Commons Chamber

Wednesday 5th November 2025

(began 2 hours, 52 minutes ago)

Share Debate
Watch Live
Skip to latest contribution
11:34
11:35
11:35
None Portrait Q1. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle violence against women and girls. (906206)
-

to publish as soon as possible. This strategy is overseen by the Vawg Ministerial Board. Safer Streets Mission Board and regular
11:35
11:35
11:35
None Portrait Oral questions: Women and Equalities
-



**** Possible New Speaker ****

Thank you. Come on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a former chair of North Ayrshire
11:35
11:35
11:36
11:36
11:37
11:38
11:38
11:39
11:40
11:40
11:41
11:41
11:42
11:42
11:43
11:44
11:44
11:44
11:45
11:45
11:46
11:46
11:47
11:48
11:48
11:49
None Portrait Q3. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help increase the female workforce within STEM industries. (906208)
-

Mr.
11:49
11:50
11:50
11:50
11:51
11:51
11:51
None Portrait Q4. What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of diversity, equality and inclusion schemes in the public sector. (906209)
-

Jack Rankin.

**** Possible New Speaker ****

Welcome. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This government is determined to break
11:52
11:52
11:52
11:53
11:53
11:53
11:54
11:54
None Portrait Topical questions: Women and Equalities
-



**** Possible New Speaker ****

We now come to Stockton West Gill Furniss. Gill Furniss. Topical one.

**** Possible New Speaker ****

Sorry. Mr. Endometriosis Care. Is in.

**** Possible New Speaker ****

Is in. Sorry. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In October.
11:54
11:55
11:55
11:55
11:56
11:57
11:57
11:58
11:58
11:58
11:59
11:59
12:00
12:00
12:00
12:00
12:02
12:02
12:03
12:04
12:04
12:05
12:06
12:06
12:07
12:07
12:08
12:08
12:09
12:09
12:10
12:11
12:12
Jonathan Brash Portrait Mr Jonathan Brash MP (Hartlepool, Labour)
-
-


**** Possible New Speaker ****

Sorry. I was correct.

**** Possible New Speaker ****

I was correct. Jonathan Brash. Mr. speaker.

**** Possible New Speaker ****

Order! Jonathan Brash. Mr. speaker, my constituents.

**** Possible New Speaker ****

Mr. speaker, my constituents. Jorja Hart was just 15 years old when she was diagnosed with Friedreich's ataxia, a cruel and Friedreich's ataxia, a cruel and degenerative condition that slowly independence.

**** Possible New Speaker ****

Since then, her. Courageous parents have battled day in and day out to raise awareness and money to get her the treatment she needs. There is now a drug, Omaveloxolone, which has been drug, Omaveloxolone, which has been proven to slow the progression of the disease. Yet despite this, it's been stalled by nice, partly because the number of patients because the number of patients affected is judged to be above the limit for ultra rare conditions. George and those like are being George and those like are being failed.

Not because the science isn't there, not because the treatment isn't there, but because simply the numbers do not add up. Does the Deputy Prime Minister agree? We cannot allow bureaucracy to stand in the way of life to stand in the way of life changing treatment? And will he commit to ensuring that I, along with ataxia UK, can meet the

**** Possible New Speaker ****

relevant Minister at the earliest opportunity so that George and her time? Prime Minister.
12:13
12:14
12:15
12:15
12:16
12:17
12:18
12:18
12:19
12:20
12:20
12:21
12:22
12:22
12:23
12:24
12:25
12:25
12:26
12:26
12:27
12:28
12:29
12:29
12:30
12:30
12:31
12:31
12:32
12:32
12:32
12:33
12:33
12:33
12:34
12:34
12:35
12:36
12:36
12:37
12:38
12:38
12:38
12:38
12:40
None Portrait Urgent question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs if she will make a statement on HM Government's approach to the worsening conflict in Sudan
-



**** Possible New Speaker ****

come to the urgent question. Dame Priti Patel. To ask. The Secretary. Of State for.

**** Possible New Speaker ****

Of State for. Foreign Affairs if she'll make a statement on the government's approach to the worsening conflict in Sudan.
12:40
Hamish Falconer Portrait Mr Hamish Falconer MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Lincoln, Labour)
-
-


**** Possible New Speaker ****

Minister. Mr. Mr. speaker, I'm sure the whole House will.

