However, the gap for primary reading appears to have grown.
In line with this evidence, we have announced £1 billion to extend the recovery premium over the next two academic years. This will enable schools to provide additional support for the most disadvantaged, and will be weighted more towards secondary pupils to reflect evidence showing greater learning loss for older pupils, who also have less time left in education. This is part of the nearly £5 billion of funding we have announced for an ambitious, multi-year education recovery plan to support young people to catch up on missed learning.
Recovery funding is already making a difference. By May 2022 1.5 million courses had been started by children across England through the National Tutoring Programme, and £950 million of direct funding through the catch up and recovery premia, was helping schools to deliver evidence-based interventions based on pupil needs. In light of the success of this year’s school-led tutoring route through the National Tutoring Programme, next year we will allocate all tutoring funding directly to schools, simplifying the system and giving schools the freedom to decide how best to provide tutoring for their pupils.
In addition to this, the Schools White Paper, 'Opportunity for all: strong schools with great teachers for your child', sets out how our education system will deliver recovery, not just through our specific recovery investments, but through a wider programme of ambitious reforms that truly level up outcomes and ensure we build back better from the pandemic.
The Parent Pledge in the Schools White Paper will also make the government’s vision clear that any child who falls behind in English or maths will receive the right evidence-based targeted support to get them back on track.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) schools with a large intake of military families are adequately provisioned and (b) school roll audits are carried out termly rather than annually in those schools.
Answered by Robin Walker
State-funded schools in England that are attended by children and young people from military families (known as service children) receive additional funding in the form of the service pupil premium (SPP). This funding is currently worth £320 per annum for each pupil who is recorded as a service child at the time of the autumn school census, or who has had service child status at any point in the last six years.
Schools have flexibility over how they use the SPP to support the pastoral and academic needs that service children may have as a result of growing up in a military household. These can include needs relating to the impact of moving schools frequently during their primary and secondary education.
Schools are required in each termly school census to record information about the number of service children on roll. However, allocations of SPP funding for each financial year only draw on data from the autumn school census return. This ’lagged’ approach to funding gives schools certainty over their budgets, as they know the number of pupils for which they will receive funding in the year. Therefore, when pupil numbers fall, schools have time to respond before this starts to impact their budgets.
The department has allocated £246 million in growth and falling rolls funding to local authorities in the 2022/23 financial year. This is an increase of £12 million over the amount allocated for 2021/22. Growth funding can be used by local authorities to support schools with managing a significant growth in pupil numbers or a short-term decrease in pupil numbers, where those places are forecast to be required in future years.
The responsibility for how growth and falling rolls funding is allocated rests with local authorities. If an academy or maintained school takes on significant numbers of additional pupils because of a growing population in the area, then local authorities can provide funding from the growth pot they hold locally.
Furthermore, schools in which more than 6% of pupils joined at a non-typical date through the school year at any point in the last three years also attract funding through the mobility factor in the national funding formula. For years 1 to 11, this means the first census when the pupil was in the school was a Spring or Summer census. For the reception year, the first census is the Summer census. This year, the department allocated £44 million to local authorities through this factor. Local authorities allocate the funding they receive to schools through their local funding formula.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Schools White Paper, what estimate he has made of the number of schools that undertake the Parent Pledge.
Answered by Robin Walker
The department’s Parent Pledge announced in the Schools White Paper aims to ensure that all children receive the right support in the right place, at the right time, based on their need.
Parents can be confident that every child who is behind in English and maths will receive the evidence-based, targeted support they need to help them get back on track. This can take the form of additional one-to-one maths tuition, or more time with their teacher practising their reading. This still means access to high-quality teaching and a strong curriculum for all children.
The very best schools and trusts in the system already do this as a matter of course. However, for many schools, this will be an important and significant shift. The department’s intention is to lock in this best practice in all schools so that all pupils benefit. Ofsted’s recently strengthened inspection framework, with its emphasis on how schools help all pupils to succeed, will ensure that there is strong accountability for delivering this in all schools.
By Autumn 2021, primary pupils were on average around 0.8 months behind where the department would expect them to be in reading and around 1.9 months behind in maths. There is some recovery since the Summer term, where pupils were 0.9 months behind in reading and 2.8 months behind in maths. Secondary pupils in KS3 were on average 2.4 months behind in reading, with some further losses since the Summer where pupils were on average 1.8 months behind.
Since Spring 2021, evidence suggests primary pupils have recovered around two thirds of progress lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic in reading and around half of progress lost in maths.
