Department for Education

Cheerleading was recognised as a sport by the Home Nations Sport Councils in December last year.

It is not part of the current GCSE activity list, which was last reviewed in 2018. The department and awarding organisations developed a set of five key considerations which were applied to each activity in order to ensure parity and rigour of assessment.

The government launched an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review for ages 5 to 18, led by Professor Becky Francis CBE. As part of this review, curriculum and assessment arrangements are being evaluated, including the full range of national curriculum subjects and most GCSEs. This will address the key barriers to pupil achievement and ensure all young people have access to high standards and future opportunities. The department is currently awaiting the outcomes of the Review.

The department is providing total high needs funding in England of over £12 billion in the 2025/26 financial year for children and young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Of that total high needs funding, East Sussex County Council is being allocated over £94 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant.

We are considering the funding required for future years and how it is to be allocated, following the conclusion of the recent spending review. Our objective is that future funding for SEND supports our plans for reforming the SEND system to boost children’s outcomes, which will be set out in further detail in a White Paper in the autumn.

The latest figures on education, health and care plans as of January 2025, including assessments, waiting times, and school settings, are available in the ‘Education, health and care plans’ publication. The full dataset can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans/2025.

The latest figures on education, health and care plans as of January 2025, including assessments, waiting times, and school settings, are available in the ‘Education, health and care plans’ publication. The full dataset can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans/2025.

The latest figures on education, health and care plans as of January 2025, including assessments, waiting times, and school settings, are available in the ‘Education, health and care plans’ publication. The full dataset can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans/2025.

The latest figures on education, health and care plans as of January 2025, including assessments, waiting times, and school settings, are available in the ‘Education, health and care plans’ publication. The full dataset can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans/2025.

The number and proportion of pupils receiving special educational needs support at schools in Leicestershire can be viewed in the table here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/5819b943-986a-45eb-62a4-08ddf03ad3ce.

The figures are from the January 2025 school census publication here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england/2024-25.

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard to the answer of 2 July 2025 to Question 62591.

The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment review, chaired by Becky Francis CBE. The Review aims to ensure a rich, broad, inclusive and innovative curriculum that readies young people for life and work. The Review is being informed by evidence, data, and in close consultation with education professionals and other experts, parents, children and young people, employers, universities and trade unions. This includes over 7,000 responses to the public call for evidence and a range of research and polling.

The Review Group published its interim report in March 2025, which is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6821d69eced319d02c9060e3/Curriculum_and_Assessment_Review_interim_report.pdf.

The Group will publish its final report with recommendations, including recommendations for religious education, this autumn.​

Information on the number and percentage of education, health and care (EHC) plans issued within the statutory 20 week deadline, with and without statutory exceptions to that deadline applying, can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/8a52558d-1cb4-4f5d-7ddd-08dde95299cd.

​​The Office for Students (OfS), the independent regulator of higher education (HE) in England, monitors the financial health of providers to ensure it has an up-to-date understanding of the sustainability of the sector. Its latest report, published in May 2025, highlighted a decline in financial performance across the sector in 2023/24, with 44% of institutions forecasting a deficit in 2024/25. HE providers are independent from government and as such must continue to make the necessary and appropriate financial decisions to ensure their long-term sustainability.

​The department is committed to creating a secure future for our universities so that they can deliver for students, taxpayers, workers and the economy. To put the sector on a firmer financial footing, Professor Edward Peck has been appointed as substantive chair of the OfS to continue its focus on financial sustainability and increasing opportunities in HE. We also took the difficult decision to increase tuition fee limits by 3.1% in the 2025/26 academic year, in line with inflation.

​We will continue to work closely with the OfS and other relevant parties to understand the sector’s changing financial landscape.

Students deserve high-quality qualifications that meet their needs. The department continues to develop and improve qualifications so that they meet the needs of students and employers.

The Digital Software Development T Level provides young people with the core knowledge and skills for a career in software production and design, including in games design and development.