**** Possible New Speaker ****

House will. Join me in. Condemning the shocking violence. Against civilians in El Fasher.

**** Possible New Speaker ****

Against civilians in El Fasher. The latest reports, including 460 civilians being killed in a single civilians being killed in a single attack, are harrowing. This is a this is part of a pattern of appalling violence perpetrated against civilians. And it is just one element of the suffering driven by the war in Sudan, a conflict that has now created the worst humanitarian crisis on record. Over 30 million people need aid and 12 million people have been displaced.

Famine is spreading and cholera is also now widespread, with life saving assistance continuing to be blocked by the parties. As the Foreign Secretary said at the Manama Dialogue over the last weekend, no amount of aid can resolve a crisis of this magnitude until the guns fall silent. The world must do more. The UK is using all tools at our disposal to protect civilians, to get humanitarian aid to those in most need, and to secure a lasting ceasefire in Sudan.

A year ago, the UK, along with Sierra Leone, brought a resolution to the UN Security Council. This would have brought forward concrete measures to protect civilians if it were not so cynically vetoed by Russia six months ago. We brought international partners to London to host the London Sudan Conference to build consensus around strengthening humanitarian access and ending the war. On the 30th of October, we called an emergency UN Security Council session condemning the assault on El Fasher by the RSS and its devastating impact on the civilian population.

We led a press statement to maintain the spotlight on the situation and pressure on the ISF to de-escalate. In line with UN Security Council Resolution 2736 on Saturday, the Foreign Secretary announced a further £5 million in aid in response to the situation in El Fasher fascia, which will provide life saving food and health assistance, as well as support to survivors of sexual violence. This is on top of the 23 million we have already mobilised from existing budgets through partners such as the ICRC and the Sudan Humanitarian Fund.

We are providing £120 million this year to the crisis in Sudan, and both the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have been clear that this funding is protected. We will keep

**** Possible New Speaker ****

working at every level to bring this horrific conflict to an end. Salford Foreign Secretary.

**** Possible New Speaker ****

Salford Foreign Secretary. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for granting this urgent question. The atrocities of recent days,
12:43
None Portrait
-

atrocities of recent days, including in El Fasher, are beyond horrifying the suffering inflicted on the Sudanese people by this war is an affront to humanity. Red lines have been crossed in the prosecution of this conflict that cannot be allowed to stand, especially by the UK, as a penholder on Sudan at the UN Security Council. Britain needs to use its influence to coordinate a robust and stronger international action. To tighten the screws on the warring parties, press them into a ceasefire and end this barbaric conflict.

The government must go further and upgrade our support for those documenting evidence of these heinous crimes. So can the Minister confirm that that will happen? Will the Minister introduce more hard hitting sanctions on the key operators and take concerted action to deter entities, individuals and businesses who support continues to sustain this awful conflict? Our actions of this nature are being coordinated with international partners, and what progress has been made to build up organic civilian political groups so that Sudan can move back to a civilian government after the ceasefire.

It is essential that we have a credible day after plan as soon as possible on the dire humanitarian crisis. Are the change in territorial positions of the warring parties having an impact on the ability to deliver aid, and if so, what is the plan to counter this? We note the announcement earlier this month, I think last week in Bahrain, of the £5 million being provided for emergency aid, support for the survivors of sexual violence in El Fasher, the whole House will recognise the importance of getting aid to them.

So what can the Minister say about the delivery of this urgently needed aid, and how is that happening? What discussions has the UK government had with the Sudan Quad in recent days, and how does the Minister define the UK's relationship with the quad now and moving forward? Can the Minister also share his latest assessment of the region's wider ability to manage the fallout from this terrible conflict, and whether the government has carried out an assessment of what different outcomes from this conflict would mean for the security of the Red sea.

