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1109724

registered interest
date	04/04/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	STEM Subjects: Degrees
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps he has taken to encourage more students to study STEM degrees.
tabling member constituency	Harrow East
tabling member printed	Bob Blackman
uin	241025
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2019 answer text <p>Overall numbers of students studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are rising. The share of students studying science subjects at English Higher Education providers has increased from 41% in 2010/11 to 45% in 2016/17.</p><p>Despite rising STEM student numbers, we are far from complacent and we know that employer groups continue to point to an unmet demand for higher level STEM skills. This issue seems to be particularly acute in sectors such as manufacturing, construction, engineering, science and technology. We are therefore implementing a number of initiatives across government to increase the numbers of STEM graduates. For example:</p><ul><li>The Department for Education (DfE) is piloting a conversion course scheme to enable graduates to retrain in engineering and computer science.</li><li>The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy are leading a £90 million investment in 1,000 new PhD places, of which around 85% will be in STEM areas, and 40% will aim to boost collaboration between industry and academia.</li><li>The government is providing funding for the new Institute of Coding, which aims to improve digital skills provision at levels 6 and 7. It will target a skills gap in digital skills and involves collaboration between education providers and industry.</li><li>The DfE is also supporting (with £15 million over 3 years) the New Model in Technology &amp; Engineering, a STEM-focused institution due to take its first full cohort of students in 2020.</li><li>Institutes of Technology are being established to help meet STEM skills needs at levels 4 – 6, working closely with local employers and Local Enterprise Partnerships.</li></ul><p>Effective careers guidance and advice is also key to supporting young people to undertake learning in areas that will give them the skills employers are looking for. The government’s careers strategy sets out a long-term plan to build a world class careers system to achieve this ambition. We are increasing the information available to students to ensure they can make informed choices about what and where to study.</p><p>As set out in the Industrial Strategy White Paper, the Skills Advisory Panels (SAPs) programme aims to ensure that the local provision of skills, and the delivery of skills policy in local areas, meets and responds to changing employer needs. SAPs analysis will inform Local Industrial Strategies and local post-16 skills provision, so that skills provision better meets labour market needs.</p><p>Degree apprenticeships also allow universities to build partnerships with businesses and employers and to work together to create a skilled workforce. Employers are working in partnership with universities and professional bodies to meet the high-level technical skills that employers and our economy need to prosper.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 10/04/2019 16:39:45 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
tabling member	4005 label Biography information for Bob Blackman

1109727

registered interest
date	04/04/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Universities: Staff
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the level of (a) female and (b) BAME representation in top university positions.
tabling member constituency	Harrow East
tabling member printed	Bob Blackman
uin	241027
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2019 answer text <p>Diversity and equality in higher education is a priority for this government. Higher education institutions are independent bodies and responsible for decisions about who they employ. Like every employer they must ensure they meet their obligations under the Equality Act 2010.</p><p>Important progress has been made on the number of women in leadership roles in higher education, particularly in the increase in the proportion of female Chairs of Governing Bodies and female Vice-Chancellors. Sector-led gender initiatives, such as the Athena SWAN Charter and the Aurora development scheme, demonstrate the importance the sector attaches to tackling the barriers that hinder women’s progression in higher education careers.</p><p>On 1 February, the government announced measures to tackle ethnic disparities in higher education including encouraging higher education providers to make use of tools such as the Race at Work Charter and the Race Equality Charter to drive forward a step-change in the recruitment and progression of ethnic minority employees.</p><p>The government has also consulted on ethnicity pay reporting in order to inform future government policy.</p> answering member constituency Kingswood answering member printed Chris Skidmore question first answered 10/04/2019 16:06:43 answering member 4021 label Biography information for Chris Skidmore
tabling member	4005 label Biography information for Bob Blackman

