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1083407

registered interest
date	06/03/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Agriculture: Education
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to increasing the funding available for agricultural courses where they contain significant STEM elements.
tabling member printed	Baroness Byford
uin	HL14290
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/03/2019 answer text <p>The government already provides funding via the Office for Students to support subjects where the costs of teaching exceed the income that providers receive through tuition fees. This includes agricultural courses with elements of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Current rates of high-cost funding are included in the ‘Office for Students: Guide to funding 2018-19’, attached.</p><p>Future funding for higher education will be announced in the forthcoming Spending Review following the Review of Post-18 Education and Funding, which is currently underway.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 20/03/2019 17:55:02 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie attachment 1 file name HL14290_OfS_Guide_to_Funding_2018_to_2019.pdf title HL14290_OfS_Guide_to_Funding_2018_2019
tabling member	3343 label Biography information for Baroness Byford

1083408

registered interest
date	06/03/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Distance Learning: Rural Areas
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to increase the availability of distance learning in rural areas where transport availability is difficult.
tabling member printed	Baroness Byford
uin	HL14291
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/03/2019 answer text <p>Distance learning offers excellent possibilities to open up choice and opportunity to people from a diverse range of backgrounds, including those from rural areas, and the government believes it should be widely available at a range of educational levels. Student support for tuition at higher education (HE) level is available for students who want to study on a part-time basis or by distance learning.</p><p> </p><p>The National Retraining Scheme (NRS) is an ambitious, far-reaching programme to drive adult retraining. It will help individuals to respond to the changing labour market, redirect their careers and secure better, more secure jobs of the future.</p><p> </p><p>To inform the design of the scheme, the Flexible Learning Fund is supporting 31 pilot projects across England with a total value of £11.4 million. The projects are designing and testing innovative, flexible learning that is easy to access. The pilots are aimed at adults who are working, or who are returning to work, with either low or intermediate skills. A range of delivery methods are being tested; most of the projects will make use of on-line technologies to a degree, as well as ‘blended learning’ that combines online and face-to-face learning.</p><p>My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has previously announced that Educational Technology (Edtech) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) would be a key feature of the NRS. Technological innovation and development, including in AI, will play an important part in improving the learning experience, design and effectiveness of online training.</p><p> </p><p>The government has committed up to £30 million of funding. Working closely with the technology industry we will look to innovate, test and develop ways in which technological solutions can directly answer the specific needs of NRS users alongside all learners. Details of the funding will be announced in spring 2019.</p><p> </p><p>It is only right that HE providers offer a range of options which suit all students, and that students have a real choice about where and how to study. The Review of Post-18 Education and Funding will consider how we can encourage and support more learning that is flexible, like part-time and distance learning, and enable more people to study close to where they live. The review will report later this year.</p><p> </p><p>The regulatory system is also a means of opening up HE to a more diverse range of provision and therefore to a wider range of students. The Higher Education and Research Act, which came into law in 2017, placed a duty on the Office for Students to consider other modes of study when promoting choice and opportunity in the provision of HE.</p><p> </p><p>Through recent HE reforms, we are working to support and encourage high quality new and innovative provision that has a strong offer for students, helping providers to navigate the regulatory system and we will continue to work with new providers to tackle any barriers that might arise.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 20/03/2019 17:57:19 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	3343 label Biography information for Baroness Byford

1081642

registered interest
date	04/03/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Universities: Admissions
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 28 February (HL13946), whether there are regulations that cover the reversal of prior conditional offers of places to students who were subsequently deemed to have satisfied previously advertised admissions criteria for their intended course; if so, what they are; and whether recommendations were made to the Office for Students to the effect that students whose offer of a place on their intended course had been reversed should instead be unconditionally offered a place on a different course at the same institution, for which the student concerned had not originally applied.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL14175
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/03/2019 answer text <p>There are no such regulations, and no recommendations have been made to the Office for Students (OfS) to that effect.</p><p>In relation to undergraduate admissions, once an offer has been made and accepted by a prospective student, a contract is formed between the higher education provider and the student. This is certainly the view of the Competition and Markets Authority, as set out on page 31 of its guidance to higher education providers on consumer law dated 12 March 2015, and it is already a condition of registration imposed by the OfS that registered providers must give due regard to relevant guidance on how to comply with consumer law. Given this, we do not see the need for any additional regulation to protect students against the potential withdrawal of an offer they have already accepted.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 18/03/2019 11:30:19 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1078958

registered interest
date	27/02/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Universities: Admissions
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 3 December 2018 (HL11550), what further discussions have taken place between the Department for Education and the Russell Group of universities regarding adding music to their list of facilitating subjects; and what progress has been made in that regard.
tabling member printed	Lord Black of Brentwood
uin	HL14081
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/03/2019 answer text <p>This government recognises the importance of arts subjects, including music. Universities are autonomous from government and consequently control the criteria used to determine admissions. We are aware that the Russell Group, which comprises 24 of the UK’s leading universities, publish guidance designed to assist applicants in identifying the A level subjects most likely to facilitate entry to one of their member universities. From engagement with the Russell Group, we understand they are currently reviewing their guidance.</p><p>The ability for students to make informed choices is at the heart of our recent reforms to higher education. We are increasing the information available to students to ensure they can make informed choices about what and where to study.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 11/03/2019 15:05:34 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4171 label Biography information for Lord Black of Brentwood