The department will support schools to deliver against the pledge. As part of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the department has already invested nearly £5 billion, including £3 billion in targeted support to help those children worst affected by COVID-19, with a commitment to deliver up to 100 million tutoring hours for 5 to 19-year-olds.
New guidance developed by the Standards and Testing Agency, working with Ofsted and the sector, will support schools to determine who is behind, and decide how curriculum, teaching, and targeted support can best be used to respond to this. Additionally, new guidance on reporting progress to parents will support schools in keeping parents informed and engaged, bringing reporting practice up to the standard of the best schools and trusts.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the number of children searched by police officers in (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools in each year since 2017, and how many of these were conducted without a responsible adult present.
Answered by Robin Walker
The department is clear that any use of strip search must be carried out in accordance with the law and with full regard for the dignity and welfare of the individual being searched, particularly if the individual being searched is a child.
The department is currently reviewing the ‘Searching, screening and confiscation’ guidance. As part of this review, officials are engaging with teaching unions, the third sector and other government departments, including the Home Office, to gather views on changes for consideration. This includes the roles of parents, the police and teachers in these challenging situations. We will aim to publish revised guidance in the summer alongside the recently consulted on ‘Behaviour in Schools’ guidance, and the ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ guidance. This will ensure that all schools are clear on their duties relating to safeguarding and protecting the welfare of all pupils. This coordinated approach will enable us to take a comprehensive view of what improvements can be made across our school safeguarding advice and guidance.
Regarding local safeguarding partnerships, the department does not issue specific guidance to safeguarding partners on how they should operate. Police, health, and local authorities have an equal and shared statutory duty to safeguard and protect the welfare of children in their local, and to publish arrangements setting out how this will be done. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 Code C, sets out the circumstances under which strip searches can be used.
Neither the Department for Education or the Home Office holds figures on the number of pupils searched by police officers in primary schools or secondary schools in each year since 2017, or how many of these were conducted without a responsible adult present.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the suitability of the current guidance issued to (a) schools, and (b) local safeguarding partnerships regarding police searches of children following the case of Child Q.
Answered by Robin Walker
The department is clear that any use of strip search must be carried out in accordance with the law and with full regard for the dignity and welfare of the individual being searched, particularly if the individual being searched is a child.
The department is currently reviewing the ‘Searching, screening and confiscation’ guidance. As part of this review, officials are engaging with teaching unions, the third sector and other government departments, including the Home Office, to gather views on changes for consideration. This includes the roles of parents, the police and teachers in these challenging situations. We will aim to publish revised guidance in the summer alongside the recently consulted on ‘Behaviour in Schools’ guidance, and the ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ guidance. This will ensure that all schools are clear on their duties relating to safeguarding and protecting the welfare of all pupils. This coordinated approach will enable us to take a comprehensive view of what improvements can be made across our school safeguarding advice and guidance.
Regarding local safeguarding partnerships, the department does not issue specific guidance to safeguarding partners on how they should operate. Police, health, and local authorities have an equal and shared statutory duty to safeguard and protect the welfare of children in their local, and to publish arrangements setting out how this will be done. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 Code C, sets out the circumstances under which strip searches can be used.
Neither the Department for Education or the Home Office holds figures on the number of pupils searched by police officers in primary schools or secondary schools in each year since 2017, or how many of these were conducted without a responsible adult present.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure all children are taught about healthy diets and how to cook nutritious food in school.
Answered by Will Quince
Cooking and nutrition are a discrete strand of the national curriculum for design and technology. This was introduced as part of the 2014 design and technology curriculum and is compulsory for key stages 1 to 3. The curriculum aims to teach children how to cook, with an emphasis on savoury dishes, and how to apply the principles of healthy eating and nutrition. It recognises that cooking is an important life skill that will help children to feed themselves, and others, healthy and affordable food.
A food preparation and nutrition GCSE was introduced in September 2016. It requires pupils to understand and apply the principles of food science, nutrition, and healthy eating when preparing and cooking food. The first exams in this new qualification were taken in summer 2018.
Healthy eating is also covered in health education, as part of the relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum. The RSHE statutory guidance states that by the end of primary school, pupils should know what constitutes a healthy diet (including understanding calories and other nutritional content), the principles of planning and preparing a range of healthy meals, the characteristics of a poor diet, and risks associated with unhealthy eating, (for example, obesity and tooth decay) and other behaviours (for example, the impact of alcohol on diet or health).