1109745

registered interest
date	04/04/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Further Education: Leigh
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of further education provision in Leigh constituency.
tabling member constituency	Leigh
tabling member printed	Jo Platt
uin	241095
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/04/2019 answer text <p>The quality of further education (FE) provision is assessed by Ofsted under their published inspection framework. Currently the 3 major FE colleges in Wigan local authority area, including Leigh, are rated by Ofsted as Outstanding or Good for Overall Effectiveness.</p><p> </p><p>In July 2015, the government announced a rolling programme of around 40 local area reviews, to be completed by March 2017, covering all FE colleges in England. The reviews were designed to ensure that colleges are financially stable into the long term, that they are run efficiently, and are well-positioned to meet the present and future needs of individual students and the demands of employers. In November 2016, the Greater Manchester Area Review report was published at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/greater-manchester-further-education-area-review-report" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/greater-manchester-further-education-area-review-report</a>. This review did not recommend the need for any significant structural changes for further education provision in the Wigan area.</p><p> </p><p>The new ‘College Oversight: Support and Intervention’ document<em>, </em>which was published at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/college-oversight-support-and-intervention" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/college-oversight-support-and-intervention</a> on 1 April 2019, sets out how we will work with FE colleges to identify financial and quality issues early. It sets out the support and advice available to colleges when they need it from the FE Commissioner and the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), who assess financial and quality issues on an ongoing basis. This support includes the potential for FE Commissioner-led local provision reviews, the need for which may arise from a number of challenges that affect a college and/or further education provision in a local area, such as:</p><ul><li>Weakness or failure of existing providers (including risk of insolvency)</li><li>Increased competition</li><li>Declining learner recruitment</li><li>Inadequate quality</li><li>Significant financial challenges</li><li>Changes in local demographics and/or local skills needs</li></ul><p> </p><p>The ESFA works with local authorities where there are concerns about gaps in suitable and accessible local FE provision for young people. Local authorities have broad duties to encourage, enable and assist young people to participate in education or training, including to secure sufficient suitable education and training provision for all young people in their area who are over compulsory school age but under 19 or aged 19 to 25 and for whom an Education, Health and Care plan is maintained, as set out at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/participation-of-young-people-education-employment-and-training" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/participation-of-young-people-education-employment-and-training</a>. A concern has not been formally raised to ESFA by Wigan local authority in respect of adequacy of further education provision in Leigh.</p><p> </p><p>From August 2019, responsibility for the funding and adequacy of adult FE provision for residents in Wigan (including Leigh) will pass to Greater Manchester Combined Authority under devolution arrangements.</p> answering member constituency Guildford answering member printed Anne Milton question first answered 09/04/2019 09:58:43 answering member 1523 label Biography information for Anne Milton
tabling member	4673 label Biography information for Jo Platt

1109763

registered interest
date	04/04/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of pupils who have moved in year at (a) primary, (b) secondary and (c) further education level by local authority area in the last three years.
tabling member constituency	Manchester Central
tabling member printed	Lucy Powell
uin	241040
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/04/2019 answer text <p>​The information is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 241041 question first answered 09/04/2019 14:41:25 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4263 label Biography information for Lucy Powell

1109765

registered interest
date	04/04/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many individual (a) primary and (b) secondary children moved schools in year (i) twice, (ii) three times, (iii) four times and (iv) more than four times in the last academic year; and what information his Department holds on the pupil characteristics of children who have moved school in year on more than one occasion.
tabling member constituency	Manchester Central
tabling member printed	Lucy Powell
uin	241041
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/04/2019 answer text <p>​The information is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb grouped question UIN 241040 question first answered 09/04/2019 14:41:25 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4263 label Biography information for Lucy Powell

1109835

registered interest
date	04/04/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Education: Boys
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress has been made in improving the education outcomes of white, working-class boys.
tabling member constituency	South Holland and The Deepings
tabling member printed	Sir John Hayes
uin	240957
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2019 answer text <p>This government is committed to delivering a high-performing education system in which all pupils, regardless of their background, ethnicity or gender, have the opportunity to go as far as their hard work will take them.</p><p> </p><p>We know that the proportion of children in good or outstanding schools rose from 66% in 2010 to 85% by the end of December 2018, in part due to our reforms – and that the gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils, measured by the department’s attainment gap index, has narrowed by 13.2% at the end of key stage 2 and 9.5% at the end of key stage 4 since 2011. But we also know that the average attainment of white boys – and also girls – who are eligible for free school meals remains unacceptably low.</p><p> </p><p>Addressing the educational effects of disadvantage is a priority for the department. We are continuing to provide pupil premium funding – worth more than £2.4 billion in 2018-19 – to help schools improve the progress, attainment and other outcomes of their disadvantaged pupils. White working class boys and girls form the largest group of eligible pupils and so benefit significantly from this extra support. Our recently introduced national funding formula for schools also takes account of socio-economic disadvantage – and low prior attainment – in allocating funding to schools. We have also invested over £137 million in the Education Endowment Foundation, to identify what works to improve disadvantaged pupils’ outcomes and to make this evidence readily available to schools, colleges and early years providers.</p><p> </p><p>We are targeting extra support at some of the poorest areas of the country to raise standards in schools, through our £72 million Opportunity Areas and £24 million Opportunity North East programmes.</p><p> </p><p>We are also working to make sure that more disadvantaged young people can benefit from higher education. In our latest guidance, published in February of this year, we have asked the Office for Students to continue in its efforts to secure greater and faster progress in ensuring that students from disadvantaged and under-represented groups – including students from white working class backgrounds – can not only access but also successfully participate in higher education.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stratford-on-Avon answering member printed Nadhim Zahawi question first answered 10/04/2019 16:19:37 answering member 4113 label Biography information for Nadhim Zahawi
tabling member	350 label Biography information for Sir John Hayes

