Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government when the final report of the Curriculum and Assessment Review will be published.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review’s final report and recommendations will be published imminently. The government’s response will be published alongside this.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Curriculum and Assessment Review will take autistic children into account.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review is looking closely at the key challenges to attainment for young people and the barriers which hold children back from the opportunities and life chances they deserve.

Throughout the Review, the impact and experiences of children and young people, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds and with special educational needs, are being considered to ensure the curriculum works for all children.

The Review’s final report and recommendations will be published shortly. The government will then consider the recommendations and its response.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of rejoining Creative Europe on financial growth.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Government has no plans to rejoin Creative Europe. This position is informed by indicative analysis of the value for money of associating with the programme.

We are working with our world-leading sectors to ensure that they can continue to promote growth and enrich lives, at home and abroad. This includes through the Creative Industries Sector Plan, which is key to driving long-term economic growth across the United Kingdom; the new £75 million Screen Growth Package; the scaled up £18 million per year UK Global Screen Fund (2026–2029); and by committing up to £30 million for our Music Growth Package.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the relationship between (1) the level of initial teacher training bursaries, and (2) targets for teacher numbers, for each subject area; and what criteria are used to assess those targets.

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. Therefore, they are reviewed annually to take account of the need for trainee teachers by subject. Recruitment against the postgraduate ITT targets set by the Teacher Workforce Model is one factor that influences the level of bursaries, but we also take account of the impact of the economy and graduate labour market on ITT recruitment.

​The Teacher Workforce Model is a national, stocks and flows model covering all state-funded primary and secondary schools, academies, and free schools in England. The model estimates the number of qualified teachers required for both primary and each secondary subject; and by considering the number of teachers that will leave or enter service in future, estimates the postgraduate ITT targets needed to supply sufficient teachers. The ITT Census is published in December each year to provide the numbers and characteristics of new entrants to ITT, and compares recruitment against the postgraduate ITT targets.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what are the absolute numbers of specialist teachers in academies and maintained schools for each subject for each year from Key Stages 1 to 4 inclusive.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

​​Data on the number of specialist teachers in state-funded secondary mainstream schools is published in the School workforce in England statistical publication. Figures for each subject for each year can be found below. This data has been available since 5 June 2025.

​Information on subjects taught is not collected from primary schools.

Headcount of qualified specialist teachers holding a qualification in a related subject by subjects taught and Key Stage, in England for 2024/25:

Source: School Workforce Census November 2024.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Chapman of Darlington on 11 November (HL Deb col 141), what plans they have for the form of modernisation at the British Council.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)

I refer the Noble Lord to the answer provided on 24 June 2025 to Question HL8297.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government, in relation to their curriculum and assessment review, what will be the status of arts subjects compared to other subjects within the Progress 8 accountability framework.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The government is revitalising arts education as part of the reformed national curriculum. Our proposed improvements to the ‘Progress 8’ model would recognise the value of subjects, including the arts, which strengthen our economy and society, and the importance of a broad pre-16 curriculum.

The government will consult on the proposed Progress 8 model. This proposed model includes English and mathematics slots, which follow the same rules as the current Progress 8, and two new science slots. There are four breadth slots, two of which must be filled by GCSE (or relevant AS level) qualifications from two of three categories: humanities, creative and languages. The creative category includes art and design, music, drama, dance, design and technology. The department will consult on an additional category for science subjects. We are interested in views on the impact of these breadth slots on pupil subject choices for GCSEs and technical qualifications.

The final breadth slots will take the two highest point scores in any two subjects, including English language or literature (if not counted in the English slot), other GCSE qualifications, or any technical awards from the department’s approved list. These final two slots will operate in the same way as the current open slots.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to make recording studios eligible for the retail, hospitality and leisure business rates relief scheme from April 2026.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

As announced at the Budget in October 2024, the Government will introduce permanently lower business rates multipliers for qualifying retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values below £500,000 from April 2026.

Since these new multipliers were announced in the previous Budget, the Government has been clear that the intention was for their scope to broadly reflect the scope of the current 40 per cent RHL business rates relief, which is centred around RHL properties that are “reasonably accessible to visiting members of the public”.

On 16 October 2025, the Government published legislation and accompanying guidance detailing the eligibility criteria for the new multipliers. As music studios are not generally reasonably accessible to visiting members of the public, the Government has no plans to make recording studios eligible for the new multipliers.

Nevertheless, the Government values the music industry and understands that recording studios are a vital part of the infrastructure of the industry. The Music Growth Package will see Government funding for the sector more than doubled from £4.1 million to up to £10 million a year for the next three years.