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1701391

	registered interest
	date	16/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Artificial Intelligence: Training
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve access to artificial intelligence training.
	tabling member constituency	Romford
	tabling member printed	Andrew Rosindell
	uin	21931
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>The department is committed to creating a world-leading skills system which is employer-focused, high-quality and fit for the future.</p><p> </p><p>The department will continue its work to ensure that the education system is able to adapt to deliver upskilling and to provide the skills that learners need for the workplaces of the future, including jobs that will be impacted by, or require the use of, artificial intelligence (AI).</p><p> </p><p>World class T Levels are boosting access to high-quality technical education for thousands of young people and creating a skilled workforce for the future. 18 T Levels are available in a range of in-demand subject areas, including T Levels in digital subjects, which have been designed by employers and will help to equip students with the skills and knowledge required for great careers in the digital industry.</p><p> </p><p>Employers have designed over 30 high-quality apprenticeships in digital occupations, including Level 7 Artificial Intelligence Data Specialist, which will provide cutting edge skills in AI. Since it was introduced in May 2020, starts in this standard have grown from 100 in the 2020/21 academic year to 350 in the 2022/23 academic year.</p><p> </p><p>The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) are revising the Level 7 Artificial Intelligence Data Specialist standard this year to ensure it meets employers’ needs. They have also developed Level 5 in Data Engineering and are currently developing Level 6 Machine Learning Engineer. These standards include high levels of content regarding the application and use of AI.</p><p> </p><p>IfATE are also hosting workshops with a range of stakeholders to discuss the impact of AI on skills requirement across the economy and will be updating the Digital Skills and Characteristics Framework with AI-related content when it is revised next year. This will ensure all employers are thinking about the use and impact of AI when developing or revising occupational standards.</p><p> </p><p>Skills Bootcamps are delivering skills training for the digital sector in 2024/25 in each English region. There are also online Skills Bootcamps in AI Marketing and Content Creation and AI and Machine Learning.</p><p> </p><p>Higher Technical Qualifications (HTQs) provide the skills needed for a range of specialist digital occupations, such as cyber security technologist and software developer. There are 56 digital HTQs currently approved for teaching and a further ten approved for teaching from September 2024. HTQs provide a range of opportunities and pathways to build up the skills needed for AI-related roles.</p><p> </p><p>In higher education, the department is working with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to deliver new postgraduate AI and data science conversion courses to boost skills and diversity in AI jobs. The government is also investing £117 million in doctoral training for AI researchers.</p><p> </p><p>In 2023, the department’s Unit for Future Skills (UFS) developed a Science and Technology Jobs and Skills Dashboard to understand the supply and demand of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics skills to develop critical technologies like AI and quantum. This data will support improved access to relevant training.</p><p> </p><p>The UFS has also undertaken analysis which attempts to quantify the impact of AI on the UK job market. It shows the occupations, sectors and geographic areas expected to be most affected by AI and large language models, as well as the training routes that typically lead to these highly affected jobs.</p><p> </p><p>Digital and computing skills will play an important role for individuals developing and using AI in the future workforce. The department is harnessing government and external expertise through the Digital and Computing Skills Education Taskforce to increase the number of people taking digital and computing qualifications and attract a diverse range of individuals into digital jobs.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 24/04/2024 16:57:54 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
	tabling member	1447 label Biography information for Andrew Rosindell

1701342

	registered interest
	date	16/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Teachers: Training
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's Postgraduate initial teacher training targets for the 2024/25 academic year, for what reason the target number of secondary trainees teachers of Religious Education has been reduced to 580.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	21999
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>Postgraduate initial teacher training is only one of many routes into the teacher workforce, all of which are considered when calculating targets. Other routes include Undergraduate higher education institution (HEI) courses, Assessment Only (AO), the upcoming teacher degree apprenticeship, returners, new to the state-funded sector entrants and newly qualified entrants that defer entry into the profession (deferrers).</p><p>The 2024/25 postgraduate initial teacher training recruitment target of 580 for Religious Education (RE) is the highest since 2018/19 (if we exclude the 655 in 2023/24). Therefore, the current target is quite high compared to the recent historical time series. The target fell by 11.5% this year, which is in line with the fall of 9.1% for the overall secondary target.</p><p>These targets were calculated by the Teacher Workforce Model, and the fall was driven by two key factors. Firstly, recruitment forecasts for both returners and teachers that are new to the state-funded sector (including deferrer NQEs, newly qualified entrants) are more favourable this year. If we expect to recruit more teachers from these sources, all else being equal, we require fewer newly qualified entrants, and thus teacher trainees.</p><p>Secondly, whilst secondary pupil numbers are still growing, they are now growing more slowly; in advance of peaking around 2025/26. This acts to reduce the rate at which the workforce needs to grow and has helped lead to this year’s lower overall secondary target.</p><p>Finally, it is important to note that teacher training recruitment is unlimited this year; a lower recruitment target does not necessarily mean lower levels of recruitment.</p><p>Further information may be found in the following publication: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/postgraduate-initial-teacher-training-targets" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/postgraduate-initial-teacher-training-targets</a>.</p><p><br></p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 24/04/2024 16:30:33 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1702171

