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 the take up of free school meals is for those eligible; and what measures are in place to increase take up.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty. The latest school census data shows 2,171,916 pupils claimed benefits-based free school meals (FSM). In total, 25.7% of all pupils claimed benefits-based FSM. This is an increase from the previous academic year, where 24.6% claimed a free meal. A further 1,265,399 pupils received a meal under our universal infant free school meal policy, representing 88.4% of non-FSM eligible infant pupils. This is increase on 87.6% the previous academic year.
Introducing a new eligibility threshold for free school meals of all children from households in receipt of universal credit will make it easier for parents to know whether they are entitled to receive free meals.
To support take-up, we are also updating the Eligibility Checking System, which will make it easier for LAs, schools and parents to check if children are eligible for FSM and can therefore receive a healthy, nutritious meal during the school day. This new entitlement will mean over 500,000 of the most disadvantaged children will begin to access free meals, pulling 100,000 children out of poverty.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what factors determined the timing between the publication of the consultation on the SEND white paper on 2 December 2025 and the first engagement event on 3 December 2025; and whether that notice period aligns with her Department’s standards for effective public consultation.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department has undertaken extensive engagement over the past year, holding more than 100 events with children, young people, parents and other stakeholders to inform our work on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
The SEND national conversation, launched on 2 December, is not a formal consultation but an expansion of this ongoing engagement, designed to broaden participation and ensure parents’ voices are heard. The first events were scheduled promptly to maintain momentum and provide early opportunities for families to contribute. The Council for Disabled Children has promoted the regional engagement sessions, which are now fully subscribed, and further online events run by the department remain open for sign‑up.
A formal consultation will take place following publication of the Schools White Paper next year, in line with the department’s standards for effective public consultation, to continue the conversation on reform and gather views on specific proposals.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of expanding the National Curriculum to embed (a) critical and creative thinking, (b) problem solving, (c) communication and (d) collaboration skills to support the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review sets out our plan to ensure that all pupils develop the knowledge and skills that we know are essential for life, work and innovation.
When refreshing the national curriculum, we will identify where subject-specific disciplinary skills are not clearly described or not emphasised adequately, and then ensure that these are properly reflected in those subjects’ programmes of study. For example, creative thinking in computing, critical thinking in history or problem solving in maths.
Furthermore, we will be extending citizenship to primary schools to introduce important financial literacy to pupils from an earlier age; reforming computing education to equip more young people with the digital skills they need for the future; and creating a new oracy framework to help pupils become confident, fluent speakers, setting them up for leadership roles in the workplace.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will bring forward policy proposals to make access to PE and sport at school a right for all disabled children.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is committed to giving every pupil the chance to participate in PE and sport while at school. This government has committed funding of up to £300,000 this financial year to the Youth Sport Trust to deliver Inclusion 2028, a programme to upskill the school workforce to deliver high quality, inclusive PE, school sport and physical activity to pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The programme also funds the Inclusive Education Hub, an online platform of resources to help schools make their PE and sport more inclusive.
Schools also receive capital funding directly through core funding. The government is investing almost £3 billion per year by 2034/35 in capital maintenance and renewal to improve the condition of the school and college estate, rising from £2.4 billion in 2025/26.
Following my right hon. friend, the Prime Minister’s announcement on 19 June 2025, we are establishing a new PE and school sport partnerships network to ensure all children and young people, including those with SEND, have access to high quality PE and school sport.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking with the devolved administrations to facilitate the sharing of best practice and models of reform of special educational needs provision throughout the UK.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
As part of our Plan for Change, we are determined to fix the special educational needs and disabilities system and restore the trust of parents by ensuring schools have the tools to better identify and support children before issues escalate. We’re continuing to engage closely with children, parents and experts as we develop plans to ensure all children get the outcomes and life chances they deserve.
The department engages the devolved governments at ministerial and official level on a range of areas, which allows a sharing of collective knowledge and experience as well as collaborative working on shared interests and challenges to deliver better outcomes for people across the UK.
Asked by: Lord Hampton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to follow the government of Scotland in providing matched funding for incentivised learning of life skills for young people in care through the Share Foundation’s Stepladder PLUS programme.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We want to ensure that children leaving care have stable homes, access to health services, support to build lifelong loving relationships and are engaged in education, employment and training.
We recognise the importance of financial skills, such as that provided through the Stepladder Plus programme, in achieving this aim. The department currently supports the use of this programme through its contract, for the provision of Junior ISA savings accounts to children in care, with The Share Foundation. We do not have any plans to provide match funding at this time.
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 assessment has been made of the potential impact of financial barriers such as maintenance loans, accommodation costs, unpaid placements on working-class students in higher education; and what reforms are being considered to improve retention alongside initial access.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department recognises the impact the cost of living crisis on students. To help students from the most disadvantaged backgrounds progress into and excel in higher education, we will future proof our maintenance loan offer by increasing maintenance loans in line with forecast inflation every academic year. We will also provide extra support for care leavers, who will automatically become eligible to receive the maximum rate of maintenance loan.
We will reintroduce maintenance grants, providing full-time higher education students from low-income households studying subjects aligned with the government’s missions and Industrial Strategy with up to £1,000 extra support per year from 2028/29.
Further, we will develop options to address regional disparities in access and tackle systemic barriers in the journey to higher education for disadvantaged students. To deliver this we have brought together a task and finish group to focus on how the system can best widen access for those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of college provision for construction courses in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
We have established 10 Construction Technical Excellence Colleges (CTECs), one for each region of the country and one cross-regional CTEC. These CTECs will work with all construction providers and other key stakeholders across their region to deliver on the objectives of the CTEC programme, which includes boosting construction skills provision in direct response to local and national employer needs.
North Kent College is the CTEC for the south-east and will be working across the region to deliver on the objectives of the programme.
We recognise that many colleges have waiting lists for construction courses, so the department is investing £195 million capital funding announced as part of the construction skills package to expand construction skills capacity in the areas across the country, both in CTECs and their partner colleges. More detail on how areas such as Surrey Heath can access this funding will be set out in the new year.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools in Telford constituency have applied for funding to provide a) free breakfast clubs and b) funded nurseries places in all rounds of applications up to and including 6 December 2025; and how many of those applications have been successful.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department launched the free breakfast club early adopter scheme in April 2025 to test and learn what works in delivering free breakfast clubs in 750 state-funded schools across England. Early adopter schools were selected to ensure a wide range of representation across different school types, sizes and geographical areas. In Telford, one school is taking part in the scheme. National rollout will begin in April 2026, and the first cohort of applications closed on 5 December. Successful applicants will be announced in due course.
High quality early years education is central to the department’s mission to break down 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 Nursery Programme. In phase 1 of the programme, one primary school in Telford applied and was awarded funding. Phase 2 closed on 11 December, with successful schools to be announced in due course.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase the availability of sign language education courses.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
There are a variety of British Sign Language (BSL) qualifications available, from Level 1 through to Level 6. This includes Level 1 and 2 accredited qualifications offered by the Institute of British Sign Language, Signature and ABC Awards.
There are also funds available for adults who want to learn new skills through the Adult Skills Fund (ASF), which fully funds or co-funds skills provision for eligible adults aged 19 and above from pre-entry to level 3. 68% of the ASF is devolved to 13 strategic authorities, including the East Midlands Authority, who are responsible for ASF provision to their residents. The Department for Work and Pensions is responsible for the remaining ASF and makes funding available for a range of qualifications including the Level 1 Award in BSL.
The government, working with Ofqual, has also developed the content and assessment arrangements for a new BSL GCSE.