Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps her Department has taken to improve learning outcomes for boys.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government is committed to improving outcomes for all pupils no matter their gender, and raising attainment is a priority. The Government has successfully driven up standards over the past decade. In 2010, only 68% of schools were rated good or outstanding compared to 87% today.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, evidence from the Education Endowment Foundation, Star Assessments and Renaissance Learning shows attainment for all pupils, including boys, has fallen compared to pre-pandemic levels. In response to this, the Department is taking action to support schools, increasing core schools funding in the Autumn Statement 2022. The additional funding will mean that the core schools’ budget is a net £2 billion higher than published at the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021 in each of 2023/24 and 2024/25.
The Department continues to deliver the proposals set out in the Schools White Paper, which aim to improve outcomes for all pupils, including boys. This includes providing an excellent teacher for every pupil, securing high standards in curriculum, behaviour and attendance, and providing targeted support for every pupil who needs it.
For teachers, the Department remains committed to delivering £30,000 starting salaries to attract and retain the very best teachers. In addition, the Department will deliver 500,000 teacher training and development opportunities by the end of 2024 and has recently announced a £181 million incentive package for Initial Teacher Training. This package of support will secure more high quality teaching, which is the single most important in school factor on attainment.
The Department continues to promote the use of phonics and supports schools to offer a high quality, knowledge rich curriculum, both of which are critical to ensuring boys are able to achieve well in later life. In addition, the Government has established the Oak National Academy, setting aside up to £43 million over the next three years to support it to provide high quality resources to schools.
The Department continues to support schools through the Pupil Premium, National Tutoring Programme and Recovery Premium. More than £1 billion is available to support tutoring up to 2023/24, with a further £1 billion of Recovery Premium funding in the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years.
The Government remains committed to raising overall attainment, and reducing the number of pupils in underperforming schools, by creating a stronger and fairer school system. The Department will continue to support schools, trusts and authorities to deliver excellent outcomes for every pupil.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department plans to take to improve learning outcomes for boys.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government is committed to improving outcomes for all pupils no matter their gender, and raising attainment is a priority. The Government has successfully driven up standards over the past decade. In 2010, only 68% of schools were rated good or outstanding compared to 87% today.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, evidence from the Education Endowment Foundation, Star Assessments and Renaissance Learning shows attainment for all pupils, including boys, has fallen compared to pre-pandemic levels. In response to this, the Department is taking action to support schools, increasing core schools funding in the Autumn Statement 2022. The additional funding will mean that the core schools’ budget is a net £2 billion higher than published at the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021 in each of 2023/24 and 2024/25.
The Department continues to deliver the proposals set out in the Schools White Paper, which aim to improve outcomes for all pupils, including boys. This includes providing an excellent teacher for every pupil, securing high standards in curriculum, behaviour and attendance, and providing targeted support for every pupil who needs it.
For teachers, the Department remains committed to delivering £30,000 starting salaries to attract and retain the very best teachers. In addition, the Department will deliver 500,000 teacher training and development opportunities by the end of 2024 and has recently announced a £181 million incentive package for Initial Teacher Training. This package of support will secure more high quality teaching, which is the single most important in school factor on attainment.
The Department continues to promote the use of phonics and supports schools to offer a high quality, knowledge rich curriculum, both of which are critical to ensuring boys are able to achieve well in later life. In addition, the Government has established the Oak National Academy, setting aside up to £43 million over the next three years to support it to provide high quality resources to schools.
The Department continues to support schools through the Pupil Premium, National Tutoring Programme and Recovery Premium. More than £1 billion is available to support tutoring up to 2023/24, with a further £1 billion of Recovery Premium funding in the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years.
The Government remains committed to raising overall attainment, and reducing the number of pupils in underperforming schools, by creating a stronger and fairer school system. The Department will continue to support schools, trusts and authorities to deliver excellent outcomes for every pupil.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to ukactive’s press released entitled Up to £57 million investment received for schools to open their sports facilities to support communities to be more active, published on 8 March, what steps (a) her Department is taking to deliver and (b) schools have to take to apply for that funding.
