Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that exam boards consistently provide current and past exam papers in accessible formats for candidates with vision impairment.
Answered by Nick Gibb
This is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have asked its Chief Regulator, Dr Jo Saxton, to write to the Honourable Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the implications of the needs of candidates with vision impairments for the development of electronic examinations.
Answered by Nick Gibb
This is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have asked its Chief Regulator, Dr Jo Saxton, to write to the Honourable Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) people in total and (b) employees in total have participated Skills Bootcamps; and what data she holds on how many (i) employees have been requested to participate by their employer in and (ii) employers have requested that their employees participate in Skills Bootcamps.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Data published in December 2021 shows that in the 2020/21 financial year, 2,800 learners participated in a Skills Bootcamp. Learner employment status was captured as part of an evaluation published in October 2021 and of those who reported their employment status, 61% were employed and 6% were self-employed.
In the 2021/22 financial year, there were 16,120 Skills Bootcamps learner starts. An implementation evaluation report for Skills Bootcamps delivery during financial year 2021/22, which will be published later this year, will provide further detail on learner starts, their employment status and whether a learner’s employer has contributed to the cost of the Skills Bootcamp.
The department does not hold information on how many employees have been requested to participate by their employer in a Skills Bootcamp or on how many employers have requested that their employees participate in Skills Bootcamps.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment has he made of the impact of inflation on the average incomes of (a) parents supporting 16 to19 year olds in full-time (i) further education colleges and (ii) school sixth forms, (b) adults in part-time further education and (c) post-16 apprentices; and whether his Department is taking steps to help mitigate the impact of inflation on these groups.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department has carried out research in these areas. We have collected survey data on the impact of rising cost of living on households, including whether parents have cut back on household costs to fund education-related costs, and whether affordability has impacted their child’s participation in educational activities in the 2021/22 academic year. This data relates to parents of secondary school pupils in England, but those who responded to the survey could also be parents of learners in further education. The same surveys also asked pupils and learners in post-16 education in classroom settings in England about some facets of cost of living, in particular whether the rising cost of living has led to those pupils and learners changing their plans for education or training.
The survey data from the 2021/22 academic year has been published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/parent-pupil-and-learner-panel-omnibus-surveys-for-2021-to-2022. The department intends to collect similar data for the 2022/23 academic year and we will publish this data in due course.
The government appreciates the difficulties caused by the rising cost of living and inflation, and is focused on levelling up so that young people and adults, regardless of their background or geographic location, can get the skills and training they need to secure rewarding, well-paid jobs and move up the ladder of opportunity.
The department provides a number of financial support programmes for those students who need the most help with the costs associated with staying in post-16 education. This includes extra funding to providers for disadvantaged students aged 16 to 19 with low prior attainment, or those who live in the most disadvantaged areas. In addition, the 16 to 19 bursary fund targets support towards young people who need the most help with education-related costs. In the 2022/23 academic year the department is providing £164 million to help financially disadvantaged students participate in post-16 education to cover such costs as travel, meals, books and course equipment, and over £31 million for free meals.
The department also provided over £550 million in the 2021/22 academic year to enable providers of 16 to 19 education to recruit, support, and retain disadvantaged students, and support those with special education needs and disabilities.
For those learners aged 19 and over, providers receive disadvantage uplift so that there is increased funding for learners living in deprived areas. In addition, funds are made available to providers to help adults overcome barriers to learning. This includes Learner Support, which is available to colleges and providers to support learners aged 19 and over with a specific financial hardship which is preventing them from taking part and/or continuing in learning, and learning support which is available to meet the cost of putting in place reasonable adjustments, as set out in the Equality Act 2010, for learners who have an identified learning difficulty and/or disability, to achieve their learning goal.
The department has also taken steps to improve apprentice pay, including aligning the apprentice national minimum wage rate with the national minimum wage rate for under 18s, and accepting in full the recommendations of the Independent Low Pay Commission to increase the apprentice national minimum wage by 9.7% from April 2023.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Office for National Statistics publication entitled Cost of living and higher education students, England: 24 October to 7 November 2022, published on 23 November 2022, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of conducting research into the effect of the cost of living on further education students.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department has carried out research in these areas. We have collected survey data on the impact of rising cost of living on households, including whether parents have cut back on household costs to fund education-related costs, and whether affordability has impacted their child’s participation in educational activities in the 2021/22 academic year. This data relates to parents of secondary school pupils in England, but those who responded to the survey could also be parents of learners in further education. The same surveys also asked pupils and learners in post-16 education in classroom settings in England about some facets of cost of living, in particular whether the rising cost of living has led to those pupils and learners changing their plans for education or training.
The survey data from the 2021/22 academic year has been published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/parent-pupil-and-learner-panel-omnibus-surveys-for-2021-to-2022. The department intends to collect similar data for the 2022/23 academic year and we will publish this data in due course.
The government appreciates the difficulties caused by the rising cost of living and inflation, and is focused on levelling up so that young people and adults, regardless of their background or geographic location, can get the skills and training they need to secure rewarding, well-paid jobs and move up the ladder of opportunity.
The department provides a number of financial support programmes for those students who need the most help with the costs associated with staying in post-16 education. This includes extra funding to providers for disadvantaged students aged 16 to 19 with low prior attainment, or those who live in the most disadvantaged areas. In addition, the 16 to 19 bursary fund targets support towards young people who need the most help with education-related costs. In the 2022/23 academic year the department is providing £164 million to help financially disadvantaged students participate in post-16 education to cover such costs as travel, meals, books and course equipment, and over £31 million for free meals.
