Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much has been spent on the opening of university technical colleges that have since been closed.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As last week’s Budget demonstrates, the Government is determined to ensure every child has access to a good school place and is given the opportunity to fulfil their potential.
The best university technical colleges (UTC) are providing excellent technical and professional education. We are strengthening the UTC programme to make it more sustainable, including partnerships with successful secondary schools, establishing more UTCs as part of multi-academy trusts, and doing more to raise parent and pupil awareness.
Three UTCs have closed after opening whilst a further UTC, Royal Greenwich, ceased to be a UTC and became an 11-18 secondary school in September 2016.
The capital and pre-opening revenue expenditure for each of the closures is as follows:
UTC | Capital costs | Revenue costs |
Black Country UTC | £2,423,504 | £742,070 |
Hackney University Technical College | £3,292,754 | £470,793 |
Central Bedfordshire UTC | £6,408,488 | £363,088 |
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many university technical colleges are due for closure.
Answered by Nick Gibb
There are 3 university technical colleges (UTC) due to close in August 2017 – Daventry UTC, UTC Lancashire and Greater Manchester Sustainable UTC.
In addition, UTC Tottenham will cease to be a UTC and will become a 16-19 free school, London Academy of Excellence Tottenham.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, (a) what the full capacity is of and (b) how many students have been enrolled in each university technical college in each of the last five years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The number of students enrolled at university technical colleges (UTC) in each of the last 5 years can be found in the penultimate document of the underlying data at the following links:
2016
2015
2014
2013
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/207734/SFR21-2013_UD.zip
2012
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/167515/sfr10-2012ud.zip
January 2017 census data will be published in summer 2017 and will include UTCs which opened in September 2016.
Capacity data for each UTC is taken from published funding agreements and can be found in the attached spreadsheet.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans formally to consult on plans to reform (a) primary assessment and (b) baseline assessment.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Secretary of State set out, in her statement to Parliament about primary assessment of 19 October 2016, our intention to launch a public consultation on the future of primary assessment in England. That statement made it clear that the consultation exercise, which will commence in the near future, will consider the best starting point to measure the progress that children make in primary school.
Separate to future policy considerations, the Department is in contract with those providers it approved to offer an optional reception baseline assessment to schools in the 2015/16 and 2016/17 academic years. As contract managers, Departmental officials are in regular contact with these providers regarding the operation of these optional baseline assessments. In such meetings, the Department does not discuss future policy, or the design of any new baseline assessment.
Robert Coe, Director of the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring, Durham University (one of the current reception baseline providers) does advise the Department on general assessment policy issues as an expert in the field. He was a member of the Commission on Assessment Without Levels set up by the Department in 2015, at which point he made a formal declaration of interests. Mr Coe attended a meeting, among other experts, on 10 May 2016, with myself and Departmental officials, to discuss primary assessment. This included discussion of how best to measure progress in primary schools. In meeting educational experts, and in all its work, the Department is mindful of the need to manage appropriately any potential conflict of interest.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent meetings officials of her Department have had with providers of reception baseline assessment models.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Secretary of State set out, in her statement to Parliament about primary assessment of 19 October 2016, our intention to launch a public consultation on the future of primary assessment in England. That statement made it clear that the consultation exercise, which will commence in the near future, will consider the best starting point to measure the progress that children make in primary school.
Separate to future policy considerations, the Department is in contract with those providers it approved to offer an optional reception baseline assessment to schools in the 2015/16 and 2016/17 academic years. As contract managers, Departmental officials are in regular contact with these providers regarding the operation of these optional baseline assessments. In such meetings, the Department does not discuss future policy, or the design of any new baseline assessment.
Robert Coe, Director of the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring, Durham University (one of the current reception baseline providers) does advise the Department on general assessment policy issues as an expert in the field. He was a member of the Commission on Assessment Without Levels set up by the Department in 2015, at which point he made a formal declaration of interests. Mr Coe attended a meeting, among other experts, on 10 May 2016, with myself and Departmental officials, to discuss primary assessment. This included discussion of how best to measure progress in primary schools. In meeting educational experts, and in all its work, the Department is mindful of the need to manage appropriately any potential conflict of interest.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with providers on her Department's review of baseline assessment.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Secretary of State set out, in her statement to Parliament about primary assessment of 19 October 2016, our intention to launch a public consultation on the future of primary assessment in England. That statement made it clear that the consultation exercise, which will commence in the near future, will consider the best starting point to measure the progress that children make in primary school.
Separate to future policy considerations, the Department is in contract with those providers it approved to offer an optional reception baseline assessment to schools in the 2015/16 and 2016/17 academic years. As contract managers, Departmental officials are in regular contact with these providers regarding the operation of these optional baseline assessments. In such meetings, the Department does not discuss future policy, or the design of any new baseline assessment.