Mr. speaker, those carrying out the atrocities in Sudan need to know that the whole world is watching them. They can see what

**** Possible New Speaker ****

they are doing and that there will be consequences. Minister. I thank the right hon. Lady for
12:45
12:46
12:47
12:48
12:49
12:50
12:51
12:51
12:52
12:53
12:53
12:54
12:55
12:55
12:56
12:56
12:57
12:58
12:58
12:59
13:00
13:00
13:01
13:01
13:02
13:02
13:03
13:03
13:04
Hamish Falconer Portrait Mr Hamish Falconer MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Lincoln, Labour)
-
-
Madam Deputy Speaker. It is absolutely vital that external weaponry does not flow into Sudan at this time, as I wouldn't wish to characterise my remarks to the Liberal Democrat spokesperson earlier as dismissing his concerns. It was an effort to be precise about what it is we're talking about. So we're talking about a seat belt. The article in question, a seat belt, a target practice item and components of an engine. Now, those components of an engine may have been licensed at a previous time.

Licences which since would not apply in order to get into Sudan. But it is. We need to be clear. These are neither bombs nor bullets, nor are they items which are likely to be irreplaceable. We are looking very carefully at these reports, but given the given the tone of some of the commentary in this House, I want to be absolutely clear what it is that we're talking about. Our arms export licensing regime is some of the strongest in the world, and I recognise the strength of concerns in the House.

But we have a duty and an obligation to be precise about what it is we are talking about. These are not arms, as the public would understand them. It is right that the hon. Member raises the questions of the engine components, and we are looking carefully at the reports about when they may have been transferred. But let us not be under any illusions that the components for that engine are unlikely to be a substantial contribution to the absolutely devastating violence that we see.
13:05
13:06
13:06
13:07
13:08
13:08
13:08
13:09
13:10
13:10
13:11
13:11
13:12
13:12
13:12
13:13
13:13
13:14
13:14
13:15
13:15
13:17
13:17
13:17
13:18
13:18
13:18
13:18
13:19
13:19
13:20
13:21
13:21
13:21
13:22
13:23
13:24
13:25
13:26
Bridget Phillipson Portrait Rt Hon Bridget Phillipson MP, The Secretary of State for Education (Houghton and Sunderland South, Labour)
-
-
statement on The House on this government's plans to renew the national curriculum to secure for every child an education steeped in our rich history, ready to shape our country into the 2030s and beyond. And as I outline the future of our national curriculum, I do so in full knowledge of its past. Because, Madam Deputy Speaker, I was in the first wave to benefit from a process begun by Jim Callaghan with his great education debate, his ambition for a curriculum of universal high standards.

And when Lord Baker introduced a national curriculum for the very first time in 1988, my generation secured a common entitlement to share in the core wisdom that we as a nation value most. Since then, our national curriculum has evolved under successive governments, and now it must evolve again because the world is changing as never before. Artificial intelligence, machine learning Hyperconnectivity where once our young people had to compete, compete locally, the playing field is now global. They are stepping into a world of huge opportunity, but also a world of immense change and challenge, a muddy landscape of misinformation and social media.

And our current curriculum no longer arms them for this brave new world. It lacks the breadth of knowledge and skills our children need, not only for the jobs that they will go on to do, but for the lives they will go on to lead. We need more and they need more because our curriculum sits at the centre of an education system that has forgotten too many children, white working class children, children with send the children who are bright but bored, not engaged as they should be, not achieving as they should.

And that's why I ask Professor Becky Francis and an external panel of experts to review our curriculum and assessment and qualifications to equip every child, every young person, to achieve and thrive. And I want to thank Professor Francis and the whole panel for their hard work and expertise. The Review's final report and our government response have both been published today, and Madam Deputy Speaker will publish a revised curriculum in 2027 for first teaching in 2028. We'll update our GCSEs for first teaching from 2029, and we're planning to deliver new VE level qualifications from 2027.

This government is facing the future, boldly taking our education system from narrow to broad. And that means a curriculum rich in knowledge, strong on skills and in everything that we do, uncompromising on high standards, grounding every child's education in the most important knowledge and disciplinary skills to master every subject more specific on the most important content to sharpen understanding. More coherent in how different subjects slot together to spark connections. A truly world leading curriculum. Supportive, challenging. Urging all children on and be in no doubt I will put high standards to work in the service of every child's future.

