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1715155

registered interest
date	01/05/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Allergies: Primary Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of resources for teaching children about allergies in primary schools.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	24462
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2024 answer text <p>Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.</p><p>Health education has been compulsory for all pupils in state-funded schools in England from September 2020, alongside relationships education for all primary pupils and relationships and sex education (RSE) for all secondary pupils. The statutory guidance sets out that pupils will be taught about the importance of good physical health and mental wellbeing to ensure they have the information that they need in order to make good decisions about their own health and wellbeing. The statutory guidance for the Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) curriculum is here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education</a>.</p><p>The RSHE statutory guidance states that by the end of primary school pupils should know the facts and science relating to allergies, immunisation and vaccination. There is also content relating to teaching about allergies in the RSHE teacher training module on health and prevention, which is available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-training-health-and-prevention" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-training-health-and-prevention.</a></p><p>Schools are responsible for what they teach and for any resources they use. The department does not direct schools on which resources, external speakers or organisations to use, and it does not endorse or promote resources to schools other than those produced by other government departments. The RSHE guidance is clear that all materials used should be age appropriate and factual.</p><p>The department is currently reviewing the RSHE statutory guidance. The review has been informed by an independent expert panel to advise the Secretary of State for Education on the introduction of age limits for sensitive subjects.</p><p>In March 2023, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, also wrote to schools to remind them that copyright law does not prevent them sharing external resources with parents. In October 2023, she wrote again to clarify that any contractual clause that prevents schools from sharing materials is void and unenforceable, and to provide practical advice on how to share materials with parents in a way that is in line with copyright legislation. The department will ensure that the updated guidance fully reflects this very clear position. The Secretary of State’s letter can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/secretary-of-state-letter-to-schools-about-sharing-curriculum-resources-with-parents" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/secretary-of-state-letter-to-schools-about-sharing-curriculum-resources-with-parents</a>.</p><p>A draft of the amended guidance will be published for consultation as soon as possible.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 09/05/2024 15:08:08 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1715166

registered interest
date	01/05/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Religion: Secondary Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of studying religious education at key stage (a) 4 and (b) 5 on the educational attainment of disadvantaged pupils.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	24473
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2024 answer text <p>Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.</p><p>It is mandatory for state-funded schools to teach religious education to all pupils to age 18, subject to parents having a right to withdraw their children from all or part of the subject. However, it is not mandatory for schools to teach the religious studies GCSE or A level. The department has not assessed the impact of studying religious education at Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 on the overall educational attainment of disadvantaged pupils.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 09/05/2024 15:12:24 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1715172

registered interest
date	01/05/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Special Educational Needs: Autism
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 support young people with autism spectrum conditions who have education otherwise than at school plans.
tabling member constituency	Bristol North West
tabling member printed	Darren Jones
uin	24512
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/05/2024 answer text <p>Local authorities provide support to certain children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) through Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans. A local authority may choose, where statutory criteria are met, to make an ‘Education Otherwise than in School’ arrangement, whereby the child or young person with the EHC plan receives special educational support outside of a school or college.</p><p> </p><p>The department are taking steps to improve the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system. There are measures in place for the department to support and challenge local authorities to improve their practice. Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission commenced a strengthened local inspection framework in January 2023. Where local authorities are failing, the department works with them, using a range of improvement programmes and SEND specialist advisers to address weaknesses. Inspections under this new framework will place greater emphasis on the outcomes that are being achieved for children and young people with SEND, including those who are autistic.</p><p> </p><p>More generally, as part of the department’s support for autistic young people, the department worked closely with the Department of Health and Social Care to develop a refreshed cross-government Autism Strategy. This was published in July 2021 and includes children and young people. The strategy recognised the progress that has been made, as well as the challenges and priorities for reducing inequalities, and enabling autistic people of all ages to have the same opportunities as everyone else to lead healthy, happy and fulfilling lives. The national strategy sets out the department’s vision to make life fundamentally better for autistic people, their families and carers by 2026.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Wantage answering member printed David Johnston question first answered 10/05/2024 16:42:07 answering member 4761 label Biography information for David Johnston
tabling member	4621 label Biography information for Darren Jones