The importance of a healthy diet is also included in the science curriculum. The primary and secondary science curriculum require pupils in maintained schools to be taught about nutrition, including what constitutes a healthy diet, the impact of diet on the way our bodies work and the consequences of an imbalanced diet. By the end of secondary school, pupils should know how to maintain healthy eating and the links between a poor diet and health risks.
Furthermore, the Levelling Up White Paper confirmed the department’s focus on school food quality and food education, including a commitment to launch a £5 million pilot to launch a school cooking revolution. This includes enriching the curriculum and providing bursaries for teacher training and leadership.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the importance of summer camps for young people; and what support they currently give to summer camps, particularly those helping children and young people from deprived communities.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department recognises the significant benefits that summer camps can have for children’s mental health and wellbeing, as well as their educational and social development, and the particular value that this has for children and young people from deprived communities.
As announced by my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer as part of the Spending Review, on 27 October 2021, the government will be providing over £200 million a year for the continuation of the holiday activities and food programme. This offers valuable support to families on lower incomes by providing enriching activities and healthy meals for disadvantaged children during school holidays. Local authorities will be able to use the funding for this programme, which is delivered through grants, to arrange childcare provision through a range of settings, including summer camps.
In addition, £60 million of the £750 million package for the voluntary and charity sector, has been directed towards organisations supporting children and young people. More recently, a £16.5 million youth COVID-19 support fund has been announced, which will protect the immediate future of grassroots and national youth organisations across the country. A press release about this support fund is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-announces-165-million-youth-covid-19-support-fund. This is on top of the £200 million government investment in early intervention and prevention support initiatives to support children and young people at risk of exploitation and involvement in serious violence, through the Youth Endowment Fund.
The department also supports a number of initiatives to expand access to high-quality, extra-curricular activities for all children and young people. Many of these activities operate over the summer and include:
We are examining the research findings for the summer schools 2021 programme, which are due to be published in March. This is part of the department’s continued assessment of the impact of all education recovery programmes and we will continue to revise guidance on development and implementation of existing programmes, including where these programmes could provide support out of hours and term time.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the level of (a) speaking and (b) understanding language ability of children starting secondary school in September 2021 compared to those who started secondary school in the years before the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Robin Walker
The department does not have a current assessment of the number of children entering secondary school with speech and language difficulties or delay. We will have updated data on communication and language development later this year.
The department commissioned Renaissance Learning and the Education Policy Institute to collect data from a sample of schools to provide a baseline assessment of education lost and catch-up needs for year 3 to 9 pupils in schools in England and to monitor progress over the course of the 2020-21 academic year and the Autumn term 2021. The latest findings from this research, published 29 October 2021, include data from the 2020-21 summer term and a summary of all previous findings. Complete findings from the 2020-21 academic year can be found on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupils-progress-in-the-2020-to-2021-academic-year-interim-report.
Latest evidence suggests that pupils are showing some degree of recovery in reading. By summer 2021, primary pupils were on average around 0.9 months behind in reading and secondary pupils were on average around 1.8 months behind compared to where they would otherwise have been in a typical year. This is an improvement since the second half of the spring term 2021, where primary pupils were 2.3 months behind, and secondary pupils were around 2.6 months behind.
That is why the department is investing nearly £5 billion on measures to support further recovery such as the National Tutoring Programme, teacher development, and the recovery premium to support teachers to implement evidence-based interventions to address education gaps. This is in addition to a strong core funding settlement which will see core schools funding rise by £4.7 billion by financial year 2024/25 compared to existing plans.
The department is investing in early years education recovery to address concerns around lost education. Improving training for early years practitioners is one of the key levers for driving up quality in early education providers, and language development is key to this. That is why we are investing £180 million of recovery support in the early years sector.
This includes £153 million for evidence-based professional development for early years practitioners, including through new programmes focusing on key areas such as speech and language development for the youngest children. It also includes up to £10 million for a second phase of the Early Years Professional Development Programme in academic year 2021/22, targeted to support early years staff to work with disadvantaged children. It also includes up to £17 million for the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI). NELI is a proven programme aimed at the reception aged children needing extra support with their speech and language development and is proven to help children make around three months of additional progress. Two thirds of primary schools have signed up, the majority of these being schools with the highest levels of disadvantage, reaching an estimated 90,000 children.
As part of the department’s recovery strategy, we will also be significantly increasing the numbers of qualified level 3 special educational needs coordinators, to support better early identification and support of special educational needs and disabilities.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of whether children are behind with their speaking and understanding of language as a result of the covid-19 outbreak; and what support his Department is putting in place to meet those needs.