The department also provided over £550 million in the 2021/22 academic year to enable providers of 16 to 19 education to recruit, support, and retain disadvantaged students, and support those with special education needs and disabilities.
For those learners aged 19 and over, providers receive disadvantage uplift so that there is increased funding for learners living in deprived areas. In addition, funds are made available to providers to help adults overcome barriers to learning. This includes Learner Support, which is available to colleges and providers to support learners aged 19 and over with a specific financial hardship which is preventing them from taking part and/or continuing in learning, and learning support which is available to meet the cost of putting in place reasonable adjustments, as set out in the Equality Act 2010, for learners who have an identified learning difficulty and/or disability, to achieve their learning goal.
The department has also taken steps to improve apprentice pay, including aligning the apprentice national minimum wage rate with the national minimum wage rate for under 18s, and accepting in full the recommendations of the Independent Low Pay Commission to increase the apprentice national minimum wage by 9.7% from April 2023.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has undertaken research into the impact of level of inflation on the incomes of (a) parents with 16-19 year olds in full-time further education, (b) adults in part-time further education and (c) post-16 apprentices.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department has carried out research in these areas. We have collected survey data on the impact of rising cost of living on households, including whether parents have cut back on household costs to fund education-related costs, and whether affordability has impacted their child’s participation in educational activities in the 2021/22 academic year. This data relates to parents of secondary school pupils in England, but those who responded to the survey could also be parents of learners in further education. The same surveys also asked pupils and learners in post-16 education in classroom settings in England about some facets of cost of living, in particular whether the rising cost of living has led to those pupils and learners changing their plans for education or training.
The survey data from the 2021/22 academic year has been published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/parent-pupil-and-learner-panel-omnibus-surveys-for-2021-to-2022. The department intends to collect similar data for the 2022/23 academic year and we will publish this data in due course.
The government appreciates the difficulties caused by the rising cost of living and inflation, and is focused on levelling up so that young people and adults, regardless of their background or geographic location, can get the skills and training they need to secure rewarding, well-paid jobs and move up the ladder of opportunity.
The department provides a number of financial support programmes for those students who need the most help with the costs associated with staying in post-16 education. This includes extra funding to providers for disadvantaged students aged 16 to 19 with low prior attainment, or those who live in the most disadvantaged areas. In addition, the 16 to 19 bursary fund targets support towards young people who need the most help with education-related costs. In the 2022/23 academic year the department is providing £164 million to help financially disadvantaged students participate in post-16 education to cover such costs as travel, meals, books and course equipment, and over £31 million for free meals.
The department also provided over £550 million in the 2021/22 academic year to enable providers of 16 to 19 education to recruit, support, and retain disadvantaged students, and support those with special education needs and disabilities.
For those learners aged 19 and over, providers receive disadvantage uplift so that there is increased funding for learners living in deprived areas. In addition, funds are made available to providers to help adults overcome barriers to learning. This includes Learner Support, which is available to colleges and providers to support learners aged 19 and over with a specific financial hardship which is preventing them from taking part and/or continuing in learning, and learning support which is available to meet the cost of putting in place reasonable adjustments, as set out in the Equality Act 2010, for learners who have an identified learning difficulty and/or disability, to achieve their learning goal.
The department has also taken steps to improve apprentice pay, including aligning the apprentice national minimum wage rate with the national minimum wage rate for under 18s, and accepting in full the recommendations of the Independent Low Pay Commission to increase the apprentice national minimum wage by 9.7% from April 2023.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 14 December 2022 to Question 104365 on Oak National Academy, if he will publish the non-statutory curriculum guidance that will be provided to Oak National Academy.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As outlined in the Oak National Academy framework document, Oak will have due regard to the Department’s non statutory curriculum guidance. The Department does not intend to provide Oak with any specific non statutory guidance but expects Oak to remain abreast of existing and new published non statutory guidance as it becomes available.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that the forthcoming National SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan will consider the whole journey of young people with SEND through a 0 to 25 system; what assessment she has made of the different needs and challenges of schools and FE colleges in supporting young people with SEND; and what steps is she taking to ensure these differing needs and challenges are reflected in that Plan.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Green Paper, published in March 2022, set out proposals for a single national SEND and AP system, from early years to adulthood. These proposals offer children and young people the opportunity to thrive, with access to the right support, so they can fulfil their potential and lead happy, healthy and productive adult lives.
Throughout the 16-week consultation period, the department attended 175 events to listen to and engage with several thousand people, including children and young people of different ages. These conversations covered a broad range of sectors, including schools and further education colleges, to understand the challenges facing the system and to hear feedback on our proposals.
The green paper consultation closed on 22 July 2022. The department is using the feedback received, along with continued engagement with the whole system, to inform the next stage of delivering improvements for children, young people and their families.
The department is committed to publishing a full response to the green paper in an improvement plan early in 2023.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the impact on the commercial curriculum resources market of converting Oak National Academy to an arms-length body producing state-financed and endorsed curriculum materials.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As an integral part of the process to set up Oak National Academy as an arm’s length body, with close regard to Cabinet Office guidance, the Department produced a business case which included an assessment of potential market impact. This business case was published in early November. Monitoring market impact will be a priority throughout Oak National Academy’s lifetime and will be factored into the body’s ongoing evaluation and two year review.
As an arm’s length body, Oak will receive Government funding through the Department. Oak will ensure alignment with the National Curriculum and have due regard to the Department’s non statutory curriculum guidance but is operationally independent of Government.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to safeguard the independence of the content and style of curriculum materials produced by the Oak National Academy.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As set out in Oak National Academy’s Framework Agreement, Oak will be operationally independent from the Department. The Department will not prescribe or approve the content of curriculum packages or educational resources.