We will consider how to continue to improve the quality of qualifications available to students, including on games design, in the light of the recommendations from the Curriculum and Assessment Review, and will engage with employers and sector organisations on this in due course. The Curriculum and Assessment Review will publish recommendations in autumn 2025.

​​The postgraduate loans schemes were introduced to help remove the financial barrier faced by those wishing to step up to achieve a postgraduate level qualification. They are part of the long-term commitment to make the UK more globally competitive by increasing the number of those with high level skills and knowledge. As part of the department’s ongoing work, we always consider a range of factors which can affect repayment thresholds and recognise the importance of ensuring that the system remains fair for borrowers, as well as being financially sustainable.

​The department will announce the postgraduate loan threshold applicable from 2026/2027 financial year in due course.

My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education regularly engages with my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer on a range of matters, including higher education (HE) finance and funding. We are aiming to publish our plans for HE reform as part of the Post-16 Education and Skills Strategy White paper soon. As part of this, we will need to ensure that the student finance system is financially sustainable and works for students, taxpayers and the HE sector.

As at 4 September 2025, the number of unresolved cash equivalent transfer value (CETV) cases has been reduced to 433 from 3,062 at the end of October 2024. This includes recent CETV applications and as such there will always be a number of outstanding CETV cases at any given time.

The scheme administrator is now working through the most complex cases for members who have retired. These cases can currently only be processed clerically and the estimated calculation times are between 20 and 65 hours per case. Therefore, the department is funding IT changes for the scheme administrator that are expected to significantly reduce calculation times.

This issue remains a top priority for the department and the scheme administrator, and the above actions are currently expected to result in the delayed CETVs being fully cleared by spring 2026.

I refer the hon. Member for The Wrekin to the answer of 1 August 2025 to Question 61402.

​​The data collected using the Transparent Approach to Costing (TRAC) methodology is an important part of the evidence base, which the department uses to understand the financial sustainability of the higher education sector and the teaching of UK students who are publicly funded.

​The TRAC sector analysis, published annually by the Office for Students, was most recently used to support the strategic case for uplifting tuition fees for the 2025/26 academic year. This was set out in the regulatory impact assessment, published in January 2025 and accessible at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukia/2025/40/pdfs/ukia_20250040_en.pdf.​

​The department continues to consider the interaction between TRAC and policy decisions in our policy development.

​​The Office for Students (OfS), the independent regulator of higher education (HE) in England, monitors the financial health of providers to ensure it has an up to date understanding of the sustainability of the sector.

​Its latest report, published on 8 May 2025, highlighted a decline in financial performance across the sector in 2023/24, with 44% of institutions forecasting a deficit in 2024/25.

​The government recognises the financial pressures facing the sector and acknowledges that some providers are making difficult restructuring decisions to safeguard long-term sustainability. As autonomous institutions, universities must take appropriate financial decisions to remain viable. However, we expect providers to work with staff, using their knowledge and experience to help identify how best to operate efficiently. All efficiency measures taken by the sector should provide a better long-term future for staff, students and the country.

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​​The Office for Students (OfS), the independent regulator of higher education (HE) in England, monitors the financial health of providers to ensure it has an up to date understanding of the sustainability of the sector.

​Its latest report, published on 8 May 2025, highlighted a decline in financial performance across the sector in 2023/24, with 44% of institutions forecasting a deficit in 2024/25.

​The government recognises the financial pressures facing the sector and acknowledges that some providers are making difficult restructuring decisions to safeguard long-term sustainability. As autonomous institutions, universities must take appropriate financial decisions to remain viable. However, we expect providers to work with staff, using their knowledge and experience to help identify how best to operate efficiently. All efficiency measures taken by the sector should provide a better long-term future for staff, students and the country.

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The department publishes employment and earnings outcomes of graduates and postgraduates each year, based on data collected by the Higher Education Statistics Authority, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, and the Department for Work and Pensions. The publication includes breakdowns by subject studied, as well as graduate characteristics, and detailed information about which industries graduates worked in after studying a particular subject and their movements between industries after graduation. The publication can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/leo-graduate-and-postgraduate-outcomes/2022-23#dataBlock-d7be0f33-0ec5-4b78-98ed-ba6f25dfb414-charts. This data has been available since 26 June 2025.