Robert Coe, Director of the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring, Durham University (one of the current reception baseline providers) does advise the Department on general assessment policy issues as an expert in the field. He was a member of the Commission on Assessment Without Levels set up by the Department in 2015, at which point he made a formal declaration of interests. Mr Coe attended a meeting, among other experts, on 10 May 2016, with myself and Departmental officials, to discuss primary assessment. This included discussion of how best to measure progress in primary schools. In meeting educational experts, and in all its work, the Department is mindful of the need to manage appropriately any potential conflict of interest.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will place in the Library the mandate or remit given to the Standards and Testing Authority for the review of assessment that Authority is carrying out for her Department.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Standards and Testing Agency (STA) was established in October 2011 as an executive agency of the Department for Education. On its establishment, the STA took over some of the functions of the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency, which was abolished.
The Agency’s primary purpose is to provide an effective and robust testing, assessment and moderation system to measure and monitor pupils’ progress through primary school from reception to the end of Key Stage 3. The Agency is responsible for the development and delivery of National Curriculum assessments and testing in England, and this work is underpinned by regulations made by the Secretary of State for Education, namely the Education (National Curriculum) (Key Stage 1 Assessment Arrangements) (England) Order 2004 and the Education (National Curriculum) (Key Stage 2 Assessment Arrangements) (England) Order 2003. The powers to make these regulations are set out in sections 87 and 210 of the Education Act 2002.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the mental health assessment pilots for looked-after children announced by her Department in November 2016 will cover both children in care and care leavers.
Answered by Edward Timpson
Care leavers’ experiences before care mean that as a group they have poorer outcomes than other young people. While the Department does not collect data on the relationship between mental health needs and outcomes, our cross-government care leaver strategy, published in July 2016, is based around five issues care leavers identified as barriers to success, including improved access to health support. We also know from our consultations with care leavers that they often find it difficult to access the right mental health support when they leave care which impacts on other areas of their lives. This includes their engagement in education, employment and training.
The Department of Health is represented on a senior Whitehall officials group on care leavers. The Department is working closely with the Department for Health, NHS England and the Expert Working Group to develop the scope of the mental health assessment pilots announced by Lord Nash on 23 November. No decisions have yet been made on the precise scope of the pilots and whether they will cover children in care and care leavers. The terms of reference of the Expert Working Group to develop mental health care pathways for looked after children explicitly include care leavers. We will act on the findings from the Expert Working Group and the mental health assessment pilots.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Expert Working Group for looked-after children's mental health plans to publish recommendations on mental health assessments for both looked-after children and care leavers.
Answered by Edward Timpson
Care leavers’ experiences before care mean that as a group they have poorer outcomes than other young people. While the Department does not collect data on the relationship between mental health needs and outcomes, our cross-government care leaver strategy, published in July 2016, is based around five issues care leavers identified as barriers to success, including improved access to health support. We also know from our consultations with care leavers that they often find it difficult to access the right mental health support when they leave care which impacts on other areas of their lives. This includes their engagement in education, employment and training.
The Department of Health is represented on a senior Whitehall officials group on care leavers. The Department is working closely with the Department for Health, NHS England and the Expert Working Group to develop the scope of the mental health assessment pilots announced by Lord Nash on 23 November. No decisions have yet been made on the precise scope of the pilots and whether they will cover children in care and care leavers. The terms of reference of the Expert Working Group to develop mental health care pathways for looked after children explicitly include care leavers. We will act on the findings from the Expert Working Group and the mental health assessment pilots.
Asked by: Ian Mearns (Labour - Gateshead)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions her Department has had with the Department of Health about improving mental health outcomes of care leavers.
Answered by Edward Timpson
Care leavers’ experiences before care mean that as a group they have poorer outcomes than other young people. While the Department does not collect data on the relationship between mental health needs and outcomes, our cross-government care leaver strategy, published in July 2016, is based around five issues care leavers identified as barriers to success, including improved access to health support. We also know from our consultations with care leavers that they often find it difficult to access the right mental health support when they leave care which impacts on other areas of their lives. This includes their engagement in education, employment and training.
The Department of Health is represented on a senior Whitehall officials group on care leavers. The Department is working closely with the Department for Health, NHS England and the Expert Working Group to develop the scope of the mental health assessment pilots announced by Lord Nash on 23 November. No decisions have yet been made on the precise scope of the pilots and whether they will cover children in care and care leavers. The terms of reference of the Expert Working Group to develop mental health care pathways for looked after children explicitly include care leavers. We will act on the findings from the Expert Working Group and the mental health assessment pilots.