Asked by: Ian Levy (Conservative - Blyth Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what comparative data her Department collects on the standard of boys' (a) language and (b) literacy skills prior to commencing primary education.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework requires early years providers in England, ordinarily schools, to complete the EYFS profile assessment at the end of the academic year in which a child turns five. This is usually reception year.
Each child’s level of development is assessed against 17 early learning goals (ELGs) across all seven areas of learning in the EYFS. This includes communication and language and literacy. For each ELG, practitioners must assess whether a child is meeting the level of development expected at the end of the EYFS, or if they are not yet reaching this level and should be assessed as ‘emerging’.
The EYFS profile results for the 2021/22 academic year are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/early-years-foundation-stage-profile-results/2021-22. These statistics include breakdowns by characteristics such as gender.
Asked by: Ian Levy (Conservative - Blyth Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of including The Countryside Code in the National Curriculum.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The department does not plan to make an assessment of including the Countryside Code in the national curriculum.
All state-funded schools have the flexibility within their school curriculum to teach about the Countryside Code, through for example:
Asked by: Ian Levy (Conservative - Blyth Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to inform young people about opportunities to study abroad.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The department values international exchange and collaboration in education and training as part of our vision for a global Britain. That is why we support a number of outward mobility and exchange programmes which broaden access to international opportunities, including Fulbright scholarships and the Turing Scheme.
The department provides grant funding to the US-UK Fulbright Commission, which promotes and provides opportunities for young people to undertake education exchanges between the UK and the US.
The Turing Scheme is the UK government’s programme to provide funding for international opportunities in education and training across the world. The Turing Scheme is provider-led with communications and promotion targeted at education providers who are responsible for applying for funding and promoting opportunities to their students, learners, and pupils. Education providers successfully applied for funding for over 41,000 individual placements to over 150 destinations across the 2021/2022 academic year.
The department also works with the British Council, which is funded to deliver programmes such as English Language Assistants and Generation UK, to promote opportunities for UK students the opportunity to study and work abroad in countries such as Spain, Italy, and China.
The British Council's ‘Study and Work Abroad’ website contains information about opportunities to study, work, or volunteer in another country through the British Council and other organisations. The site includes a section targeted at UK-based students and graduates, providing information about current and upcoming opportunities to study, work or volunteer outside the UK through British Council programmes and the Turing Scheme.
Asked by: Ian Levy (Conservative - Blyth Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
What steps he is taking with Ofqual to ensure that students due to sit exams in summer 2020 will receive fair grades.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Ofqual is working with awarding organisations to develop a robust process for awarding grades. Wherever possible, schools, colleges and other institutions will produce fair and objective centre assessment grades, which will be externally standardised to ensure consistency. Our aim is that the arrangements deliver the fairest possible outcomes for students.