Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of children who have an unmet SEND need in England.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The requested information is not held by the department.
The department publishes information on the number and proportion of pupils with special educational needs as at January each year. The latest information available indicates that 19.5% of pupils have special educational needs (SEN) support or an education, health and care (EHC) plan. This publication, from January 2025, is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england/2024-25.
It may also be useful to note that the Education Policy Institute has conducted research on a longitudinal dataset that gathers information on SEN support and EHC plan status for pupils who started school in 2008 and reached Year 11 in 2019. This research indicates that 37% of these pupils were recorded as having SEN support or an EHC plan at some point during this period. Their report is available at: https://epi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/SEND-Final-Report-version-FINAL-04.02.2024-2.pdf.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the (a) duration and (b) terms and conditions of contracts are for regional improvement for standards and excellence advisors.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Regional improvement for standards excellence (RISE) teams have already paired over 350 schools with RISE advisers and supporting organisations, including some of our strongest trusts with a record of turning around struggling schools, to share expertise and boost standards.
All current regional improvement for standards and excellence advisers’ contracts come to an end 30 April 2027. Advisers are employed via secondment agreement or via Public Sector Resourcing, using standard terms and conditions.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how the expansion of school-based nurseries will contribute to increasing access to funded childcare, particularly in areas with limited provision.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
High quality early years is central to our mission to break down the barriers to opportunity, give every child the best possible start in life and is essential to our Plan for Change. This government is boosting availability and access through the school-based nurseries programme, supporting school led provision and private, voluntary and independent (PVI) providers and childminders operating from school sites.
Phase 1 is already delivering results, with £37 million successfully awarded to 300 primary phase schools creating up to 6,000 new childcare places. Schools reported that over 5,000 of these places were available from September 2025, helping thousands of families across the country.
The programme secured almost £370 million for future phases. Phase 2, which closed on 11 December, has an increased focus on supporting families from disadvantaged areas which have less access to childcare, and will deliver at least 300 new or expanded nurseries through a £45 million fund. Successful schools will be announced in due course.
Phase 3 is due to launch in early 2026, focussing on local authorities’ long-term strategic needs for their local communities.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department holds on the impact of long-term stays in temporary accommodation on (a) children’s physical and mental health and (b) children’s educational outcomes; and what steps they are taking to mitigate any negative effects identified.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Child Poverty Strategy sets out a range of measures to support families in need of temporary accommodation.
The government will end the unlawful placement of families in bed and breakfasts beyond the six-week limit and work with the NHS to end the practice of discharging mothers with newborn babies into bed and breakfasts or other unsuitable housing.
The government will provide £950 million through the fourth and largest round of the Local Authority Housing Fund from April 2026 to deliver up to 5,000 high quality homes for better temporary accommodation by 2030.
A new legal duty will also be introduced for councils to notify schools, health visitors, and GPs when a child is placed in temporary accommodation, so no child is left without support.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government will also introduce a clinical code on children in temporary accommodation to improve data collection, with the aim of preventing further deaths caused by gaps in health care provision.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the annual cost is of providing student loan financing to students who are not UK citizens; and whether she has made an estimate of the potential impact of restricting student loan eligibility to British citizens on costs to her Department.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Higher education student finance is targeted on those persons with a lawful and substantial residential connection to the UK. To qualify, most persons must be ‘settled’ in the UK. There are limited exceptions to this, such as for individuals granted international protection by the Home Office, for example persons with refugee status, who may be eligible for support without meeting the standard residency and settlement criteria.
In the 2024/25 academic year, the Student Loans Company (SLC) made payments totalling £3,794 million for Fee and Maintenance Loans (full-time and part-time) to undergraduate students domiciled in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the EU who declared they were non-UK nationals.
Previous PQs have reported figures based on nationality as declared when creating a student finance account, rather than the verified status at loan approval. The SLC has robust procedures in place to check eligibility for student finance, including data-sharing with the Home Office and HM Passport Office. Eligibility is dependent on a successful identity check, immigration status and residency history. No funding is approved without complete, verified, and eligible nationality, status and residence history.
The department has not made any estimate of costs on the potential impact of restricting student loan eligibility to British citizens.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what consideration her Department has given to using SEND resources to fund increased staffing and provision at mainstream schools; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of doing so on the number of children who would remain in mainstream education.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, ensuring teachers have the tools to better identify and support children before unmet needs escalate, as well as ensuring specialist special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and alternative provision schools cater to those with the most complex needs.
On 12 December, the government announced a £3 billion investment to deliver around 50,000 specialist places for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. The funding will be distributed to local authorities for them to spend on new places in mainstream settings (including SEN units), on adaptations to mainstream settings to make them more inclusive, or on special schools where required.
We will bring forward a full Schools White Paper in the new year, underpinned by our belief that high standards and inclusion are two sides of the same coin.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if the government has made an assessment of the trends in the range and take up of lifelong learning and evening class courses since 2015.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government recognises the importance of lifelong learning, funding a range of courses across further education (FE) and higher education (HE) for adult learners.
We do not collect data on delivery mechanisms in FE. Part-time and full-time data for HE is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/higher-level-learners-in-england/2023-24.
We allow providers the flexibility to decide how to offer provision, including when and how courses should be offered. Provision can be offered in a range of different ways to meet the needs of learners, for example Tailored Learning, primarily non-qualification-based provision tailored to the needs of learners, and which may be delivered in evenings.
The Adult Skills Fund fully funds or co-funds courses for eligible adults aged 19 and over from pre-entry to level 3 and supports four statutory entitlements to full funding.
We are also introducing the Lifelong Learning Entitlement, which will provide greater flexibility for individuals of all ages to study on terms that suit their needs.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) independent, and (b) non-maintained special schools have been established in each year since 2020.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The register of schools is publicly available as part of the Get Information about Schools (GIAS) website, which is available at: https://www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of replacing the statutory requirement for daily Christian collective worship in schools without a religious character in England with non-confessional assemblies in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling in JR87 2025 UKSC 40.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The legislative framework for providing collective worship in England is different to that in Northern Ireland. However, the department is considering the implications of the Supreme Court judgement carefully. Schools in England already have flexibility to hold assemblies without a religious focus.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department holds on the number of primary and secondary schools in England that include teaching on organ donation within the Relationships, Sex and Health Education curriculum; and whether her Department plans to (a) collect and (b) publish further information on that topic.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) statutory guidance sets out that by the end of secondary school, pupils should know about the science relating to blood, organ and stem cell donation.
The department does not routinely collect data on how many schools teach specific topics and has no plans to require schools to report in that detail. It is for individual schools to make sure that they cover the statutory content in RSHE, and they have flexibility to decide how to do so.