And Madam Deputy Speaker, our work starts in the early years through our Best Start family hubs. We're supporting parents as their children take those first steps into learning. We're setting the foundations for their futures, developing language early, expanding the reach of maths champions, introducing children to number early on. And as children arrive at school, they'll begin to master those core subjects, the ones that unlock the rest of the curriculum reading, especially whether it's step by step instructions for a science experiment or a question in maths, reading is essential in every subject.

It adds texture, colour and context, like in history, reading letters from soldiers on the front line of the Second World War. We've got to build that right from the beginning. And that's why we're introducing new training for reception teachers to meet our ambition for 90% of children to reach the expected standard in the phonics screening check. And we'll double our reading ambition for all teacher training for children who need the most help. Reaching more than 1200 primary schools. And we'll train more teachers in 600 schools to help them teach reading fluency.

But Madam Deputy Speaker, together with reading, must come. Writing and speaking. Because in life we all need to express ourselves clearly and confidently, out loud or in writing. In July, we published the new writing framework evidence based Ways to Teach Writing to children. And now we're going further, improving the primary writing assessment to focus on fluency. And we'll design a new Oracy framework supporting children to become assured and fluent speakers and listeners by the time they leave primary school. But Madam Deputy Speaker, too many children are falling through the gaps in that jump to secondary school.

And that includes reading, learning not just to read, but to read well. Must be the entitlement of every child. It is the single most powerful driver of life chances that we have. Yet too often, problems that begin in primary are left adrift in those first years of secondary, the focus fades just when it should intensify. So to make sure every school is on top of this, we're introducing a new statutory reading test for all pupils in year eight. We'll expect all schools to assess progress in writing and maths in year eight as well.

Checking excellence in those vital skills and our new Rise Key Stage three Alliance will spread excellence from one school to the next. All children will benefit from a new combined oracy reading and writing framework embedded across the entire secondary curriculum, and the brand new digital version of the National Curriculum will also help teachers strengthen those connections across subjects and stages. And on these firm foundations, we'll build choice and breadth as children move into secondary school. And that means preparing them to tell fact from fiction, truth from lies, right from wrong.

Our young people need that rich core of knowledge and skills, the high standards that I am determined to drive. But we must take literacy further and wider. The Reformed English Programme of Study and English language GCSE will open students up to a wide range of texts to see how arguments are made across different types of media, to discover the power of persuasion and emotive language in different contexts, and to understand how they can be used not just to educate, but to manipulate.

Exploited by dark forces online to spread lies and sow division. That's why we're building media literacy, preparing young people not to consume passively, but to engage critically, to recognise and reject disinformation. But we're not just boosting media literacy, digital literacy as well, through a reformed computing curriculum to navigate the opportunities and challenges of AI and much more. And financial literacy. To empower young people to make informed choices about money saving and investing. All of our plans to take education from narrow to broad.

Madam Deputy Speaker, we need a fundamental shift in what we value in our secondary schools. And for that, we need a fundamental shift in how we measure attainment and progress to deliver the breadth that we want to see. And that is why today I can announce that we will consult on an improved version of progress eight and attainment eight, because the current structure holds us back on subjects that strengthen our economy and our society, and too often it restricts choice, turning children away from subjects like drama, art and design and music.

Madam Deputy Speaker, our creative industries are a source of such national pride. But as Ed Sheeran has said so powerfully, we can't continue to lead on the world stage without a broad base in our schools. At home, the arts should be for all, not just a lucky few. And we will revitalise arts education, putting it back at the heart of a rich and broad curriculum, and to encourage variety to flourish in our curriculum, we will measure what matters, balancing breadth with a strong academic core, a mastery of the fundamentals combined with student choice, academic excellence on a broad scale in every classroom, art studio, dance hall and science lab, and in those science labs, a new triple science entitlement will give all young people the best opportunity to get to get into exciting new careers in clean energy, digital technologies, and life sciences, building the strongest Stem foundations.

Combining with the new computing GCSE for students to excel in the new advanced digital and AI qualifications. Addressing critical skills gaps in the tech sector. Going further to a new enrichment entitlement for all. Civic engagement, culture, nature and adventure sport. Deepening children's investment in their time at school. But Madam Deputy Speaker, it can't begin and end in our schools. It must stretch from the best Start in Life programme through to the post 16 White Paper. And last month I updated this House on our plan for skills, and much of that is about supporting young people to build on this new curriculum, to make their post 16 choices from a clear landscape of A-levels, T levels and new A-levels.