1077036

registered interest
date	25/02/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Higher Education: Correspondence
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 20 February (HL13570), what regulations are in place to ensure that Higher Education institutions maintain high standards of accuracy and transparency in correspondence with external stakeholders, especially correspondence relating to offers for study on a deferred basis.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL13960
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/03/2019 answer text <p>While higher education institutions have autonomy over admissions, the vast majority of undergraduate applications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are handled by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) on behalf of those institutions. As the shared admissions service, UCAS offers support to universities and colleges in this area through their services. It is also in institutions’ interests to keep accurate and transparent records of applications and admission. The Office for Students, as the independent regulator of higher education, also has a legal responsibility to ensure that registered institutions are acting in the best interests of students, including support in access to higher education.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 06/03/2019 13:52:14 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1064782

registered interest
date	21/02/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Universities: Admissions
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Viscount Younger of Leckie on 20 February (HL13570), whether the recommendations they made to the Office for Students to reduce the numbers of unconditional offers included reversing prior offers of places to students who already satisfied previously advertised admissions criteria.
tabling member printed	Lord Alton of Liverpool
uin	HL13946
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/02/2019 answer text <p>The Department for Education has not made any recommendations to the Office for Students (OfS) to reverse prior offers of places to students who already satisfied previously advertised admissions criteria.</p><p>We have made clear to the OfS that they should use the full range of powers at their disposal to take action where an institution cannot justify their rising numbers of unconditional offers. However, we recognise that where a student already has relevant entry level qualifications, and for some creative arts subjects, unconditional offers may be justified. Admissions are a matter of institutional autonomy but we expect universities to make their admissions criteria fair, accessible and transparent.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 28/02/2019 17:50:27 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	738 label Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool

1064572

registered interest
date	20/02/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Disabled Students' Allowances: Specific Learning Difficulties
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the undertaking in the letter from Viscount Younger of Leckie to Lord Addington on 3 December that those diagnosed with dyslexia or specific learning difficulties before the age of 16 will no longer have to undertake a second diagnosis to qualify for the Disabled Students’ Allowance, whether those who have been qualified to carry out this assessment will continue to be so after February 2019.
tabling member printed	Lord Addington
uin	HL13891
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/02/2019 answer text <p>The department is yet to conclude discussions currently being held with relevant experts, including the British Dyslexia Association, about the qualifications that should be held by those undertaking specific learning difficulty diagnostic assessments that can be used to determine eligibility for Disabled Students’ Allowances. The experts with whom the department is discussing this issue have knowledge and understanding of diagnostic assessment undertaken for school pupils. The department expects to conclude these discussions by the middle of March 2019.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie grouped question UIN HL13892 HL13893 question first answered 28/02/2019 17:48:55 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	3453 label Biography information for Lord Addington

1064573

registered interest
date	20/02/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Disabled Students' Allowances: Specific Learning Difficulties
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether all potential students with a diagnosis of dyslexia or specific learning difficulties whose assessment was carried out by somebody without the Assessment Practising Certificate before the end of February 2019 will have to undertake and pay for a second assessment to make them eligible for the Disabled Students’ Allowance in the future.
tabling member printed	Lord Addington
uin	HL13892
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/02/2019 answer text <p>The department is yet to conclude discussions currently being held with relevant experts, including the British Dyslexia Association, about the qualifications that should be held by those undertaking specific learning difficulty diagnostic assessments that can be used to determine eligibility for Disabled Students’ Allowances. The experts with whom the department is discussing this issue have knowledge and understanding of diagnostic assessment undertaken for school pupils. The department expects to conclude these discussions by the middle of March 2019.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie grouped question UIN HL13891 HL13893 question first answered 28/02/2019 17:48:55 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	3453 label Biography information for Lord Addington

1064574

registered interest
date	20/02/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Disabled Students' Allowances: Specific Learning Difficulties
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether those involved in teaching and diagnosing pupils with dyslexia and specific learning difficulties in the school system have been consulted about the changes to people who can conduct assessments for eligibility for the Disabled Students’ Allowance.
tabling member printed	Lord Addington
uin	HL13893
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/02/2019 answer text <p>The department is yet to conclude discussions currently being held with relevant experts, including the British Dyslexia Association, about the qualifications that should be held by those undertaking specific learning difficulty diagnostic assessments that can be used to determine eligibility for Disabled Students’ Allowances. The experts with whom the department is discussing this issue have knowledge and understanding of diagnostic assessment undertaken for school pupils. The department expects to conclude these discussions by the middle of March 2019.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie grouped question UIN HL13891 HL13892 question first answered 28/02/2019 17:48:55 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	3453 label Biography information for Lord Addington

1063551

registered interest
date	18/02/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Universities: Billing
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government who is responsible for monitoring the payment performance of universities and ensuring that they comply with the Public Service Contracts Regulations 2015.
tabling member printed	Lord Mendelsohn
uin	HL13789
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/02/2019 answer text <p>Under the definitions of “contracting authorities” and “bodies governed by public law” as specified by regulation 2 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, not all universities fall under these regulations because, for some, the majority of their funding does not come from public sources.</p><p>Where the regulations do apply, it is the universities’ responsibility, as independent contracting authorities, to ensure they comply with their legal obligations. Failure to comply can leave them open to legal remedies, as set out in the regulations, following complaints from aggrieved suppliers.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 27/02/2019 11:59:24 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4286 label Biography information for Lord Mendelsohn