1715241

registered interest
date	01/05/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	National Tutoring Programme: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of ending funding for the National Tutoring Programme on the attainment gap in 2024.
tabling member constituency	Ellesmere Port and Neston
tabling member printed	Justin Madders
uin	24488
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2024 answer text <p>​The department has invested over £1 billion in the National Tutoring Programme (NTP), which runs from the 2020/21 academic year to the 2023/24 academic year. The NTP is a time limited, four-year programme to support pupils to catch up following the Covid-19 pandemic.</p><p>The department remains committed to the objective that tutoring should be embedded across schools in England, following the end of the NTP.</p><p>Schools are best placed to decide how to spend their funding, depending on their unique circumstances and priorities, which may include spend on tutoring.</p><p>Tutoring is included in the menu of approaches in the pupil premium guidance for school leaders.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 13/05/2024 16:39:28 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4418 label Biography information for Justin Madders

1715298

registered interest
date	01/05/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Absenteeism
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 changes to parent fines for missing school do not unintentionally impact children who are absent from school due to prolonged illness.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley Central
tabling member printed	Dan Jarvis
uin	24478
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/05/2024 answer text <p>Legislation and the government’s ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance state that a penalty notice can only be issued when the absence constitutes an offence under section 444 of the Education Act 1997. Where a pupil cannot attend due to illness, this is not an offence and so legal enforcement action cannot be taken. This position will not change when the new rules for penalty notices come into force on 19 August 2024. The full guidance can be found here: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65f1b048133c22b8eecd38f7/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance__applies_from_19_August_2024_.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65f1b048133c22b8eecd38f7/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance__applies_from_19_August_2024_.pdf</a>.</p><p>More generally, the department expects schools and local authorities to take a ‘support first’ approach to improving attendance, only using penalty notices for absence that is classed as unauthorised and when support has already been provided and not worked or been engaged with, or in the case of holidays taken in term-time, is not appropriate. The vast majority of penalty notices for unauthorised absence (89% in the 2022/2023 academic year) are issued for term time holidays.</p><p>Whatever the cause of absence from school, school staff should work with families and pupils to understand the barriers to attendance and provide support where possible. This might include providing pastoral support or making reasonable adjustments where a pupil has a disability. In the case of prolonged illness, as soon as it is clear that a child will be away from school for 15 school days or more because of their health needs, the local authority should arrange suitable alternative provision. It is important that all pupils’ right to a full-time education is protected, whilst acknowledging that some pupils require more support than others.</p><p>The department is providing a series of training events and webinars throughout the summer term for schools and local authorities to ensure that the new rules regarding penalty notices are understood and implemented in line with the ‘support first’ approach.</p> answering member constituency East Hampshire answering member printed Damian Hinds question first answered 07/05/2024 15:57:14 answering member 3969 label Biography information for Damian Hinds
tabling member	4243 label Biography information for Dan Jarvis

1715346

registered interest
date	01/05/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Apprentices and T-levels
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many businesses can be involved in the provision of (a) a T Level industry placement and (b) flexi-job apprenticeships.
tabling member constituency	Feltham and Heston
tabling member printed	Seema Malhotra
uin	24481
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/05/2024 answer text <p>T Levels offer students a mixture of classroom learning and ‘on-the-job’ experience during an industry placement of at least 315 hours (approximately 45 days). Industry placements can be split across a maximum of two employers to help deliver a breadth of experience for the student, as well as creating opportunities within small to medium enterprises, in sectors such as creative, digital and construction, where short project-based work is common. Alternatively, a placement can be carried out across an employer’s supply chain or network, up to a maximum of two partners/sub-contractors, to enable students to experience an end-to-end process.</p><p>Over 16,000 students started a T Level course from September 2023, which is almost as many students as in the first three cohorts combined, and the department will be introducing new T Levels in September 2024. As the department scale up T Levels, we are keen to increase the numbers of employers offering industry placements. The department has recently published the T Level Action Plan, which sets out further measures the department is taking over the year ahead to support providers and employers to grow their T Level programmes and support even more young people across the country. This includes new resources from the Strategic Development Network to support easier engagement between providers and employers. The T Level action plan can be found here: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6627c087d29479e036a7e68e/T_Level_Action_Plan_2023_to_2024.pdf" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6627c087d29479e036a7e68e/T_Level_Action_Plan_2023_to_2024.pdf</a>.</p><p>Flexi Job Apprenticeship Agencies (FJAAs) were introduced in 2022 to support sectors with short-term, project-based work to access apprenticeships. They allow apprentices to work with different host employers, and on a range of projects, to gain the skills and knowledge needed to be successful in their chosen field.</p><p>An organisation must be on the Register of FJAAs to operate as a Flexi-Job Apprenticeship Agency. Any business can contact an agency to become a host employer. The department does not place a limit on how many host employers an agency can work with, it is for the agency to decide what is best for their delivery model.</p><p>FJAAs will arrange placements with one or more host employer to cover the duration of the apprenticeship. Placements must offer apprentices the chance and time to obtain and embed the knowledge, skills and behaviours required for their apprenticeship standard. There were 640 FJAA apprenticeship starts in the 2022/23 academic year and 570 starts have been reported from August to January in the 2023/24 academic year. More details on Flexi Job Apprenticeships can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/flexi-job-apprenticeships" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/flexi-job-apprenticeships</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Luke Hall question first answered 07/05/2024 16:05:02 answering member 4450 label Biography information for Luke Hall
tabling member	4253 label Biography information for Seema Malhotra