1109836

registered interest
date	04/04/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Apprentices: Ethnic Groups
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department are taking to encourage the uptake of apprenticeships amongst ethnic minorities.
tabling member constituency	South Holland and The Deepings
tabling member printed	Sir John Hayes
uin	240958
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2019 answer text <p>We have set an ambitious target to increase the proportion of apprenticeships started by people of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds by 20% by 2020 (up from a baseline average of 10% in the 2010-15 Parliament to 11.9% by 2020). 11.2% (42,200) of total starts in 2017/18 were by people of BAME backgrounds. This is the highest proportion reported over the past 8 years.</p><p> </p><p>The Five Cities Project, launched in February 2018, is promoting the take up of apprenticeships by BAME individuals in Greater Manchester, London, Bristol, Birmingham and Leicester. Many partners are supporting this drive, including large employers such as B&amp;Q, Rolls Royce, and Optimity, local authorities, Local Enterprise Partnerships, apprenticeship providers, schools, and community groups.</p><p> </p><p>Our Apprenticeships Diversity Champions Network (ADCN) has grown to over 70 members since its launch in 2017. It aims to influence the behaviour of other employers to support more people from underrepresented groups, including members of BAME communities, to start apprenticeships. Bristol City Council, an ADCN member, has launched a programme named 'Stepping up', which is providing a route for employees from BAME backgrounds into leadership positions through apprenticeships.</p><p> </p><p>Our new marketing campaign, ‘Fire it Up’, launched in January 2019 and set out to change the way people think about apprenticeships, demonstrating that they are a prestigious option, accessible to people from all backgrounds. ‘Fire it Up’ advertising features clear representation of apprentices from a diverse range of backgrounds, and showcases apprentices from BAME backgrounds in high-status, professional roles.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Guildford answering member printed Anne Milton question first answered 10/04/2019 16:21:35 answering member 1523 label Biography information for Anne Milton
tabling member	350 label Biography information for Sir John Hayes

1109837

registered interest
date	04/04/2019
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Apprentices: Disability and Specific Learning Difficulties
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to encourage the uptake of apprenticeships among people with (a) disabilities and (b) learning difficulties.
tabling member constituency	South Holland and The Deepings
tabling member printed	Sir John Hayes
uin	240959
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2019 answer text <p>The government wants to make sure that the benefits of an apprenticeship are available to all, including people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities (LDD). We are developing new communications and guidance products to demonstrate to people with LDD that apprenticeships are an option for them, and to support employers to employ apprentices with LDD. We have integrated the Department for Work and Pension’s Disability Confident campaign into the apprenticeship recruitment service so that the Disability Confident logo is displayed on apprenticeship vacancies for campaign-registered employers.</p><p> </p><p>We are working with local partners through our pacesetter project to test policy approaches and deliver tangible progress towards growing numbers of LDD apprentices. Pacesetters include councils, a school, and the learning disability charity Mencap.</p><p> </p><p>Our Apprenticeships Diversity Champions Network has grown to over 70 members since its launch in 2017. Many members have set aspirational targets for the number of LDD apprentices in their own workforce, and introduced initiatives designed to increase participation: for example, Walsall Council have extended their Positive Action Scheme to include those with special educational needs and disabilities.</p><p> </p><p>Our funding system, which provides additional support to training providers, is intended to encourage the successful take-up and achievement of apprenticeships by those with LDD. We continue to monitor the impact of these measures to ensure they support the achievement of our targets.</p><p> </p><p>We are making progress against our measure of success for a 20% increase in the proportion of starts by people with LDD by 2020 (from a baseline of 9.9% in 2015/16 to 11.9% by 2020). In 2017/18, apprentices from this group made up 11.2% (42,200) of total starts.</p> answering member constituency Guildford answering member printed Anne Milton question first answered 10/04/2019 16:25:51 answering member 1523 label Biography information for Anne Milton
tabling member	350 label Biography information for Sir John Hayes