Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assistance is being provided to businesses to help them offer work placements to undergraduates.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Economic growth is the central mission of this government and is vital to give the next generation the opportunities to thrive.
The government encourages work experience through various initiatives spanning various departments. The Department for Business and Trade published the UK’s Industrial, Trade and Small Business Strategies, which were developed in partnership with business, with positive feedback from leading business organisations. For example, the Industrial Strategy will provide an additional £1.2 billion of investment in the skills system by 2028/29.
Higher education providers are autonomous institutions and are responsible for designing and delivering their own courses. This includes decisions on whether to offer internships, work placements or industrial secondments.
It is for individual universities to work with businesses to develop and manage these opportunities in ways that best meet the needs of their students, employers and academic staff.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what programmes are available to encourage businesses to provide industrial secondments to university lecturers.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Economic growth is the central mission of this government and is vital to give the next generation the opportunities to thrive.
The government encourages work experience through various initiatives spanning various departments. The Department for Business and Trade published the UK’s Industrial, Trade and Small Business Strategies, which were developed in partnership with business, with positive feedback from leading business organisations. For example, the Industrial Strategy will provide an additional £1.2 billion of investment in the skills system by 2028/29.
Higher education providers are autonomous institutions and are responsible for designing and delivering their own courses. This includes decisions on whether to offer internships, work placements or industrial secondments.
It is for individual universities to work with businesses to develop and manage these opportunities in ways that best meet the needs of their students, employers and academic staff.
Asked by: Calum Miller (Liberal Democrat - Bicester and Woodstock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the potential impact to the public purse of (a) changing the student loan repayment rates for existing borrowers and (b) changing the income threshold at which student loans are repaid for existing borrowers.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Reducing the repayment rate for existing student loan borrowers would reduce expected future repayments and therefore be a cost to the public purse. Increasing the income threshold at which student loans are repaid for existing borrowers would also reduce expected future repayments.
To support the long-term sustainability of the student loan system, we announced at the Autumn Budget 2025 that the Plan 2 repayment threshold will be increased to £29,385 in April 2026 and then frozen at that level for three years beginning April 2027.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
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 International Student Levy on the UK’s ability to attract international postgraduate research students and the consequential impact this would have on the ambitions set out in the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Higher education (HE) providers are independent from government and are responsible for managing their own finances, including any impact from the International Student Levy (ISL). To support providers’ financial planning, the levy will be introduced in 2028/29 and paid one year in arrears, with a 220-student allowance applying per provider per year.
We have also announced tuition fee cap increases in line with forecast inflation for the 2025/26, 2026/27 and 2027/28 academic years, and will legislate, when parliamentary time allows, to increase caps automatically for future years. Over the next five years, these uplifts could generate an additional £6 billion for HE providers, significantly outweighing the currently projected less than £1 billion levy cost.
ISL revenue will fund the reintroduction of maintenance grants for disadvantaged students studying level 4 to 6 courses aligned with the government’s missions and the Industrial Strategy.
Asked by: Calum Miller (Liberal Democrat - Bicester and Woodstock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the potential impact to the public pursue of (a) cancelling all outstanding student loan balances on existing borrowers; (b) cancelling all outstanding student loan balances for particular occupations for existing borrowers; and (c) cancelling all outstanding student loan balances for particular subjects studied, for existing borrowers.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Cancelling all outstanding student loan balances for existing student loan borrowers would lead to reduction of the fair value of the entire loan book to zero. The fair value of the student loan book, published in the most recent annual accounts, as at 31 March 2025 was £157.9 billion.
The department has not estimated the impact to the public purse of cancelling all outstanding student loan balances for subsets of graduates who studied particular subjects or work in specific professions.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of timed examinations on the performance of neurodiverse students.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Ofqual, as the independent regulator of qualifications, is responsible for ensuring the exams system is fair and accessible for all students. It has published guidance for awarding organisations to follow when designing qualifications, setting clear expectations around accessible language, layout, structure and the removal of unnecessary burdens to ensure that exams are designed to be accessible for all learners, including neurodiverse students.