The department also publishes graduate labour market statistics. This publication uses data from the Office for National Statistics’ Labour Force Survey to compare employment and earnings outcomes between graduates, postgraduates and non-graduates. The publication can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/graduate-labour-markets/2024. This data has been available since 5 June 2025.

The department uses these publications as part of the evidence base to inform higher education and skills policy.

Local authorities have statutory duties to support young people into education and training, including identifying and helping those who are currently not in education, employment or training (NEET).

Under the September Guarantee, local authorities are required to ensure that all 16 and 17-year-olds receive an offer of a suitable place to continue in education or training. The government monitors NEET data and liaises with local authorities regarding their duty to track and support young people who are NEET, or are at risk of becoming NEET.

We have invested over £7.5 billion in 16 to 19 programme funding during the 2024/25 academic year. However, we are aware of the particular challenges around access to education and training in Norfolk which relate to the local provider market. Departmental officials are working closely with these local authorities to actively address the issues.

High and rising standards are at the heart of this government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and ensure every child has access to the best life chances whichever type of school they are in, including free schools.

The adoption and special guardianship support fund provides up to £3,000 per child annually for therapeutic support. The department has assessed that £3,000 can fund an average of 19-20 hours of therapy, on the basis of median hourly rates for contact time, and allowing for additional costs. Decisions to fund additional therapy beyond this fair access limit rest with individual local authorities. Adoptive and kinship families can also receive help from local authority Family Help services. The government is doubling investment in these services to over £500 million in 2025/26.

​​Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

​The department engages regularly with representatives from the higher education (HE) sector to support universities to maximise opportunities of collaboration whilst managing risks.

​The department expects the HE sector to be alert to a range of risks when collaborating with international partners and to conduct appropriate due diligence and oversight. Any international arrangements English HE providers who are registered with the Office for Students (OfS) make, including Confucius Institutes, should be within the law and comply with OfS registration conditions. These include a commitment to the public interest governance principles, which include operating openly and in accordance with ensuring academic freedom and freedom of speech.

​If students, staff, or the public feel that a provider is not meeting these requirements, they can submit a notification to the OfS. As the regulator for registered English providers, the OfS can intervene and use its regulatory powers, if a breach is identified.​

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Worsley and Eccles to the answer of 2 July 2025 to Question 62871.

The decision to set the adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF) fair access limit at £3,000 for 2025/26 was taken as part of departmental business planning decisions in the spring, following the announcement to Parliament on 1 April that the ASGSF would be continuing into 2025/26.

The government’s Plan for Change sets out a commitment to give children the best start in life, breaking the link between background and opportunity.

Children become eligible for an early education and childcare place from 1 September, 1 January or 1 April, the term after they reach the relevant age and meet relevant eligibility criteria.

Depending on when a child is born and when the eligibility criteria are met, there will be differing periods to wait until the relevant termly date.

Termly deadlines enable local authorities and childcare providers to better plan and ensure sufficient early years places are available for parents each term, as there are clear periods for when children are likely to enter into a place.

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Edmonton and Winchmore Hill, to the answer of 24 September 2025 to Question 76012.

Local Authorities currently submit annual data to the department on all ‘children in need’ and ‘children looked after’ in their authorities. This includes information on Section 47 enquiries, initial child protection conferences and children with child protection plans and is published on the department’s ‘Explore Education Statistics’ website. This contains statistics on serious incidents involving children that local authorities have notified to the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel. Safeguarding partners also complete annual reports which focus on multi-agency priorities, learning, impact, evidence, and improvement. These are subsequently sent to the department and National Panel and published in the public domain.

When changes are made to the early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework, the department ensures that there is a programme of communications and engagement with the sector to ensure they understand the changes being made. This includes emails sent to local authorities to disseminate to all early years settings.

