Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase entrepreneurship and business education in schools.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Entrepreneurship and business education are important components of both high quality careers education and guidance as well as a broad education offer for pupils.
The careers statutory guidance places a responsibility on schools in England to offer pupils the opportunity to develop entrepreneurial skills and have access to advice on options available post-16, including entrepreneurship. While it is for schools to decide how best to provide entrepreneurship education, we know that contact with entrepreneurs themselves and businesses more widely is essential. That is why we are funding The Careers & Enterprise Company to increase the number and quality of contacts between young people and businesses, including entrepreneurs.
We have revised the business GCSE, so that from September 2017 there is greater depth and breadth and a clearer focus on the overall purpose, features and workings of businesses and how to apply this knowledge in a business context.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken to promote career colleges; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Boles
Career Colleges will have their own branding and identity and are independent of Government policy, so it is not for Government to promote them directly. However, we do support any organisation which is focused on providing high quality technical education to young people.
In particular, we hope Career Colleges can benefit from the protection of funding and the range of flexibilities in the system. This includes protecting the 16-19 base rate, substantial investment in apprenticeships and study programmes, which provide an opportunity to tailor provision around the needs and aspirations of each young person.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of ending the national curriculum at the age of 14.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government believes that the majority of pupils should study a core academic curriculum up to the age of 16. The core academic curriculum refers to the English Baccalaureate (EBacc). The Government’s ambition is for 90% of pupils to enter the EBacc subjects at GCSE. The national curriculum serves an important role in setting out the sort of knowledge-based, ambitious, academically rigorous education which every child should experience. It enables pupils to develop the knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes necessary for their self-fulfilment and development as active and responsible citizens.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken to encourage applications to university technical colleges.
Answered by Nick Boles
Like all academies, each university technical college (UTC) is responsible for publicising their school and encouraging applications. Officials from the Department for Education and the Baker Dearing Educational Trust provide UTCs with advice to support pupil recruitment, drawing on the best practice from UTCs and other new schools. Statutory guidance to schools on careers guidance is clear that they should allow UTCs to engage with their pupils on their premises. This guidance can be found at GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/careers-guidance-provision-for-young-people-in-schools. This careers guidance should ensure pupils have information about their full range of education and training options.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken to enable more looked-after children to go on to further and higher education.
Answered by Edward Timpson
This government believes that all children and young people in care should be provided with the support that they need in order to fulfil their potential.
That is why we require local authorities, as corporate parents,to fulfil a legal duty to promote the educational achievement of the children they look after, including supporting them to progress into further and higher education.All local authorities are required to appoint a Virtual School Head to ensure that that duty is discharged, and that each looked-after child has a personal education plan which sets out how their aspirations and educational needs, particularly around transition points, will be supported in the short and longer-term.
In addition, the government provides enhanced pupil premium funding of £1,900 each year for pupils who have been looked-after and we also ensure that looked-after children are given priority in school admission arrangements. Looked-after children and care leavers are also a priority group for receiving the 16-19 Further Education Bursary of £1,200 per annum.
For care leavers, local authorities must offer a personal adviser and a pathway plan if they are in education or training up to the age of 21 or up to 25 if they wish to resume their education and training. Care leavers who pursue a recognised course of higher education are also entitled to a one-off £2000 bursary, given by their local authority, as part of the package of support they receive on leaving care.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the quality of education at university technical colleges.
Answered by Nick Boles
University technical colleges (UTCs) harness students’ talents, offering them technical learning alongside GCSEs and A levels, and providing them with knowledge and skills which employers value. The programme is still at an early stage. The best UTCs, such as UTC Reading, are providing excellent education, which is reflected in their exam results.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of looked-after children have received at least five GCSEs at grades A*-C in each year since 2010.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The information requested is published in the statistical first release “Outcomes for Children Looked After by Local Authorities in England as at 31 March 2014” on GOV.UK[1].