Answered by Nick Gibb
On 8 March 2023, the Department announced that up to £57 million has been allocated up to March 2025 for Phase 3 of the Opening School Facilities programme to allow selected schools around England to open their sports facilities in the evenings, at weekends and during the holidays.
The Department has awarded a contract to a consortium led by Active Partnerships, who are identifying schools across England where the funding will have a positive effect on getting the least active pupils and wider community users to participate in more sport.
Active Partnerships will support schools to create new partnerships with sport national governing bodies and local sport providers to broaden the extracurricular opportunities being delivered in the selected schools’ sports facilities.
The Department can confirm that in year one, Active Nottinghamshire have already identified 19 schools in Nottinghamshire to benefit from the programme.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department will take steps to increase the levels of recruitment of male primary school teachers.
Answered by Jonathan Gullis
The Department wants to attract and retain diverse, talented teachers from all backgrounds, and this includes recruiting male teachers.
The recruitment of primary school teachers remains strong. In 2021/22, 136% of the Postgraduate Initial Teacher Training target was achieved in primary. This target has been exceeded in four of the last five years.
In 2021, the Department’s new application service for initial teacher training (ITT) in England, ‘Apply for teacher training’, was rolled out nationally. It has been designed to be as user-friendly as possible and has been extensively tested with a diverse range of potential applicants to ensure it helps remove barriers to great teachers applying for ITT courses.
The Department’s recruitment campaigns are targeted at audiences of students, recent graduates, and potential career changers, regardless of their identity or background. We take every effort to ensure that our advertising is fully reflective of this across the full range of marketing materials used.
Since September 2020, all courses offered by ITT providers have been aligned to a mandatory core content framework, published in November 2019. The framework sets out a minimum entitlement for all trainee teachers.
In September 2021, the early career framework was implemented, entitling early career teachers to a further 2 years of development support and training.
Moreover, the reforms outlined in the Government’s response to the ITT market review will help us meet the commitment made in the teacher recruitment and retention strategy to create a world-class teacher development system by transforming the training and support teachers receive at every stage of their career.
To ensure that all children and young people get the very best education, it is essential that the Department has a workforce of well-trained and well-supported teachers, with the expertise needed to deliver great teaching every day.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including information on endometriosis in the RSE curriculum.
Answered by Robin Walker
From September 2020, relationships education became compulsory for all primary school-aged pupils, relationships and sex education compulsory for all secondary school-aged pupils, and health education compulsory for all pupils in state-funded schools in England.
Statutory guidance on the new curriculum has been published and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education. This guidance states that pupils should be taught key facts about the menstrual cycle, including what is an average period, the range of menstrual products and implications for emotional and physical health.
To support schools further the department developed teacher training modules which are freely available to download from GOV.UK. We worked closely with Endometriosis UK when drawing up the ‘changing adolescent body’ module which references endometriosis.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department has taken to tackle educational inequalities for disadvantaged white boys, following the report of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparity published in April 2021 and the Education Select Committee Report entitled The forgotten: how White working-class pupils have been let down, and how to change it, published in June 2021.
Answered by Robin Walker
The Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities was launched to conduct a detailed, data-led examination of inequality across the entire population, and to set out a positive agenda for change. We thank Dr Tony Sewell and each of the commissioners for generously giving their time to lead this important piece of work. It is now right that the government considers their recommendations in detail and assesses the implications for future government policy. The government remains fully committed to building a fairer Britain and taking the action needed to address disparities wherever they exist.
We also thank the Education Select Committee for its report and have been considering its findings and recommendations carefully. We will publish the government’s response to the report in due course.