Ofqual has also conducted research into the role of time pressure in assessment, including speed of working, the impact of having extra time in exams and the wider evidence base on timed assessment.
Under the Equality Act 2010, awarding organisations are required to make reasonable adjustments for disabled persons to prevent substantial disadvantage in exams and assessments. Reasonable adjustments may include 25% extra time in the exam or the use of a reader, scribe, word processor or assistive technology, and ensure that students can demonstrate their knowledge without changing the exam content. A range of access arrangements are also available for all national curriculum tests and assessments, and guidance is provided by the Standards and Testing Agency.
Additionally, in the government response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, the department committed to working with Ofqual and the exam boards to ensure that accessibility implications are fully considered for all young people throughout the qualification process, including for those with special educational needs and disabilities.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support university (a) staff and (b) students who raise concerns about breaches of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government is absolutely committed to freedom of speech and academic freedom. We commenced provisions from the Higher Education (HE) (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 on 1 August 2025 including strengthened provider duties to secure and promote the importance of free speech and academic freedom, and a requirement to put in place effective free speech codes of practice. The Office for Students’ Director for Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom continues to work with the HE sector to offer advice and share best practice, so providers themselves are more effectively protecting free speech and academic freedom.
Our commitment to the complaints scheme was clearly set out last year: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-future-of-the-higher-education-freedom-of-speech-act-2023. Students can continue to report their free speech complaints to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help improve the provision of physical exercise for (a) primary and (b) secondary school pupils; and whether her Department is working with School Sport Partnerships.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
It is this government’s mission is to break down barriers to opportunity, ensuring every child benefits from high-quality PE and school sports. The new PE and School Sport Partnerships, announced last June by my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, will ensure that all children have equal access to high-quality PE by bringing together primary and secondary schools, local clubs, and national governing bodies to target funding and support where it is most needed.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the accessibility of written examination formats for neurodiverse students in schools and further education settings.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Ofqual, as the independent regulator of qualifications, is responsible for ensuring the exams system is fair and accessible for all students. It has published guidance for awarding organisations to follow when designing qualifications, setting clear expectations around accessible language, layout, structure and the removal of unnecessary burdens to ensure that exams are designed to be accessible for all learners, including neurodiverse students.
Ofqual has also conducted research into the role of time pressure in assessment, including speed of working, the impact of having extra time in exams and the wider evidence base on timed assessment.
Under the Equality Act 2010, awarding organisations are required to make reasonable adjustments for disabled persons to prevent substantial disadvantage in exams and assessments. Reasonable adjustments may include 25% extra time in the exam or the use of a reader, scribe, word processor or assistive technology, and ensure that students can demonstrate their knowledge without changing the exam content. A range of access arrangements are also available for all national curriculum tests and assessments, and guidance is provided by the Standards and Testing Agency.
Additionally, in the government response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, the department committed to working with Ofqual and the exam boards to ensure that accessibility implications are fully considered for all young people throughout the qualification process, including for those with special educational needs and disabilities.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has for improving provision of financial education as part of the adult education curriculum.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The essential skills entitlements, funded through the adult skills fund (ASF), support adults without a GCSE maths grade 4 or higher, or equivalent qualification, or are assessed at working below this level, to undertake a range of free courses including maths GCSEs and functional skills qualifications.
As part of the ASF, Tailored Learning funding can also be used to fund provision supporting learners to address specific needs such as financial education.
Currently, approximately 68% of the ASF is devolved to 12 strategic authorities and delegated to the Mayor of London acting through the Greater London Authority. These authorities are responsible for the provision of adult education and allocation of the ASF in their local areas.
The Department for Work and Pensions is responsible for the remaining ASF in non-devolved areas where colleges and training providers have the freedom and flexibility to determine how they use their ASF to meet the needs of their communities.
Alongside, there is a range of apprenticeships available which provide training in occupationally specific financial knowledge and skills, for example, in payroll, investment or financial services-related roles. We also continue to fund apprentices to secure up to a L2 maths qualification as part of their apprenticeship.