	registered interest
	date	18/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Childcare
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether there will be any new funding for local authorities to deliver 15 hours of free childcare.
	tabling member constituency	Leeds North East
	tabling member printed	Fabian Hamilton
	uin	22479
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>The department is delivering the largest expansion of childcare in England’s history. By the 2027/28 financial year, this government expects to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year, double what it currently does on childcare, on free hours and early education to help working families with their childcare costs.</p><p> </p><p>The department has provided local authorities with £12 million of delivery support funding in the 2023/24 financial year to help them plan and prepare for the entitlement’s expansion, as well as £100 million of capital funding to help expand or refurbish facilities.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 24/04/2024 16:16:38 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
	tabling member	415 label Biography information for Fabian Hamilton

1701454

	registered interest
	date	16/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Childcare
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure the availability of childcare placements in school holidays.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	22071
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>In the government’s Spring Budget 2023, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced transformative reforms to childcare for parents, children and the economy. This included £289 million to support the expansion of wraparound childcare for primary school-aged children. By 2026, all parents and carers of primary school-aged children, who need it, will be able to access term time wraparound childcare in their local area from 8am to 6pm.</p><p>Since 2021, the department has provided more than £200 million of funding per year to local authorities across England, who take responsibility for the provision of the Holidays Activities and Food programme (HAF) in their area.</p><p>The HAF programme provides heathy meals, enriching activities and free childcare places to children from low-income families, benefiting their heath, wellbeing and learning.</p><p>School holidays can be particular pressure points for some families because of increased costs, such as food and childcare, and reduced incomes. For some children that can lead to a holiday experience gap, with children from disadvantaged families less likely to access organised out-of-school activities, more likely to experience ‘unhealthy holidays’ in terms of nutrition and physical health and are more likely to experience social isolation.</p><p>Free holiday clubs are a response to this issue and evidence suggests that they can have a positive impact on children and young people. It also shows they work best when they provide consistent and easily accessible enrichment activities, when they offer more than just breakfast or lunch, and when they involve children and parents in food preparation.</p><p>Local authorities are responsible for understanding the needs of the children and families in their area and ensuring that the programme reaches those who need it.</p><p>While the majority of funding that local authorities receive should be used for holiday club places for children in receipt of free school meals (FSM), local authorities have discretion to use up to 15% of their funding to provide free or subsidised holiday club places for children who are not in receipt of benefits-related FSM but who the local authority believe could benefit from HAF provision.</p><p>In deciding which children should benefit from the 15% flexible funding, local authorities are asked to ensure that these places are aligned to their local priorities.</p><p>A number of local authorities across England have secured additional funding or resources that has allowed them to expand the reach of their programme.</p><p>The HAF programme is delivered during longer school holidays, Easter, summer and the Christmas break, in all 153 local authorities in England.</p><p>Since 2022, the HAF programme has provided 11.3 million HAF days to children and young people in this country. Across 2023, a total of 5.3 million HAF days were provided during Easter, summer and winter delivery.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 24/04/2024 15:59:18 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1701588

