Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with music educators on the National Plan for Music Education; and whether that Plan should (a) include Early Years, (b) recognise informal pathways for young musicians and (c) continue with universal provision or be focussed on disadvantaged children.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department has regular meetings with music educators to discuss aspects of the National Plan for Music Education. Music teaching starts in the early years and the plan provides a template for high quality music education throughout a pupil’s education, both in and out of school, in both formal and informal settings. Our vision continues to be that children from all backgrounds and every part of England have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument; to make music with others; to learn to sing; and to have the opportunity to progress to the next level. We will continue to consider the best way of ensuring that disadvantaged children can benefit from all programmes we fund.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average class size is in primary schools in Bristol; and how many primary school classes in Bristol have more than 30 pupils.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average per pupil funding in primary schools is in Bristol East constituency; and what estimate she has made of per pupil funding levels in Bristol East constituency in each of the next three years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
This year, in 2017-18, the average per pupil funding amount for schools in the City of Bristol local authority, provided through the Schools Block of the Dedicated School Grant is £4,684. This is an average amount across both primary and secondary schools in the local authority area. The distribution of funding between schools (including the balance between primary and secondary schools) is a matter for local discretion. Decisions about school funding in future years will be subject to the outcome of the national funding formula consultation. In the consultation, we made available data illustrating the amount each school would have received if the proposed formula had been implemented in full in 2016-17, and a projection of schools’ allocations in the first year of transition. This data is published at https://consult.education.gov.uk/funding-policy-unit/schools-national-funding-formula2/.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of falling international student numbers on the financial sustainability of the UK university sector.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The Higher Education Council for Funding in England (HEFCE) reports that the higher education sector was in sound financial health in 2014/15. In the same academic year, overseas fee income accounted for nearly 13% of total sector income on average.
International students make an important economic and cultural contribution to the UK. The UK has, and will continue to have, a world class education system that attracts students from across the world.
The latest report, entitled ‘Financial Health of the higher education sector: 2015-16 to 2018-19 forecasts’ can be found on HEFCE’s website at:
http://www.hefce.ac.uk/media/HEFCE,2014/Content/Pubs/2016/201634/HEFCE2016_34.pdf
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department's proposed change to the requirement for new religious free schools in respect of potential applications from people of other faiths or none represents a change in policy; and what the reasons are for that proposed change.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The consultation document, Schools that work for everyone, sets out the government’s view that the 50% cap has not been effective in promoting diversity, and in its place, presents a series of strengthened safeguards to ensure that every new faith school operates in a way that promotes fundamental British values and supports inclusivity.
The consultation also includes a proposal that new faith-designated free schools, should demonstrate that parents of pupils from all parts of their local community, would be happy for their child to attend their school.
These changes present an opportunity to explore new ways of using the school system to promote greater integration within our society generally.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect on children's well-being of children being taught in different schools on account of their religious background.
Answered by Edward Timpson
We want a diverse educational system that provides greater choice for parents and a high quality education. The proposals in our consultation document, “Schools that work for everyone”, aim to increase the number of high quality places and broaden the types of providers of schools, including faith groups. We expect all schools to cater for the well-being of their pupils whatever their background and the type of school they attend.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of the 50 per cent cap on religious selection on ethnic diversity in Church of England and other Christian free schools; and what evaluation has been made of the potential effect on ethnic diversity of removing such a cap.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The “Schools that work for everyone” consultation document makes clear that, overall, the effectiveness of the 50% cap in faith admission in promoting inclusion and community cohesion is questionable and that it has not led to mixed intakes in many faith-designated free schools.
Many Church of England and Christian faith schools open a proportion of places to children of other faith and none. The Church of England has stated that it is their policy not to apply faith based oversubscription criteria for the free schools which they open in the future.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's publication, Schools that work for everyone, published in September 2016, whether the figures for ethnic diversity in other Christian free schools presented in that document includes Catholic schools.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The figures for ethnic diversity in Christian free schools does not include Catholic free schools as there were no open Catholic free schools when this data was collected in January 2016 as part of the School Census.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of pupils are classified as of Asian ethnic origin at (a) state Catholic schools and (b) Church of England free schools and other Christian free schools.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The proportion of pupils classified as of Asian ethnic origin at (a) state Catholic schools and (b) Church of England free schools and other Christian free schools was 6.3% and 7.1% respectively in January 2016.
This information has been calculated from the underlying data of the ‘schools, pupils and their characteristics’ statistical release[1].
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2016
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to respond to the Fifth Report from the Education Committee, Session 2014-15, HC 145, on Life Lessons: PSHE and SRE in Schools, published on 17 February 2015.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The government’s response to the Education Select Committee’s report ‘Life Lessons: PSHE and SRE in schools’ was published in July 2015. The response can be found online at www.gov.uk/government/publications/pshe-and-sre-in-schools-government-response.