Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when draft updated statutory guidance on supporting pupils with medical conditions will be published.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government has committed to ensuring that schools are equipped to support pupils with medical conditions effectively and inclusively. The current statutory guidance, ‘Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions,’ will be updated to reflect best practice and recent developments.
We intend to consult later this year on revised guidance. This consultation will seek views from schools, parents, health professionals, and other stakeholders 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.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many visas a) her Department, b) Ofsted, c) the Construction Industry Training Board, d) the Office of the Children's Commissioner and e) the Student Loans Company have sponsored since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The table below details how many visas the department and named arm’s length bodies have sponsored since July 2024:
Department for Education | 14 |
Ofsted | 6 |
The Construction Industry Training Board | 6 |
The Office of the Children's Commissioner | 0 |
Student Loans Company | 1 |
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of children's homes that are privately owned and operated.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As at 31 March 2025, 84% (3,360) of all children’s homes were privately owned and operated.
Ofsted publish annual data on children’s social care in England. This includes data on the number of homes and the different types of social care providers. The latest data is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childrens-social-care-in-england-2025.
The government is taking forward work to reshape the children’s social care placement’s market, including increasing the number of foster carers so that more children can be looked after in family-based environments and encouraging more non-profit, local authority, and social investment backed providers to enter the market.
Asked by: Liam Conlon (Labour - Beckenham and Penge)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to promote inclusive Physical Education in the rollout of the revised national curriculum.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department recognises the importance of school sport in promoting all pupils’ wellbeing and educational outcomes. In support of this, we have provided a grant of up to £300,000 a year to a consortium led by the Youth Sport Trust to deliver Inclusion 2028 with the aim to provide advice, guidance and training to upskill teachers and the school workforce to deliver high quality, inclusive PE. The grant supports the Inclusive Education Hub, an online platform of resources to help schools make PE and sport more inclusive.
In November 2025, the government published its response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review. The department is working closely with specialists in the education sector to make changes to the national curriculum for PE and will ensure they continue to increase and improve opportunities for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities to be physically active. There will be public consultation on the updated curriculum Programmes of Study, to seek views on the content before they are finalised.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how rejoining the Erasmus scheme will be funded.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has agreed terms with the European Commission that represent a fair balance between the UK’s contribution and the benefits the programme offers, which paved the way for UK participation.
We have agreed a 30% discount compared to the default terms in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement as well as a review of the UK’s participation in the programme ten months after our association, including data concerning demand for funding in the UK. Any continued UK participation in Erasmus+ under the next Multiannual Financial Framework will be informed by our experience of association in 2027.
Erasmus+ costs will be funded above the department’s Spending Review settlement and scored in the usual way at the next fiscal event.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of Plan 2 student loan borrowers who will begin making repayments as a result of the freeze to the Plan 2 repayment threshold.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department currently forecasts around 240,000 additional English Plan 2 loans (4.8% of all English Plan 2 loans for which borrowers are eligible to make repayments) will see a repayment in financial year 2030/31 given the announced threshold freeze when compared to a scenario with inflationary increases to thresholds. These are current estimates and are subject to change given updates to economic forecasts and other key forecast inputs.
The department will release an equalities impact assessment, including the impact on the number of borrowers forecast to make obligatory repayments, alongside other borrower impacts.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the (a) number and (b) variety of available work experience places for under 18s in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Post-16 providers must record work placement activities as part of planned hours for each student for funding purposes and this data is not publicly available. Small scale sample audit checks are undertaken by the department.
Schools and colleges self-report institution level data on the proportion of students undertaking work experience by academic year. Data captured through the Compass+ online self-assessment tool shows that the majority of students in 74% schools and colleges had an experience of the workplace in the 2024/25 academic year.
The department is funding the Careers & Enterprise Company to deliver the first phase of activity to prepare schools and employers to deliver the government’s commitment to ensure every pupil has access to two weeks’ worth of work experience during their secondary education.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the press release entitled Young people from all backgrounds to get opportunity to study abroad as UK-EU deal unlocks Erasmus+, published on 17 December 2025, if she will make an estimate of the cost of a) establishing and b) operating the new national agency.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In order for the UK to participate in Erasmus+, EU regulations require the UK to establish a National Agency separate to any existing government department to manage the indirect management actions of the programme. The European Commission entrusts the distribution of indirect management funding to the National Agency to bring Erasmus+ as close as possible to its beneficiaries. National Agencies promote and implement the Erasmus+ Programme at the national level and are the link between the European Commission and participating organisations at local, regional, and national levels.
A National Agency will be appointed in due course to deliver Erasmus+ for the UK.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the press release entitled Young people from all backgrounds to get opportunity to study abroad as UK-EU deal unlocks Erasmus+, published on 17 December 2025, for what reason she plans to establish a dedicated national agency.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In order for the UK to participate in Erasmus+, EU regulations require the UK to establish a National Agency separate to any existing government department to manage the indirect management actions of the programme. The European Commission entrusts the distribution of indirect management funding to the National Agency to bring Erasmus+ as close as possible to its beneficiaries. National Agencies promote and implement the Erasmus+ Programme at the national level and are the link between the European Commission and participating organisations at local, regional, and national levels.
A National Agency will be appointed in due course to deliver Erasmus+ for the UK.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure parents with parental responsibility are consistently included in school communications and decision-making.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Anyone who is a parent, as recognised under education law, can participate in their child’s education and there is a general principle that pupils are to be educated in accordance with the wishes of their parents. Section 9 of the Education Act 1996 can be accessed here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/56/section/9.
Schools commonly communicate with the resident parent, but if a non-resident parent requests to receive communications separately, the school should provide it to that parent direct, after satisfying itself that the individual is the child’s parent. If a parent is unhappy with a school’s actions, they can complain to the school.