1715427

registered interest
date	01/05/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	T-Levels: Student Wastage
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government how many students have dropped out of T Levels since 2020; and what percentage of those enrolling have dropped out.
tabling member printed	Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
uin	HL4283
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2024 answer text <p>The department’s recently published 2023/24 T Level Action Plan outlines the developments and next steps for T Levels. It also includes the latest student data for the programme. It shows that 5,321 students began their T Level in 2021/22. In summer 2023, 3,592 of those students were retained (68%), and 3,510 were retained and assessed (66%). Similar statistics for students that began their T Level in 2020/21 are not published. Further data about T Levels, as well as details of the methodology used in the above data can be found in the T Level Action Plan Analytical Annex, which is attached.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Barran question first answered 14/05/2024 15:27:05 answering member 4703 label Biography information for Baroness Barran attachment 1 file name HL4283 attachment - T Level Action Plan.pdf title HL4283 - T Level Action Plan Analytical Annex
tabling member	2024 label Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

1715428

registered interest
date	01/05/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Qualifications
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that applied general qualifications are still available to students in future.
tabling member printed	Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
uin	HL4284
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2024 answer text <p>The aim of the department’s Post-16 Qualifications reform at level 3 and below is to streamline the qualifications landscape, simplify choices for students, and only fund qualifications that are high-quality and lead to good progression outcomes. By ensuring that approved qualifications meet new, more rigorous criteria, young people can be confident that they will be able to progress to university and higher technical education, and directly into apprenticeships and skilled employment. It will place world class A levels and T Levels at the heart of level 3 study programmes for 16 to 19 year olds, and link other technical qualifications directly with occupational standards which have been designed by employers. Students studying these qualifications can be confident that they are gaining the skills, knowledge and behaviours needed for future jobs.</p><p> </p><p>In the new post-16 qualification landscape, students will continue to have a range of options available to them at level 3, in addition to A levels and T Levels, there will be new technical occupational qualifications (TOQs) and Alternative Academic Qualifications (AAQs).</p><p> </p><p>Where occupational standards are not covered by a T Level, the department is allowing TOQs to be developed, where students can continue to study areas currently covered by applied general qualifications (AGQs), such as travel consultant, highways electrician, and personal trainer, to list a few. The key distinction here is that they will be based on employer led occupational standards, unlike current AGQs.</p><p> </p><p>On the academic side, current AGQs will be replaced by AAQs. There will be new small AAQs in a range of strategically important subjects such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and those supporting entry into NHS careers. These qualifications are an important part of how the department will support diverse student needs and deliver skills required by the economy. Small AAQs can be studied alongside A levels as part of mixed academic programme. The department will also fund large AAQs in areas that A levels and T Levels cover less well such as performing arts and sport. AAQs must demonstrate a clear link to related higher education (HE) courses and will be assessed by the department against the new funding approval criteria.</p><p> </p><p>The department knows that students who take A levels have better outcomes overall in terms of progressing into, and staying in, HE than those who study AGQs. This is supported by the evidence, which shows that students progressing to HE with alternatives to A levels, such as AGQs, generally experience worse outcomes than their peers taking A levels, even after controlling for differences in background characteristics. Current AGQs also provide very mixed outcomes for students.</p><p> </p><p>The qualification reforms also include reforming level 2 qualifications to ensure they are high-quality, have clear purposes, and lead to better outcomes, either supporting progression to reformed level 3 study, for example via the T Level Foundation Year, or directly into skilled employment in occupations at level 2 or via apprenticeships. This means that studying a reformed level 2 qualification will lead to better long-term outcomes than studying a poor-quality level 3 qualification.</p> answering member printed Baroness Barran question first answered 14/05/2024 15:26:46 answering member 4703 label Biography information for Baroness Barran
tabling member	2024 label Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