Answered by Robin Walker
The department does not have a current assessment of the number of children entering secondary school with speech and language difficulties or delay. We will have updated data on communication and language development later this year.
The department commissioned Renaissance Learning and the Education Policy Institute to collect data from a sample of schools to provide a baseline assessment of education lost and catch-up needs for year 3 to 9 pupils in schools in England and to monitor progress over the course of the 2020-21 academic year and the Autumn term 2021. The latest findings from this research, published 29 October 2021, include data from the 2020-21 summer term and a summary of all previous findings. Complete findings from the 2020-21 academic year can be found on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupils-progress-in-the-2020-to-2021-academic-year-interim-report.
Latest evidence suggests that pupils are showing some degree of recovery in reading. By summer 2021, primary pupils were on average around 0.9 months behind in reading and secondary pupils were on average around 1.8 months behind compared to where they would otherwise have been in a typical year. This is an improvement since the second half of the spring term 2021, where primary pupils were 2.3 months behind, and secondary pupils were around 2.6 months behind.
That is why the department is investing nearly £5 billion on measures to support further recovery such as the National Tutoring Programme, teacher development, and the recovery premium to support teachers to implement evidence-based interventions to address education gaps. This is in addition to a strong core funding settlement which will see core schools funding rise by £4.7 billion by financial year 2024/25 compared to existing plans.
The department is investing in early years education recovery to address concerns around lost education. Improving training for early years practitioners is one of the key levers for driving up quality in early education providers, and language development is key to this. That is why we are investing £180 million of recovery support in the early years sector.
This includes £153 million for evidence-based professional development for early years practitioners, including through new programmes focusing on key areas such as speech and language development for the youngest children. It also includes up to £10 million for a second phase of the Early Years Professional Development Programme in academic year 2021/22, targeted to support early years staff to work with disadvantaged children. It also includes up to £17 million for the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI). NELI is a proven programme aimed at the reception aged children needing extra support with their speech and language development and is proven to help children make around three months of additional progress. Two thirds of primary schools have signed up, the majority of these being schools with the highest levels of disadvantage, reaching an estimated 90,000 children.
As part of the department’s recovery strategy, we will also be significantly increasing the numbers of qualified level 3 special educational needs coordinators, to support better early identification and support of special educational needs and disabilities.
Asked by: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what lessons his Department is seeking to learn for assessments in summer 2022 from the sharp rise in the proportion of A-level grades awarded at A* between 2019 and 2021 in private schools in England.
Answered by Robin Walker
Parents and students can have confidence in the grades awarded in 2021. Overall results in 2021 showed success for those targeting the top grades from all types of schools and from all student backgrounds. The grades awarded reflected students’ hard work in what was a hugely challenging year.
Examination boards set out clear requirements for a robust yet proportionate quality assurance process that supported teachers to make judgements and ensured students received meaningful grades. There was a process for both internal and external quality assurance. Additionally, all centres, including independent schools, had their processes for awarding grades checked by examination boards to assure arrangements were appropriate.
All schools submitted a selection of student evidence to examination boards, which then scrutinised a sample of this work. Of the sample of 1,101 centres with examined submissions, 55% were secondary schools or academies, 18% were independent or selective centres, 13% were further education colleges, sixth forms or tertiary colleges, and 13% were other centre types, including free schools. This is broadly in line with the proportion of each centre type nationally.
Ofqual has published a readily accessible analysis of summer 2021 GCSE and A level results. Ofqual reported on the ways it monitored awarding organisations’ delivery and award of qualifications to students in 2021. The report is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1010044/6828-2_Summer_2021_results_analysis_and_quality_assurance_-_GCSE_and_A_level.pdf. In its report on equalities analysis, published in summer 2021, Ofqual reported examination boards found no evidence that teachers’ judgements were systemically biased in favour of any group of students. This report is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1010126/6828-3_Student-level_equalities_analysis_for_GCSE_and_A_level_summer_2021.pdf.
Ofqual’s findings show general stability in the differences in outcomes for students with different protected characteristics, compared to previous years and increases in outcomes for various groups. Ofqual has reported that this suggests changes to the assessment arrangements in 2021 have lessened the unevenness in outcomes otherwise observable. The government remains committed to providing world-class education and training for everyone, no matter their background or characteristics, and will continue to take the action needed to address disparities to help all pupils make up learning lost as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Teachers, schools and colleges did a good job in using their collective experience to assess students in 2021. However, the government is clear that exams remain the best and fairest form of assessment, which is why it is determined exams will take place this summer with adaptations to maximise fairness for young people.