Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government why they have removed financial support for Initial Teacher Training bursaries in art and design for the 2026–27 academic year.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Initial teacher training (ITT) bursaries are offered to incentivise more applications to ITT courses. The department reviews the bursaries annually to take account of ITT recruitment to date, forecast economic conditions, and teacher supply need in each subject. Whether a bursary is offered or not, student trainee teachers can access a tuition fee loan, maintenance loan and additional support dependent on their circumstances, such as the Childcare Grant.
Between the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years, postgraduate ITT recruitment for art and design increased by 95%, the largest increase of all subjects. Acceptances for ITT courses starting in the 2025/26 academic year indicate a further improvement. At the same time, demand for art and design trainee teachers has fallen due to this higher ITT recruitment and more favourable teacher retention forecasts. As a result, the postgraduate ITT target in art and design reduced by 38% for courses starting in 2025/26. The department will publish the ITT census for 2025/26 this December.
As part of our Opportunity Mission, we want high-quality arts education for every child in all state funded schools, which is why we announced our intention to launch a new National Centre for Arts and Music Education to deliver excellent continuing professional development for teachers in all the arts subjects, including in art and design.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her department holds on the number of pupils in England requiring gluten free meal provision in schools.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department does not hold data on requirements for gluten-free meal provision in schools. The government sets out required minimum standards for school food in the School Food Standards. Headteachers, governors and their caterers are best placed to make decisions about their school food policies that take into account local circumstances and pupil needs, including the provision of gluten-free meals.
Additionally, Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on governing bodies of maintained schools, proprietors of academies and management committees of pupil referral units to make arrangements for supporting pupils at their school with medical conditions, which may be food-related. Schools must therefore take appropriate action in supporting such pupils to access food provision.
Asked by: Connor Naismith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support schools with provisions for wraparound care.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
This government is committed to providing a free breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged children. So far, we have delivered 2.6 million breakfasts and offered places to almost 180,000 pupils across the country. Following the success of the early adopters, and as the first phase of national rollout, we are investing a further £80 million into the programme to fund an additional 2,000 schools between April 2026 and March 2027. Since September 2024, over 50,000 additional full childcare places have also been made available to families through the National Wraparound Programme.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of (a) tableware and (b) crockery used in his Department is made by a British manufacturer.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not hold information on the tableware and crockery used in our offices. The Government Property Agency provides the department with property asset management, including catering and restaurant/café services.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle the use of smartphones by pupils in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Mobile phones have no place in our schools.
Schools should prohibit the use of mobile phones and other smart technology with similar functionality to mobile phones throughout the school day, including during lessons, the time between lessons, breaktimes and lunchtime, as set out in the ‘Mobile phones in schools’ guidance, published in 2024.
The department expects all schools to take steps in line with this guidance to ensure mobile phones do not disrupt pupils’ learning.
Research from the Children’s Commissioner, with responses from nearly all schools and colleges in England, shows that the overwhelming majority of schools, 99.8% of primary schools and 90% of secondary schools, already have policies in place that limit or restrict the use of mobile phones during the school day.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of taking steps to help reduce phone use by school children in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Mobile phones have no place in our schools.
Schools should prohibit the use of mobile phones and other smart technology with similar functionality to mobile phones throughout the school day, including during lessons, the time between lessons, breaktimes and lunchtime, as set out in the ‘Mobile phones in schools’ guidance, published in 2024.
The department expects all schools to take steps in line with this guidance to ensure mobile phones do not disrupt pupils’ learning.
Research from the Children’s Commissioner, with responses from nearly all schools and colleges in England, shows that the overwhelming majority of schools, 99.8% of primary schools and 90% of secondary schools, already have policies in place that limit or restrict the use of mobile phones during the school day.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had discussion with the Child Poverty Taskforce on the potential impact of (a) the removal and (b) reform of the two-child benefit cap on the educational outcomes for children.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
As co-chair of the Child Poverty Taskforce, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, is working across government on levers to tackle child poverty and improve the lives of families across the country.
This government is committed to tackling child poverty and the Child Poverty Taskforce is developing an ambitious Child Poverty Strategy, which will be published in the autumn.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of (a) trends in the level and (b) the potential impact of school meal debt on families in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
To help break down barriers to opportunity and tackle child poverty, the government will be extending free school meals (FSM) to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026. This will lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty and put £500 back in families’ pockets, supporting parents in decisive action to improve lives ahead of the Child Poverty Strategy. Department for Work and Pensions data shows that 5,450 children in Yeovil will be eligible to receive FSM when provision is extended from September 2026.
This autumn, the Child Poverty Strategy will deliver measures to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty. The Taskforce is considering all available levers to reduce child poverty and recognises the importance of financial resilience for low-income families. Increasing financial resilience is one of the four key themes for the strategy, and in February the Taskforce met with external experts to discuss this topic specifically.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to increase funding for support for parents in disadvantaged areas.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The government has committed to provide funding for all local authorities to deliver Best Start Family Hubs, backed by over £500 million, to help families in every part of the country. The rollout will deliver up to 1,000 Best Start Family Hubs nationwide by 2028, reaching an estimated additional 500,000 children. Hubs will be open to all families but located in disadvantaged communities where support is most needed.
The government understands the distinct challenges faced by parents and, ahead of the publication of our Child Poverty Strategy, we have already taken substantive action across major drivers of child poverty. This includes establishing a new Crisis and Resilience Fund supported by £1 billion a year (including Barnett impact) through the Spending Review period to replace the Household Support Fund. This longer-term funding approach will enable local authorities to provide preventative support to families and communities.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of students who no longer have access to assistive software following the removal of non-specialist spelling and grammar software from Disabled Students’ Allowance funding.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department engaged with disability experts who support disabled students to gather feedback on the removal of non-specialist spelling and grammar software from Disabled Student Allowance (DSA) funding. While there have been no recent direct discussions with students, the department conducted an Equality Impact Assessment to consider potential impacts and appropriate mitigations. This policy applies to new DSA recipients only and does not affect any spelling and grammar software already awarded to existing students.
The decision followed a detailed review which found that there are now free to access versions available with the required spelling and grammar support functionality to meet students’ disability-related support needs. DSA will continue to fund such software in exceptional cases where a robust disability-related justification is provided.