1715429

registered interest
date	01/05/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	T-levels
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what research they have undertaken into (1) reasons for the dropout rate for T Levels, (2) why only 8 per cent of students taking foundation level T Levels progress to full T levels, and (3) whether T Levels or BTECs provide a more appropriate preparation for employment in different skill areas.
tabling member printed	Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
uin	HL4285
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/05/2024 answer text <p>As relatively new qualifications, retention rates on T Levels may be expected to fluctuate. The department is keen to understand the reasons behind students dropping out of their T Level programme and have undertaken a range of research. This has included discussing the issue in routine conversations with further education (FE) providers and holding workshops with a variety of providers to explore further the reasons for students dropping out of specific T Levels. The department has also reviewed data from the Individualised Learner Record and school census to identify patterns in students dropping out of T Levels, and examined responses to the Technical Education Learner Survey (2021 and 2022) to understand student motivations for dropping out. Links to these surveys can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/technical-education-learner-survey" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/technical-education-learner-survey</a>, and <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/technical-education-learner-survey-2022" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/technical-education-learner-survey-2022</a>. The department has also spoken to Awarding Organisations to discuss student retention on T Levels.</p><p> </p><p>The T Level Foundation Year is the first step on a 3-year path to achieving a T Level, for those who need it. The programme is supporting good progression to level 3 destinations in its first two years, compared with other level 2 courses. Reasons why more students are not progressing onto T Levels may include not meeting providers’ entry criteria and the early cohorts being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The T Level Foundation Year is still early in its rollout and the department will monitor outcomes as the programme continues to roll out and funding is removed from level 3 qualifications that overlap with T Levels. Research by the National Foundation for Education Research and the Technical Education Learner Surveys provide information on the early cohorts. This research can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/research-on-early-delivery-of-the-t-level-transition-programme" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/research-on-early-delivery-of-the-t-level-transition-programme</a>. The department is undertaking further research with providers to identify good practice and success factors in supporting progression to T Levels.</p><p> </p><p>Lord Sainsbury’s report on technical education defined the skills areas suitable for T Levels, drawing on analysis of relevant apprenticeship standards, existing taught qualifications, and labour market information. All T Levels are based on the same employer-led occupational standards as apprenticeships, and these standards were led by, and updated with, employers. That means that employers and young people can be confident in these new qualifications. This is not consistently the case with the large qualifications they are replacing, which often do not support a young person to enter the sector they thought the qualification was preparing them for. For example, in the latest data for health and social care qualifications only 9% of those who complete worked in ‘Health and social care’ the following year. This data can be found here: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/detailed-destinations-of-16-to-18-year-olds-in-further-education" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/detailed-destinations-of-16-to-18-year-olds-in-further-education</a>. T Levels will not be the only technical qualification available in the future landscape. Where there are occupational standards at level 3, but no T Level, the department is allowing technical qualifications to be developed, which will allow students to continue to study areas currently covered by applied general qualifications such as travel consultant, highways electrician, and personal trainer, to list a few. The key distinction here is that they will be based on employer led occupational standards, unlike the current applied general qualifications. The department will also allow for large alternative academic qualifications in areas not well served by A levels or T levels and where an academic pathway is required, such as performing arts and sport.</p> answering member printed Baroness Barran question first answered 14/05/2024 15:26:35 answering member 4703 label Biography information for Baroness Barran
tabling member	2024 label Biography information for Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

1715442

registered interest
date	01/05/2024
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Artificial Intelligence: Languages
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have made an assessment of the impact of emerging artificial intelligence capacities on the necessity for foreign language learning.
tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of St Albans
uin	HL4303
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2024 answer text <p>Studying a language can be extremely rewarding and exciting for children and young people. It can provide insight into other cultures and open the door to travel and employment opportunities. Whilst Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be useful in enhancing the experience of learning a language, and this should be explored further, it should not be seen as a replacement.</p><p> </p><p>The department wants to capitalise on the opportunities technology like AI presents for education, as well as addressing its risks and challenges. Responses to the call for evidence on generative AI in education highlighted the potential for this technology in generating language exercises and conversational prompts, for example. Language learning was one of the use cases tested as part of the department's Generative AI Hackathon project. The report of this project is due to be published shortly. The most important thing for a high-quality education is having a human expert teacher in the classroom. The emergence of this technology does not change that.</p> answering member printed Baroness Barran question first answered 09/05/2024 15:58:56 answering member 4703 label Biography information for Baroness Barran
tabling member	4308 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of St Albans