The government is committed to levelling up across the UK and is funding particularly disadvantaged areas through the National Funding Formula, Pupil Premium and our Schools Capital programmes.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of men in primary teaching.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government aims to attract and retain highly skilled and talented individuals, including men, through effective pay structures, financial incentives, and by ensuring that teaching remains a sustainable and rewarding career.
The teacher pay increases in recent years are making a substantial difference to the competitiveness of the early career pay offer. This academic year, starting salaries have already increased by 5.5%, with the majority of other teachers receiving 2.75%. The Department is also committed to increasing starting salaries nationally to £30,000.
Alongside this, the Department is introducing a new application service for teacher training, which has been designed and extensively tested with a diverse range of potential applicants, to ensure it helps remove barriers to potentially great teachers, including men, applying for initial teacher training (ITT) courses.
The Department’s ‘Every Lesson Shapes A Life’ recruitment campaign is targeted at audiences of students, recent graduates, and potential career changers inclusive of all genders, and we take every effort to ensure that our advertising is fully reflective of this across the full range of marketing materials we use.
As well as recruiting new teachers, it is important the Department retains male teachers in primary schools. To do this, we are working to make sure that all new entrants to teacher training have the best possible start to the early stage of their career.
This is why, from September 2020 onwards, new trainee teachers will be entitled to at least three years of evidence-based professional development and support, starting with ITT, based on the new ITT Core Content Framework (2019). The new ITT Core Content Framework sets out a core minimum entitlement for all trainees describing the fundamental knowledge and skills that all new entrants to the profession need to effectively teach and support all children.
Following on from their training, from this September all new teachers will be entitled to two years of funded high-quality professional development including the support of a dedicated mentor, through the Early Career Framework reforms. Schools will receive additional funding so new teachers can spend time away from the classroom for this extra training and mentoring. Together, these reforms will ensure that all new teachers will develop the skills, expertise and confidence they need to thrive in the classroom.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on what date all university students will be able to return to campus and resume in-person teaching during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Following the review into when the remaining higher education students can return to in-person teaching and learning, the government has announced that the remaining students should return to in-person teaching no earlier than 17 May 2021, alongside Step 3 of the roadmap. Students and institutions will be given at least a week’s notice of any further return in accordance with the timing of Step 3 of the roadmap.
The government roadmap is designed to maintain a cautious approach to the easing of restrictions to reduce public health risks and ensure that we can maintain progress towards full reopening. However, the government recognises the difficulties and disruption that this may cause for many students and their families and that is why the government is making a further £15 million of additional student hardship funding available for this academic year 2020/21. In total we have made an additional £85 million of funding available for student hardship.
We are supporting universities to provide regular twice weekly asymptomatic testing for all students and staff on-site and, from May, at home. This will help break chains of transmission of the virus.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his policy is on school engagement with (a) race equality and (b) other charities.
Answered by Nick Gibb
External agencies, including charities, can provide speakers, tools, and resources to enhance and supplement a school’s curriculum and wider activities. It is important when using external agencies that schools take particular care that the agency and any materials used are appropriate and in line with their legal duties.
Schools must not promote partisan political views and should ensure the balanced treatment of political issues. Schools should also ensure that speakers, tools and resources do not undermine the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding allocated to the pupil premium to cover a potential increase in the number of pupils becoming eligible for free school meals in 2021.
Answered by Nick Gibb
On 17 December, the Government announced that the pupil premium will continue in 2021-22 with the same per pupil funding rates as in 2020-21. The rates are £1,345 per eligible primary pupil, and £955 in secondary.
We will use the October 2020 census to calculate individual school-level allocations. This will ensure that children who have become eligible for free school meals as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak will attract pupil premium funding from April 2021. As a result, pupil premium funding is expected to increase to over £2.5 billion in 2021-22.
We are committed to levelling up opportunities to make sure everyone has a fair chance to realise their potential and no-one is left behind. The pupil premium furthers this objective by helping schools improve the academic attainment and wider outcomes of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.