Clearer pathways through learning and into work, the skills to find a good job and get on in life. Madam Deputy Speaker, Professor Francis and the expert panel have delivered a strong set of recommendations upon which we will now build. Our new curriculum will be an expression of who we are as a modern nation. The knowledge, skills and values and the ideas that will bring us together and take us forward, building on the past to shape the future. Madam Deputy Speaker, for families who have withdrawn from education, the national curriculum will be a chance to rediscover the power of learning once again and for every child across the country.

An invitation not just to share in our national story, but to write the next chapter. And I commend this

**** Possible New Speaker ****

statement to the House. I call the Shadow Secretary of State, Laura Trott.
13:36
Laura Trott Portrait Rt Hon Laura Trott MP (Sevenoaks, Conservative)
-
-


**** Possible New Speaker ****

State, Laura Trott. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of her statement. I also thank Professor Francis for her work and any criticism of today's announcement is directed not at her, but at the government's response to her review. Madam Deputy Speaker, I do welcome some of the measures announced today. I am pleased that the government has not moved away from our phonics reforms. In 2012, only 58% of six year olds met the expected reading standard.

Today, that figure stands over 80%. Primary school children in England and are the best readers in the Western world. I also note the introduction of a year eight reading test, which I support in principle. Properly implemented, this could help ensure pupils maintain strong reading skills into secondary school. However, the review recommends maths and English tests. So I ask why is the Secretary of State not making maths statutory? However, Madam Deputy Speaker, I have serious concerns that the proposed wider changes will water down standards, lower expectations and divert teaching time away from the core education, which gives every child the best chance to get on in life? The temptation to make the curriculum a repository for every social concern is ever present.

But when everything is a priority, nothing is. If we keep adding and adding, we risk diluting the very core that underpins academic success. There are many things that the government talk about adding in today, but there is little honesty about what will be squeezed out as a result. I hope in her response, the Secretary of State will be honest about what is being taken out, particularly of the primary curriculum. On the specific points. Firstly, the review states that it is vital that schools and colleges are able to innovate and that teachers have flexibility to extend the curriculum.

I agree, but Mr. Speaker. Sorry, Madam Deputy Speaker, the government's disastrous schools bill does precisely the opposite by making the national curriculum compulsory for all schools and stripping away teachers freedom to adapt to the needs of pupils. It is nonsensical to talk about innovation while stifling it. She should abandon her assault on academy freedoms. Second, the proposal to reduce the number of exams by 10% on the grounds that I quote only Singapore does more well. Madam Deputy Speaker Singapore also tops the international league tables in maths and literacy.

Surely we should be learning from Singapore's education system, not disparaging it. Thirdly, the abolition of the English Baccalaureate, which we put in place in order to give all children the chance to learn an academic core. Scrapping the EBacc is a backwards step. It will steer pupils away from history and languages, leaving fewer children with an understanding of our national story and fewer equipped to engage in a global economy. The irony is not lost on me that the education secretary herself studied history and languages.

Why is she pulling up the drawbridge behind her and denying more young people the very opportunities that she benefited from? Fourth, her new compulsory citizenship curriculum for primary schools, forcing primary schools to use precious time to teach deprived pupils about media literacy and climate change before ensuring that they can read, write and add up is not going to encourage social mobility, which I thought that they cared about, and it is not clear at all how they're going to make time for this.

What aspects of children's education are being sacrificed for the Secretary of State's political posturing? Yes, Madam Deputy Speaker. As for new lessons on digital literacy and misinformation, I feel like a broken record, the education secretary said on the radio this morning. And I quote, I am worried about children spending hours in their bedroom looking at poisonous material that drips hate in their ears. I agree. The right hon. Lady is right and I have a very easy solution. Get smartphones out of schools and ban all under 16 seconds from social media.

That doesn't need a lesson. It's something they have the power to do right now to help children with the vile content they are seeing online. The behaviour issues that we are seeing in schools, social media driven knife crime affects on attainment. I think the Education Secretary needs a lesson on social media harms, not children. Finally, Madam Deputy Speaker, her changes to school accountability. Professor Francis was clear in her report do not change progress eight she wrote and I quote, we are strongly committed to the progress eight measure.