	registered interest
	date	16/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Childcare
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure the affordability of anti-social hours' childcare.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	22073
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>The department is providing over £4.1 billion by the 2027/28 financial year to fund 30 hours of free childcare per week (38 weeks per year) for working parents with children aged nine months to three years in England. This will remove one of the biggest barriers to parents working by vastly increasing the amount of free childcare that working families can access. This is set to save working families who use the full 30 funded hours up to £6,900 per year from when their child is nine months until they are five years old by September next year.</p><p> </p><p>Already, hundreds of thousands of children aged three and four are registered for a 30-hour place, which can save eligible working parents up to £6,000 per child per year. Expanding this entitlement will help even more eligible working parents with the cost of childcare and make a real difference to the lives of those families.</p><p> </p><p>To be eligible for the expanded 30 hours entitlement, as with the current 30 hours offer, parents will need to earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at national minimum wage or living wage, which is £183 per week or £9,518 per year in 2024-2025, and less than £100,000 adjusted net income per year. For families with two parents, both must be working to meet the criteria, unless one is receiving certain benefits. In a single-parent household, the single parent must meet the threshold. This offer aims to support parents to return to work or to work more hours, if they wish.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to the expanded entitlements, the government has also taken action to support parents on Universal Credit with childcare costs upfront when they need it, rather than in arrears. The department has increased support for these parents by increasing the childcare cost maximum amounts to £950 for one child and £1629 for two children.</p><p> </p><p>Tax-Free Childcare remains available for working parents of children aged 0-11, or up to 17 for eligible disabled children. This can save parents up to £2,000 per year, or up to £4,000 for eligible children with disabilities and has the same income criteria as 30 hours free childcare.</p><p>The department is committed to improving the cost, choice, and availability of childcare and government funding schemes are designed to be flexible enough to support families’ different situations, including parents who are night workers and shift workers.</p><p> </p><p>The government is investing £289 million in a new wraparound childcare programme. The government’s ambition is for all parents of primary school children who need it to be able to access childcare in their local area from 8am to 6pm. Parents will still be expected to pay to access this provision but support will be available to eligible parents through Universal Credit childcare and Tax Free Childcare.</p><p> </p><p>Parents should expect to see an expansion in the availability of wraparound care from September 2024, with every parent who needs it able to access term-time wraparound childcare by September 2026. The department is also providing over £200 million a year for the continuation of the Holiday Activities and Food programme and the department is investing a transformational £560 million in youth services in England over the next three years. This is part of a wider package the government has provided long term to support young people facing the greatest challenges.</p><p> </p><p>The department will also continue to monitor the sufficiency of childcare places across the sector. The department’s Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey shows that both the number of places available and the workforce has increased since 2022.</p><p> </p><p>Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, the department discusses what action the local authority is taking to address those issues and where needed support the local authority with any specific requirements through its childcare sufficiency support contract.</p><p> </p><p>The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston grouped question UIN 22069 22072 question first answered 24/04/2024 15:22:34 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1701587

	registered interest
	date	16/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Childcare
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure childcare provision is available for (a) night workers and (b) shift workers working anti-social hours.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	22072
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>The department is providing over £4.1 billion by the 2027/28 financial year to fund 30 hours of free childcare per week (38 weeks per year) for working parents with children aged nine months to three years in England. This will remove one of the biggest barriers to parents working by vastly increasing the amount of free childcare that working families can access. This is set to save working families who use the full 30 funded hours up to £6,900 per year from when their child is nine months until they are five years old by September next year.</p><p> </p><p>Already, hundreds of thousands of children aged three and four are registered for a 30-hour place, which can save eligible working parents up to £6,000 per child per year. Expanding this entitlement will help even more eligible working parents with the cost of childcare and make a real difference to the lives of those families.</p><p> </p><p>To be eligible for the expanded 30 hours entitlement, as with the current 30 hours offer, parents will need to earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at national minimum wage or living wage, which is £183 per week or £9,518 per year in 2024-2025, and less than £100,000 adjusted net income per year. For families with two parents, both must be working to meet the criteria, unless one is receiving certain benefits. In a single-parent household, the single parent must meet the threshold. This offer aims to support parents to return to work or to work more hours, if they wish.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to the expanded entitlements, the government has also taken action to support parents on Universal Credit with childcare costs upfront when they need it, rather than in arrears. The department has increased support for these parents by increasing the childcare cost maximum amounts to £950 for one child and £1629 for two children.</p><p> </p><p>Tax-Free Childcare remains available for working parents of children aged 0-11, or up to 17 for eligible disabled children. This can save parents up to £2,000 per year, or up to £4,000 for eligible children with disabilities and has the same income criteria as 30 hours free childcare.</p><p>The department is committed to improving the cost, choice, and availability of childcare and government funding schemes are designed to be flexible enough to support families’ different situations, including parents who are night workers and shift workers.</p><p> </p><p>The government is investing £289 million in a new wraparound childcare programme. The government’s ambition is for all parents of primary school children who need it to be able to access childcare in their local area from 8am to 6pm. Parents will still be expected to pay to access this provision but support will be available to eligible parents through Universal Credit childcare and Tax Free Childcare.</p><p> </p><p>Parents should expect to see an expansion in the availability of wraparound care from September 2024, with every parent who needs it able to access term-time wraparound childcare by September 2026. The department is also providing over £200 million a year for the continuation of the Holiday Activities and Food programme and the department is investing a transformational £560 million in youth services in England over the next three years. This is part of a wider package the government has provided long term to support young people facing the greatest challenges.</p><p> </p><p>The department will also continue to monitor the sufficiency of childcare places across the sector. The department’s Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey shows that both the number of places available and the workforce has increased since 2022.</p><p> </p><p>Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, the department discusses what action the local authority is taking to address those issues and where needed support the local authority with any specific requirements through its childcare sufficiency support contract.</p><p> </p><p>The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston grouped question UIN 22069 22073 question first answered 24/04/2024 15:22:34 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1701451