In addition, where appropriate, the department produces webinars and vodcasts on the Foundation Years website, which we promote to the sector via numerous channels, including local authorities, stronger practice hubs and sector representatives. The Foundation Years website is available here: https://www.foundationyears.org.uk/.

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Edmonton and Winchmore Hill, to the answer of 24 September 2025 to Question 76011.

The Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) is targeted at children who were previously looked after by a local authority, as the local authority maintain a statutory responsibility to these children. Local authorities may still provide support for other children where appropriate, including any adopted children who were not previously looked after, using alternative funding streams. Eligibility and budget considerations for the ASGSF are assessed as part of the broader spending review discussions.

It is our ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.

Where student parents are not eligible for 30 hours funded childcare, they will remain eligible for the universal 15 hours of free early education, which is available to all 3 and 4-year-olds, regardless of family circumstances.

The government recognises the value of parents continuing in education and provides a range of options for students in higher education to support them with childcare. Support available to full-time students with dependent children includes the Childcare Grant and Parents’ Learning Allowance. Entitlement to these grants is based on a student’s household income.

Healthcare students may also be entitled to the NHS Learning Support Fund. Information on eligibility and how to apply is available here: https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/nhs-learning-support-fund-lsf.

Further information on the childcare offers available to parents can be accessed here: https://www.beststartinlife.gov.uk/.

The department is committed to helping schools decarbonise and reduce energy costs through sustainable solutions like solar. Rooftop solar Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) can deliver public sector savings and wider social benefits through partnerships with community energy groups. Ministers at the department, and HM Treasury, are clear on the potential here and continue to explore ways to increase renewable energy across the education estate

The government remains focused on supporting schools in adopting renewables to cut emissions and energy bills. The department is already partnering with Great British Energy on an £80 million initiative to install solar panels and other decarbonisation technologies in up to 200 schools and colleges in 2025/26. This programme aims to deliver long-term savings and contribute to net zero goals. We continue to work across government to ensure schools have access to sustainable tools and funding.

The department’s defibrillator programme was the largest rollout of defibrillators across England to date. The programme provided over 20,000 defibrillators to almost 18,000 schools, ensuring that all state-funded schools in England have access to a device.

The department is working with the British Heart Foundation to understand the impact the programme is having. Since our rollout, the number of school defibrillators registered on the national database, The Circuit, has risen by 252%, with 66% of all schools in England now having at least one device registered. Our evaluation shows that defibrillators we provided have been available for use and deployed in over 12,000 emergency situations, where there has been a suspected cardiac arrest.

The department continues to work with the British Heart Foundation to evaluate and understand the impact of our programme and support schools in registering their defibrillators on The Circuit.

Local authorities have been advised to retain adoption records for at least 100 years, an increase from the previous 75-year requirement. The department has also asked them to ensure timely access to these records.

Subject to Parliamentary approval, the department will make this a legal requirement by introducing regulatory changes. These changes will ensure that all adoption case records for individuals adopted before 30 December 2005 are preserved for a minimum of 100 years. This is already a requirement for records for individuals adopted after 30 December 2005.

In addition, the department is supporting and working with Adoption England, who have recently published new guidance to promote consistent and legally compliant practice on access to records across all regional adoption agencies. Adoption England also continues to fund FamilyConnect, a pilot national advice line that supports adopted adults, birth parents, relatives, and professionals with searching for and accessing adoption records.

The government's Opportunity Mission will help every child to achieve and thrive at school through excellent teaching and high standards. It aims to break the link between young people’s background and their future success. Reading is central to this mission and is crucial for success at school and in life.

On 7 July 2025, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced that 2026 will be The National Year of Reading, a campaign to address the decline in reading enjoyment amongst children, young people and adults. The National Year of Reading will position reading as a powerful contemporary activity, aiming to engage new audiences in reading and change the national reading culture for good.

The government has committed £27.7 million this financial year to support and drive high and rising standards in reading. This includes supporting the teaching of phonics, early language and reading for pleasure via the English Hubs programme. Furthermore, the government’s reading framework provides guidance on improving the teaching of reading.