It supports both student progress and curriculum breadth. We are therefore recommending making no changes yet. This is the review. Yet the Education Secretary has overruled the review, her own independent review. Why? We've been here before. Under the last Labour government, standards fell, ambition shrank and the attainment gap widened. The number of pupils studying core academic subjects halved. Britain slid down international rankings. It took conservative reformers like Michael Gove and Nick cave to turn that around with evidence driven policy.
13:42
13:42
Laura Trott Portrait Rt Hon Laura Trott MP (Sevenoaks, Conservative)
-
-
Madam Deputy Speaker, the right hon. Lady said at the start that any criticism levelled was levelled my way. But then she went on to criticise many of the recommendations in the review. Has she even bothered to read it at all? And she comes here time and again, every single time, full of sound and fury and signifying nothing. And yes, Shakespeare is here to stay on the national curriculum. She tries to paint the report and our response as undoing the achievements in schools.

And nothing could be further from the truth. We are not abandoning it. We are building on it with a curriculum that will allow all young people to achieve high standards. Core academic subjects alongside the breadth that they deserve, and our reforms have higher standards right at their heart. They will raise standards of pupils right across the curriculum, including in speaking and listening, reading, writing and in maths. And our improved progress eight and attainment eight measures will ensure that students retain a strong academic core, but with a breadth to expand into further study.

And she might oppose the changes that we are setting out. But today they have won support from the Sutton Trust, from employers like the CBI and from Sir Hamid Patel, the wonderful leader at Star Academies, who backs the changes that we are making that they signal both a welcome emphasis on creativity, reflecting amazing career opportunities, but with continued affirmation that success in English and maths is critical for everyone's life chances. And I couldn't agree more. Madam Deputy Speaker, we know that it is important that our new measures do
13:45
13:45
Darren Paffey Portrait Darren Paffey MP (Southampton Itchen, Labour)
-
-


**** Possible New Speaker ****

chances for all of our children. Darren Paffey.

**** Possible New Speaker ****

Can I welcome a curriculum review that will break down barriers? It opens up so much of barriers? It opens up so much of the digital and financial literacy that they seem to think is unimportant to all, but we know unimportant to all, but we know will raise aspirations by equipping young people from all backgrounds. I have two questions that I would I have two questions that I would like to ask the Secretary of State. One is on examinations. We know that this country has an examination overload, and I welcome the reduction, the proposed reduction by 10%.

The experts do. I would listen to them before I would listen to them before I listen to the frontbench any day. Their frontbench. But would the if Their frontbench. But would the if you listen you'll hear it. But would the Secretary of State please would the Secretary of State please look at the overall load throughout school, not just GCSE year, and make comments about the introduction of an additional year introduction of an additional year eight diagnostic and how she sees that panning out. And my second question, and I declare an interest as the vice chair of the Modern Languages APPG, we broadly welcome the government response, which is going further than the recommendations that are in there recommendations that are in there and the recognition of importance.

While it is right to scrap the EBacc, which is never really been EBacc, which is never really been taken seriously by professionals, could the Secretary of State please say how she would stop uptake from dropping immediately? What other incentives will there be and how will she? When will she deliver the feasibility review of the very welcome new qualification that is being based on the expertise of languages ladders, which I know the sector welcomes?
13:47
Bridget Phillipson Portrait Rt Hon Bridget Phillipson MP, The Secretary of State for Education (Houghton and Sunderland South, Labour)
-
-
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Where it comes to languages, I share his determination to make sure that more young people have the chance to study modern languages. There is a particular challenge that we face around transition from primary to secondary. The review makes that clear and that is one area for further action. But where it came to the EBacc, I'm afraid it didn't have the outcome that was intended in terms of improving take up of languages. We're no further forward than we were in 2010.

In terms of percentage figures. We aren't any, we aren't any. We aren't any further forward. We are seeing increases in the numbers of teachers coming forward to train in modern languages, and that is welcome. I also believe that a new stepped qualification will provide a useful route for more young people to study languages in order to move on to GCSE, and when it comes to exams and the time, particularly at GCSE, Ofqual have been clear that 10% is more than achievable.