	registered interest
	date	16/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Childcare: Lone Parents
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to assess the potential impact of the cost of childcare on single parents.
	tabling member constituency	York Central
	tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
	uin	22069
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>The department is providing over £4.1 billion by the 2027/28 financial year to fund 30 hours of free childcare per week (38 weeks per year) for working parents with children aged nine months to three years in England. This will remove one of the biggest barriers to parents working by vastly increasing the amount of free childcare that working families can access. This is set to save working families who use the full 30 funded hours up to £6,900 per year from when their child is nine months until they are five years old by September next year.</p><p> </p><p>Already, hundreds of thousands of children aged three and four are registered for a 30-hour place, which can save eligible working parents up to £6,000 per child per year. Expanding this entitlement will help even more eligible working parents with the cost of childcare and make a real difference to the lives of those families.</p><p> </p><p>To be eligible for the expanded 30 hours entitlement, as with the current 30 hours offer, parents will need to earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at national minimum wage or living wage, which is £183 per week or £9,518 per year in 2024-2025, and less than £100,000 adjusted net income per year. For families with two parents, both must be working to meet the criteria, unless one is receiving certain benefits. In a single-parent household, the single parent must meet the threshold. This offer aims to support parents to return to work or to work more hours, if they wish.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to the expanded entitlements, the government has also taken action to support parents on Universal Credit with childcare costs upfront when they need it, rather than in arrears. The department has increased support for these parents by increasing the childcare cost maximum amounts to £950 for one child and £1629 for two children.</p><p> </p><p>Tax-Free Childcare remains available for working parents of children aged 0-11, or up to 17 for eligible disabled children. This can save parents up to £2,000 per year, or up to £4,000 for eligible children with disabilities and has the same income criteria as 30 hours free childcare.</p><p>The department is committed to improving the cost, choice, and availability of childcare and government funding schemes are designed to be flexible enough to support families’ different situations, including parents who are night workers and shift workers.</p><p> </p><p>The government is investing £289 million in a new wraparound childcare programme. The government’s ambition is for all parents of primary school children who need it to be able to access childcare in their local area from 8am to 6pm. Parents will still be expected to pay to access this provision but support will be available to eligible parents through Universal Credit childcare and Tax Free Childcare.</p><p> </p><p>Parents should expect to see an expansion in the availability of wraparound care from September 2024, with every parent who needs it able to access term-time wraparound childcare by September 2026. The department is also providing over £200 million a year for the continuation of the Holiday Activities and Food programme and the department is investing a transformational £560 million in youth services in England over the next three years. This is part of a wider package the government has provided long term to support young people facing the greatest challenges.</p><p> </p><p>The department will also continue to monitor the sufficiency of childcare places across the sector. The department’s Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey shows that both the number of places available and the workforce has increased since 2022.</p><p> </p><p>Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, the department discusses what action the local authority is taking to address those issues and where needed support the local authority with any specific requirements through its childcare sufficiency support contract.</p><p> </p><p>The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing.</p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston grouped question UIN 22072 22073 question first answered 24/04/2024 15:22:34 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
	tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1701464