Percentage of children who have been looked after continuously for at least 12 months achieving 5 or more GCSEs at A*-C or equivalent, 2010-2014, England[2].
2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2014 | |
2013 methodology | 2014 methodology | |||||
5+ GCSEs A*-C or equivalent | 28.8 | 33.5 | 37.2 | 37.2 | 31.1 | 16.3 |
Source: CLA-NPD matched data
Note that two major reforms were implemented which affected the calculation of key stage 4 (KS4) performance measures in 2014[3] and therefore 2014 data is not comparable to that for earlier years. The additional ‘2013 methodology’ figure shown in the table has been included to provide a point of comparison, using a proxy set of results based on 2012/13 rules. However, it cannot reverse the behaviour of some schools in response to the policy changes, nor does it take into account other changes, so still should not be used to make direct comparisons with earlier years.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/outcomes-for-children-looked-after-by-local-authorities
[2] Children looked after continuously for at least 12 months as at 31 March excluding those children in respite care. Only children who are matched to key stage 4 data are included. Figures for 2014 are based on provisional data. Figures for all other years are based on final data.
[3] Professor Alison Wolf’s Review of Vocational Education recommendations which restrict the qualifications counted, prevent any qualification from counting as larger than one GCSE and cap the number of non-GCSEs included in performance measures at two per pupil. There is also an early entry policy to only count a pupil’s first attempt at a qualification. More details can be found in the statistical release: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/provisional-gcse-and-equivalent-results-in-england-2013-to-2014. The reforms had a significant impact on the 2013/14 GCSE and equivalent results data for all pupils. To aid users in understanding this impact on children looked after, the additional ‘2013 methodology’ data has been produced, which removes the rules regarding the Wolf Review recommendations and early entry policy from the calculation of performance measures.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps she has taken to help parents in work with the costs of childcare.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The Department for Education understands that the cost of childcare can be a concern for many parents. In order to help support parents, the Department has increased funding in the early years from £2 billion to £3 billion a year over the course of this Parliament.
The Department has provided funding for 15 hours a week of free childcare for all three- and four-year-olds, and for disadvantaged two-year-olds. The funding for all three- and four-year-olds is worth £2,500 per child, per year to parents. This gives an additional £425 per child, per year, when compared to funding prior to the last election. The funding for approximately 40% of two-year-olds is also worth £2,500 per child, per year.
In addition, the Department is introducing Tax-Free Childcare, under which up to 1.8 million working families could benefit from up to £2,000 per child, per year.
For working parents on lower incomes, working tax credit pays up to 70% of their childcare costs. This could be worth up to £6,370 for their first child. Under Universal Credit, the subsidy rate will increase to 85% of childcare costs and support will be available, for the first time, to those working fewer than 16 hours per week.
Furthermore, the Department has taken action to give more choice to parents by creating child minder agencies and supporting schools to open nurseries and offer provision from 8am to 6pm. The Department is also introducing shared parental leave.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will estimate the proportion of students who left school having had practical work experience in (a) the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, (b) Berkshire and (c) the UK in each of the last three years.
Answered by Nick Boles
Schools are not required to provide information about pre-16 work experience and therefore we do not hold the information requested.
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken to enable people with local business expertise to enhance teaching in schools.
Answered by Nick Boles
The government wants to see more schools and employers working together to help open young people’s eyes to the world of work. We have funded a new, independent careers and enterprise company to help businesses and schools to engage with each other more easily so that young people get the inspiration and guidance they need to leave school or college ready to succeed in working life.
Business people also have an important role to play in school governance, bringing a range of transferable skills to help governing bodies carry out their demanding strategic functions. In May 2014 we launched the Inspiring Governors Alliance to bring together all organisations with a role to play in increasing both demand for and supply of high quality governors, particularly from the world of work. We have awarded £1m of funding in 2015-16 to embed a strategic partnership between SGOSS, Governors for Schools and the Education and Employers’ Taskforce at the heart of the alliance to engage employers and help schools find the high quality governors they need.