That amounts to two and a half to three hours achievable in reducing the time spent in exams, while at no point compromising the integrity of the high quality and standards of the system. And we will work with the regulator in order to make that happen. We are an international outlier when it comes to the amount of time that our children spend in exams at GCSE, and in terms of the reading test, we will introduce a statutory reading test to make sure that problems are identified and children are supported, and that will run alongside diagnostic maths and writing tests as well, to ensure that children are also making progress in those key areas.



**** Possible New Speaker ****

But if you can't read well, you can't do anything else. The Liberal Democrat spokesperson Munira Wilson.
13:49
Munira Wilson Portrait Munira Wilson MP (Twickenham, Liberal Democrat)
-
-


**** Possible New Speaker ****

spokesperson Munira Wilson. Madam Deputy Speaker, I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of her statement, and I thank Professor Becky Francis for her important work on this review. I welcome much of what has been announced today. As with free school meals and maintenance grants, the Secretary of State seems to enjoy adopting many Liberal Democrat policies. I particularly welcome, Madam Deputy Speaker, more enrichment activities and citizenship education, including financial and media literacy. But today, many headteachers across the country will be asking about the how.

How will we fund this when budgets are already overstretched? With specialist subject recruitment targets missed year after year, including in physics, computer science and music, how will we find the subject specialist to deliver this new curriculum, not least the right to triple science at GCSE? Can the Secretary of State set out how she will protect time for other subjects, given the welcome new enrichment, entitlement entitlement? Has she considered using money from falling school rolls to perhaps fund a longer school day? Turning to the Secretary of State's claims about breadth, instead of scrapping the EBacc, did she consider broadening it? And having gone explicitly against Professor Francis s recommendation to leave progress eight unchanged, the government actually risks narrowing choice.

The new progress eight model pits languages against creative arts for the first time, and these two changes put together could mean the death of languages in our state schools. This review missed the opportunity to broaden A-levels. The UK is an outlier in this regard. Combined with the defunding of the International Baccalaureate in state schools. I worry, Madam Deputy Speaker, that this Secretary of State's legacy will be that true breadth actually becomes the preserve of the privately educated.
13:50
Bridget Phillipson Portrait Rt Hon Bridget Phillipson MP, The Secretary of State for Education (Houghton and Sunderland South, Labour)
-
-
Madam Deputy Speaker, I will respond to the questions that the hon. Lady asks and the many constructive questions that she posed around triple science. I do think it is important that all young people have the chance to study triple science. We will work with the sector around how we implement that. We are seeing big increases in the numbers of teachers in initial teacher training, including in physics. But there is more to do, and that's why we'll do this carefully and with the sector.

But I don't think we can continue to defend a position where young people from disadvantaged backgrounds don't always have the chance to study triple science, because we know if they have that opportunity, they are more likely to be able to then go on to study A-level science subjects. And I think there is an important social justice consideration that we have to take into account here. And teacher numbers are up and continue to go up. And teacher retention numbers this year are also moving well in the right direction.

On enrichment. I do think that all young children and young people should have equal opportunities to development, opportunities to help them to succeed. That is why we are setting out a core enrichment offer that every school and college should aim to provide. This will be part of our enrichment framework that we will develop with a group of experts across education, youth, sports and arts sectors to set out benchmarks around how schools and colleges can build that. I know that many schools already do this very well, and we want to build on the best success that's out there, but we'll also support that wider provision through, for example, dormant assets, our music hubs, PPE and school sports partnerships and much more besides.

But I do think this is a real opportunity to deliver a step change in how we ensure that all children get a firm foundation in the basics and a wide and broad education. And I would encourage the hon. Lady to look at the document that we set out, explaining the progressive changes that we are recommending, and that we will go on to consult on Sureena Brackenridge. Thank you, Madam.

**** Possible New Speaker ****

Deputy Speaker. Be in no doubt. The difference that this will make, because when our young people make, because when our young people succeed, society as a whole succeeds. So I wish to put on
13:53
13:53
13:54
13:54
Feed Live - Click to view video
Return to start of debate - Return to top of page