The government is investing significantly in early education and childcare to ensure sustainability across all providers, including nurseries and childminders. Government spending on funded hours will reach £9 billion next year, rising further over this Parliament, with around 80% of hours funded from September 2025.

To strengthen the sector, the department is supporting local authorities to shape and oversee childcare markets, helping single-site providers grow, and monitoring financial sustainability to maintain stability and transparency. We are also encouraging investment from charities and social enterprises, expanding nursery provision in schools, building stronger school-nursery partnerships, and supporting childminders with monthly payments and recruitment initiatives.

The department values the diversity of the sector and is committed to working closely with providers to secure affordable, flexible, high-quality childcare. Our ambition is for every family to have access to the early education and care their children need, delivering on our Plan for Change.

It is our ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change. We are delivering more support to working families than ever before, with the rollout of 30 hours government-funded childcare.

The department does not hold data on the number of student nurses in England who are ineligible for the 30 hours funded childcare.

Further information on the childcare offers available to parents is available here: https://www.beststartinlife.gov.uk/.

Ofsted will receive additional funding as part of the Best Start in Life Strategy to enhance the quality and consistency of early years inspections, and we will fund Ofsted to move towards inspecting all providers at least once every four years, in parity with schools.

Ofsted’s inspectors for early years inspections are early years professionals with relevant knowledge of safer sleep practice and are capable of assessing a provider’s adherence to the relevant suitability and safer sleeping requirements in the early years foundation stage (EYFS). In September 2025 we strengthened the safeguarding requirements in the EYFS statutory framework, including:

• Amendments to promote safer recruitment.
• Creation of new requirements for providers to follow up if a child is absent for a prolonged period of time.
• A new safer eating section.
• A safeguarding training annex and a requirement for safeguarding training to be repeated every two years.
• New requirements to support whistleblowing.

It is our ambition that all families have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change. We are delivering more support to working families than ever before with the rollout of 30 hours government-funded childcare.

The department does not hold data on estimates of the numbers of families expected to benefit by area.

However, the department does collect data on eligibility codes, which show the number of children who have benefitted by local authority level. This information can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/expansion-to-early-childcare-entitlements-eligibility-codes-issued-and-validated/2025-may. In the spring 2025 term, 7,193 codes were issued to parents in Lincolnshire and 6,620 (92%) of these were validated via childcare providers.

This data was published on 12 May 2025. This data is being updated periodically in response to the 30 hours rollout.

The department collects data on children missing education from local authorities. The latest data, including breakdowns by geography, characteristic and length of time missing education, has been available since 12 December 2024 and can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-missing-education/2024-25-autumn-term.

The department does not yet publish data on physical health or mental health as a primary reason for children missing education. However, these fields have been added to the aggregate termly local authority data collection for the first time, beginning autumn 2025 and will be included in the next official statistics release.

Data on pupil absence is collected via the school census, and the latest publication is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england/2024-25-autumn-term. Reasons for absence are included in the publication, including the illness rate.

Departmental officials had discussions with their Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs counterparts in drawing up the new relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) statutory guidance. The department has made water safety and the Water Safety Code part of statutory health education, taught as part of RSHE. It is included within the new topic of ‘personal safety’. The new curriculum comes into force from September 2026. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.

Swimming and water safety are also compulsory elements of the primary physical education curriculum at key stages 1 and 2.

This government’s ambition is that every child or young person receives the best possible educational experience, one that is academically stretching, where every child or young person feels like they belong, and that sets them up for life and work.

As part of our Plan for Change, we are determined to fix the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system and restore parents’ trust by ensuring schools have the tools to better identify and support children before issues escalate to crisis point.

We will continue to engage with key stakeholders and seek the appropriate legal advice as we look to build a better system which is grounded in evidence, identifies and supports need at the earliest opportunity, and ensures families can secure support swiftly without a fight. There will always be a legal right to the additional support that children with SEND need.