Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the provision of agricultural education in schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education meets with Cabinet colleagues, including my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on the actions she is taking to secure high quality education for all pupils, but has not met to discuss agricultural education as a discrete issue.
The national curriculum is a framework designed to give teachers the flexibility to cover particular topics in greater depth if they wish. For example, giving them the freedom to teach about agriculture within the geography and science curricula.
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Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to a) reduce public access to and b) ensure the online security of the Children Not in School Register proposed in the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Section 436C of the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill prohibits information from a local authority Children Not in School register being published or made public in a way that would include the name or address of a parent or eligible child or that would identify them.
The department will highlight in statutory guidance that we expect registers to be held securely on local authority systems. Local authorities should have an appropriate data protection policy document and privacy notice regarding the processing of personal data and its secure storage and destruction. We are continuing to engage with the Information Commissioner’s office to ensure that appropriate mitigations are in place for any risks identified.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to written question 100178, if she will publish the criteria used by her Department to evaluate (a) the need for places, (b) value for money, (c) whether they would provide a distinctive or innovative education offer and (d) whether they would negatively affect other local schools.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
We have written to trusts, local authorities and members of Parliament setting out the position on individual projects, as well as offering more detailed feedback.
The department considered whether there was a strong need for the school in the medium term. We assessed published School Capacity data (SCAP24), in line with the department’s longstanding approach to assessing pipeline projects, as well as other data from local authorities, such as plans for future housing developments.
We also considered forecast costs of delivering each school, delivery issues such as finding a suitable site and whether projects would provide a distinctive local offer or risk negatively impacting other local schools.
Final decisions on projects where a ‘minded to cancel’ letter was issued, will be made once trusts and local authorities have had the opportunity to submit any new evidence. Representations should be made by 30 January 2026.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people undertook the Essential Digital Skills qualification in the past two years and how many did not complete the course.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
In the 2024/25 academic year, there were 23,930 aim enrolments and 19,320 aim achievements on Essential Digital Skills qualifications in England by adult further education and skills learners. In the 2023/24, academic year there were 28,430 and 22,310 respectively. These figures are published in additional supporting files accompanying the ’Further education and skills’ accredited official statistics publication and have been available since November 2025. The ‘Further education and skills’ publication is available at:
Aim enrolments and aim achievements are separate measures and should not be used to infer progress within an academic year. Additionally, learners may undertake or achieve more than one learning aim in an academic year.
Achievement rates for Essential Digital Skills qualifications are published in the national achievement rate tables in the ‘Further education and skills’ publication. The latest published data, available since March 2025, covers the 2023/24 academic year in England and is available at:
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to written statement 1163, on what grounds the Government approved the Eton Star academy projects in Dudley and Oldham.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
All free school projects were evaluated in line with consistent criteria focusing on assessing the need for places and value for money. This included considering whether projects would provide a distinctive local offer and whether they would risk negatively impacting other local schools or colleges.
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: 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: 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: 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: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the risk of using rubber crumb infill in synthetic turf pitches in schools, in light of the ban on safety grounds on disposing of shredded tyre material in landfill sites and with reference to possible (a) inhalation, (b) ingestion and (c) skin absorption of toxic particles.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Responsible bodies are responsible for managing premises, including for health and safety. They should ensure risk assessments are conducted and measures taken to minimise known critical risks, following Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidance.
Guidance on promoting good hygiene when taking part in physical activity is available to schools at: https://resources.thegma.org.uk/sportshygiene.
The department’s technical guidance, due to be updated early 2026, outlines alternative pitch materials. While primarily intended for new build schools, this advice is available for wider use and outlines the merits of each material.
The department continues to work with other government departments, including the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department for Culture Media and Sport, the UK Health Security Agency and HSE, to ensure any advice and guidance in this area aligns with best practice and the latest scientific evidence.