Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the answer of 11 March 2026 to question 118316 on Special Educational Needs: Cambridgeshire, if she will publish the monthly data on Cambridgeshire’s education, health and care plan timeliness.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department publishes information on the number of education, health and care (EHC) plans that are issued within the statutory 20-week timeframe. Excluding cases where exceptions apply, the number and percentage of plans issued within this timeframe for both Cambridgeshire and England are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/b46a4968-aafd-4bd6-948a-08de4155ee12.
Information on EHC plans maintained by local authorities, including requests for an EHC needs assessment, the number of assessments carried out, the number where a decision is made to assess, and the number of plans issued within 20 weeks, are included in the annual statistical release. The latest January 2025 statistics were published in June 2025 here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans/2025.
The department monitors Cambridgeshire’s EHC plan timeliness through regular monitoring meetings. The information shared at these meetings is not published but informs the support and challenge that the department provides.
Furthermore, as set out in the recent Schools White Paper and its associated consultation, the department is consulting on proposals to reform the special educational needs and disabilities system, including to ensure that the information, advice and guidance provided offers effective support for children, young people and their families, and promotes greater fairness across the system. The consultation can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/send-reform-putting-children-and-young-people-first.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will set out the requirements councils must meet to be eligible for the write-off of 90% of their historic SEND-related deficits.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
As set out in the final Local Government Finance Settlement, all local authorities with a special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) related High Needs deficit will be eligible in 2026/27 to receive a High Needs Stability Grant that will cover 90% of their accumulated High Needs‑related DSG deficit up to the end of 2025/26. This is conditional on each local authority securing my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education’s approval of their Local SEND Reform Plan, as confirmed in the government’s announcement on managing accumulated SEND deficits.
Each local area will be required to set out credible and deliverable actions that support a more inclusive and financially sustainable system, consistent with the vision for earlier intervention, stronger mainstream inclusion and improved outcomes for children and young people as set out in the Schools White Paper.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help improve levels of attainment among working class pupils.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Too many children are held back by their background. That is why, through the Opportunity Mission, we will break the link between background and future success.
The ‘Every child achieving and thriving’ White Paper establishes the department’s plan to improve the outcomes of all children, building on support at home with a stretching, enriching and inclusive school experience. Our ambition is that all children achieve higher standards and the disadvantage gap is halved. This equates to 30,000 more disadvantaged young people passing their English and maths GCSEs than today.
Additionally, we are driving standards through new RISE teams, a refreshed high-quality curriculum and assessment system and recruiting 6,500 additional teachers - as well as taking action to address barriers to learning.
Alongside this, around £3.2 billion is being provided in the 2026/27 financial year to state-funded schools in England through the pupil premium, to support disadvantaged pupils so they achieve and thrive in education.
'Giving every child the best start in life' sets out the immediate steps to deliver on our commitment to make early education and childcare more accessible and affordable. We have rolled out the expansion of government funded hours so that working parents can now access 30 hours per week from the term after their child turns nine months. We’ve also announced Best Start Family Hubs, backed by £500 million, and launched the Better Futures Fund, a new £500 million fund to break down barriers to opportunity for up to 200,000 vulnerable children and young people.
Finally, our Child Poverty Strategy will lift 550,000 children out of poverty by 2030. This includes the expansion of free school meals. Providing over half a million disadvantaged children with a free lunchtime meal will lead to higher attainment, improved behaviour and better outcomes.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (a) estimate her Department has made of the number and (b) assessment of the adequacy of availability of trained professionals required to meet the Experts at Hand plan.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Poole to the answer of 24 March 2026 to Question 121419.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the success of Government initiatives launched between 2010 and 2024 in narrowing the attainment gap in schools.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Despite the efforts of dedicated staff, our school system is not serving all children well, with unacceptable disparities in attainment existing across all phases of education and all areas of the country.
Disadvantaged children, especially white working-class children, and those with special educational needs and disabilities are not succeeding as they should.
The attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and all other pupils remains high and persistent at both primary and secondary.
The ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ white paper establishes the department’s plan to improve the outcomes of all children and young people.
When children born under this government finish secondary school, it is our ambition that all children achieve higher standards and the disadvantage gap will be halved, equating to 30,000 more disadvantaged young people passing their English and maths GCSEs than today.
To deliver this we will provide family support to help more disadvantaged children arrive at reception school ready, strengthen teacher recruitment and retention, broaden the curriculum and offer high-quality enrichment opportunities.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to Measure What Matters' report entitled National Testimony Collection, published on 16 October 2025, what steps her Department is taking to address failures by local authorities to comply with guidance on the provision of SEND support to children, including those with an education, health and care plan.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Schools White Paper sets out unequivocal expectations for every local authority on the quality and timeliness of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) support, including planning school places effectively and providing the expert support that schools and families need, with significant investment in local authorities to transform SEND support.
In March 2026 we commissioned local authorities, together with their integrated care boards, to develop SEND reform plans by June 2026.
The department will use these plans to hold them accountable to deliver strong outcomes for children and young people with SEND and will act decisively where progress does not materialise. Where failure is persistent, we will not hesitate to use the full range of intervention powers including removing the licence to deliver SEND services.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will hold discussions with exam boards on offering GCSEs in Tamil.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Decisions about which languages to offer at GCSE in England are taken by four independent awarding organisations – AQA, OCR, Pearson Edexcel and WJEC – rather than by central government. These organisations have the freedom to create a Tamil GCSE based on the subject content for modern foreign languages set by the department. This decision would be informed by several factors, including the level of demand from schools and the proportion of the population in the UK speaking the language.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish student loan repayment data, broken down by national origin, for the last academic year for which data has been collated.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The number of student loan borrowers who are not UK Nationals and withdrew from their latest recorded course in 2024/25 was 15,000 (to the nearest 500).
The department and the Student Loans Company have strengthened the quality and consistency of data in this area and now hold reliable information on borrowers’ UK national status and nationality.
Asked by: Baroness Whitaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Runnymede Trust Excluded: Misrecognition, control and the Roma experience in Bradford schools, published on 25 March; and what plans they have to implement its recommendations.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department recognises the issues faced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children and young people, and how schools and others can make a positive difference.
We are currently reviewing the report’s findings alongside existing evidence on school exclusions and ethnic disparities. This assessment will inform our ongoing work to ensure that behaviour and attendance policies are applied fairly and that schools are supported to meet the needs of all pupils, including Roma communities.
Under the Equality Act 2010, schools must not discriminate against pupils on the basis of their ethnic background. We have already published guidance for schools on complying with this duty.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many foreign nationals claiming student loan or a maintenance loan dropped out of their courses in the last academic year for which data is available.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The number of student loan borrowers who are not UK Nationals and withdrew from their latest recorded course in 2024/25 was 15,000 (to the nearest 500).
The department and the Student Loans Company have strengthened the quality and consistency of data in this area and now hold reliable information on borrowers’ UK national status and nationality.