Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve educational outcomes for deaf children.

On 29 March 2022 the department published the Special Educational Needs Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision Green paper, which set out our plans to improve the experience and outcomes for children and young people with SEND, including those with Sensory Impairment, within a fairer and financially sustainable system. We carefully considered the feedback we received through the responses to the consultation and in the many events that took place during the 16-week consultation period. A full response has been published on 2 March 2023, in the SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan.

It is a legal requirement for qualified teachers of classes of pupils with sensory impairments to hold the relevant mandatory qualification (MQSI). To offer MQSIs, providers must be approved by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education. We have developed a new approval process to determine providers of MQSIs from the start of the 2023/24 academic year. Our aim is to ensure a steady supply of teachers of children with visual, hearing, and multi-sensory impairments, in both specialist and mainstream settings.