	registered interest
	date	16/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	School Meals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that children are not hungry at school.
	tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hall Green
	tabling member printed	Tahir Ali
	uin	22161
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>The department provides a range of support designed to ensure that children in schools are provided with healthy and nutritious meals throughout the school day.</p><p> </p><p>The department is investing up to £35 million in the National School Breakfast Programme until the end of July 2025. This funding is supporting up to 2,700 schools in disadvantaged areas, meaning that thousands of children from low-income families are being offered free nutritious breakfasts at school to better support their attainment, wellbeing and readiness to learn.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to this, the department spends over £1 billion a year on free school meals, including £600 million for Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM). Under the benefits-based criteria, two million of the most disadvantaged pupils are eligible for free meals. Close to 1.3 million additional infants enjoy a free, healthy and nutritious meal at lunchtime following the introduction of the UIFSM policy in 2014. In total, over one third of pupils are in receipt of this crucial support, which is up from one in six in 2010.</p><p> </p><p>Furthermore, the department provides over 2.2 million children in reception and Key Stage 1 with a portion of fresh fruit or vegetables each day at school through the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme.</p><p> </p><p>The department supports the provision of nutritious food in schools through ‘The Requirements for School Food Regulations’ (2014), which require schools to provide children with healthy food and drink options and to make sure that children get the energy and nutrition they need across the school day.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 24/04/2024 12:34:10 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
	tabling member	4747 label Biography information for Tahir Ali

1701475

	registered interest
	date	16/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Schools: Polling Stations
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of closing schools so they can be used as polling stations on children's educational attainment.
	tabling member constituency	Hornsey and Wood Green
	tabling member printed	Catherine West
	uin	22090
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>The department has not made an assessment of the potential impact of closing schools so they can be used as polling stations.</p><p> </p><p>Local returning officers have the power to require a school to act as a polling venue and may choose to do so where no suitable alternative accommodation is available. Whether or not the school then has to close is a decision for the headteacher. Before making a decision, headteachers should always consider the impact of a school closure on their pupils and parents and work to minimise this impact so that it will not detrimentally affect pupils' educational attainment.</p><p> </p><p>Decisions about closure will usually depend on what arrangements can be made for voting to take place separately from the rest of the school premises. If the school decides to close on the day of the poll, it should try and make up the lost day of education.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 24/04/2024 12:17:40 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
	tabling member	4523 label Biography information for Catherine West

1701341

	registered interest
	date	16/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Secondary Education: Teachers
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for her policies of the proportion of time spent by secondary school teachers spending teaching subjects they are not trained in.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	21998
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.</p><p>There is currently the highest number of teachers on record. There are now over 468,000 full-time equivalent teachers in state-funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.</p><p>The most recent School Workforce Census shows that almost 9 in 10 (87.4%) hours taught in English Baccalaureate subjects were taught by a teacher with a specialism in that subject. Overall, teachers spent a total of 3 in 5 teaching hours (63.7%) teaching the English Baccalaureate subjects of mathematics, English, sciences (including computer science), history, geography and modern languages. The School Workforce Census is available online at: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england</a>.</p><p>Further information on the numbers and proportions of hours taught by teachers with relevant specialism in state-funded secondary schools in England in November 2022 can be found in the census publication at the following link: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/f8c83028-7cce-463b-4c97-08dc5d297e6b" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/f8c83028-7cce-463b-4c97-08dc5d297e6b</a>.</p><p>The department recognises that there is further to go to improve recruitment in some subjects and to ensure that more teaching is done by teachers with a specialism in the relevant subject. That is why the department has put in place a range of measures, including increased bursaries worth up to £28,000 tax-free and scholarships worth up to £30,000 tax-free, to encourage talented trainees to key subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing, and the department’s financial incentives package for the 2024/25 initial teacher training recruitment cycle is worth up to £196 million, which is a £15 million increase on the last cycle.</p><p>Additionally, the department is offering a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 after tax for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools, including in Education Investment Areas. For 2024/25 and 2025/26, the department will be doubling the rates of the Levelling Up Premium to up to £6,000 after tax. This will support recruitment and retention of specialist teachers in these subjects and in the schools and areas that need them most.</p><p>Last year the department accepted in full the School Teachers’ Review Body’s recommendations for the 2023/24 pay award for teachers and leaders. This means that teachers and leaders in maintained schools received a pay award of 6.5%, which is the highest pay award for teachers in over thirty years. The 2023/24 award also delivered the manifesto commitment of a minimum £30,000 starting salary for school teachers in all regions of the country.</p><p>The department also funds a number of subject-specific curriculum hubs, in subjects such as mathematics, sciences and languages, where schools can access more targeted training and development for their teachers, including those teaching out of specialism.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 24/04/2024 12:13:40 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon