Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the removal of the Religious Education Initial Teacher Training bursary on the quality of RE provision in secondary schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Initial teacher training (ITT) bursaries are offered to incentivise more applications to ITT courses. As such, we review bursaries annually to take account of several factors, including recruitment to date, forecast economic conditions, and teacher supply need in each subject. Between the 2023/24 and 2025/26 academic years, postgraduate ITT recruitment for religious education increased by 68%, one of the largest increases across all subjects.
New teachers benefit from three years of professional development through the initial teacher training and early career framework, which sets out the core knowledge, skills, and behaviours for great teaching, alongside expert mentoring and support. All trainee teachers must meet the Teachers’ Standards for qualified teacher status in full before they qualify, which requires that they ‘Demonstrate good subject and curriculum knowledge’.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether any civil servants hired by her Department were recruited over another person on the basis of a protected characteristic in each of the last three years.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Civil Service recruitment must follow the rules set out in legislation within the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act (CRaGA) 2010, which outlines the requirements to ensure that civil servants are recruited on merit, via fair and open competition.
Compliance with CRaGA is overseen by the independent Civil Service Commission, which publishes recruitment principles setting out the detailed rules departments must follow.
For departments who use Civil Service Jobs to manage their recruitment, applicants are asked to provide diversity data on a voluntary basis only and no details are shared with hiring managers.
The positive action measures in the Equality Act 2010 allows employers to take proportionate action that aims to reduce disadvantage, meet different needs and increase participation.
Employers who choose to use positive action can help people who share a particular protected characteristic to overcome certain barriers under the measures. However, employers need to ensure they do this in a way which does not unfairly disadvantage other groups as this could amount to ‘positive discrimination’, which is unlawful.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support schools in improving pupil attendance in areas with high absence rates.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
Absence is a key barrier to opportunity. For children to achieve and thrive, they need to be in school. In the Schools White Paper, the department set a national commitment to improve the attendance rate to over 94% by 2028/29, equivalent to 100,000 pupils attending school full time and represent the fastest rate of improvement in over a decade.
Our statutory ‘Working Together to Improve School Attendance’ guidance requires schools to appoint an attendance champion, have a published attendance policy, and work with local authorities.
The department provides real-time data tools and attendance toolkits, which help schools, trusts and local authorities identify the drivers of absence and adopt effective practice to improve attendance to pre‑pandemic attendance levels.
In January, we launched our new regional improvement for standards and excellence attendance and behaviour hubs, which can support over 3000 schools, including enhanced support for up to 500 schools, helping schools build strong relationships with parents and helping teachers form strong relationships of trust with students.
Asked by: Monica Harding (Liberal Democrat - Esher and Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the proportion of secondary school pupils in England completing CPR training as required under the Health Education curriculum; and what steps the Department for Education is taking to support schools in ensuring consistent delivery of CPR training and to promote participation in national initiatives such as Restart a Heart month.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
All state funded schools are required to teach first aid as part of the statutory health education set out in the Relationships, Sex and Health education (RSHE) statutory guidance. Independent schools are required to cover health education as part of their responsibility to provide personal, social, health and economic education.
The RSHE guidance requires primary schools to teach basic first aid, such as dealing with common injuries. In secondary schools, pupils learn additional skills, including cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and how and when to use a defibrillator.
Schools have flexibility in how they deliver this content, including which resources they choose to use and whether to participate in initiatives such as Restart a Heart month.
The department does not collect data on how many pupils have completed CPR training; schools are responsible for determining how best to meet curriculum requirements and ensure appropriate first aid education.
The government has commissioned Oak Academy to make lesson materials freely available.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what preparations her Department has made for a School Sports Strategy; and what recent steps she as taken towards the new approach announced in June 2025.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister announced on 19 June 2025 that the government will establish a new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network to ensure all children and young people have access to high-quality PE and extracurricular sport, helping young people develop an interest in sport that continues beyond the school environment.
To deliver this, the department is preparing to procure a national partner to lead the new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network. This partner will work with government, Sport England and national governing bodies to make links across provision for children and young people to strengthen support to schools and increase access to opportunities. We expect to have the national partner in place by autumn 2026.
In parallel, we are modernising the PE curriculum. The Association for Physical Education is leading a group of expert drafters to develop a new curriculum that develops children’s physical capability and supports lifelong participation in sport and physical activity.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2026 to Question 108602 on School Milk, what steps her Department is taking to ensure schools and Local Authorities are aware of the expectation that they make reasonable adjustments for children who do not drink dairy milk.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The School Food Standards regulate the food and drink provided at both lunchtime and at other times of the school day. They allow schools the freedom to provide plant-based drinks as needed, including plain soya, rice or oat drinks enriched with calcium, and combination and flavoured variations of these drinks.
Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units in England to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions. The accompanying statutory guidance makes clear to schools what is expected of them in taking reasonable steps to fulfil their legal obligations and to meet the individual needs of pupils with medical conditions, including allergies.
We are currently consulting on revised statutory guidance on ‘Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions’. The consultation can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/proposal-on-support-for-pupils-with-medical-conditions-at-school’. This seeks views on proposals to strengthen how schools meet their duties, including improvements to allergy safety and broader medical condition management. Our aim is to ensure that every child can access education safely and confidently, regardless of their health needs or allergy.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what mechanisms are in place to monitor the welfare of teachers while they are suspended.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
By law, all maintained schools are required to have a capabilities policy, which sets out disciplinary and grievance procedures in the workplace. As employers, all schools and trusts must follow all aspects of employment law and equalities legislation in employment decisions. They should ensure that members of their workforce are fully aware of the process by which they can seek redress as a result of any grievance relating to their work at the school.
Guidance for schools on disciplinary and grievance matters is provided by ACAS in its Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance, which makes clear that an employer has a legal 'duty of care' to support an employee during suspension and to look out for their wellbeing.
Asked by: Ian Sollom (Liberal Democrat - St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the availability of Communication Support Workers for deaf (a) school, (b) college and (c) university students.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department does not hold information or data on the availability of Communication Support Workers, or their qualification levels in British Sign Language.
However, all education and training providers, as well as other related service providers, have duties under the Equality Act 2010 towards individual disabled children and young people. They must make reasonable adjustments, including the provision of auxiliary aids and services for disabled children, to prevent them being put at a substantial disadvantage.
Asked by: Ian Sollom (Liberal Democrat - St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the qualification levels in British Sign Language of Communication Support Workers working with deaf (a) school, (b) college and (c) university students.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department does not hold information or data on the availability of Communication Support Workers, or their qualification levels in British Sign Language.
However, all education and training providers, as well as other related service providers, have duties under the Equality Act 2010 towards individual disabled children and young people. They must make reasonable adjustments, including the provision of auxiliary aids and services for disabled children, to prevent them being put at a substantial disadvantage.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to review how teacher suspensions are used in disciplinary investigations.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
By law, all maintained schools are required to have a capabilities policy, which sets out disciplinary and grievance procedures in the workplace. As employers, all schools and trusts must follow all aspects of employment law and equalities legislation in employment decisions. They should ensure that members of their workforce are fully aware of the process by which they can seek redress as a result of any grievance relating to their work at the school.
Guidance for schools on disciplinary and grievance matters is provided by ACAS in its Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance, which makes clear that an employer has a legal 'duty of care' to support an employee during suspension and to look out for their wellbeing.