Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she will take to reintroduce citizenship education to schools in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme, (b) Staffordshire and (c) England.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Citizenship education provides a framework to prepare pupils to be active, informed and responsible citizens. The national curriculum for citizenship is mandatory at key stages 3 and 4 and primary schools can choose to teach it. In secondary citizenship, pupils learn about democracy, politics, parliament and voting, as well as human rights, justice, media literacy, the law, and the need for mutual respect.
The Oak National Academy (Oak) is providing optional, free, adaptable digital curriculum resources. Oak launched its curriculum sequences for secondary citizenship in November 2024, with the full package of curriculum resources expected by autumn 2025.
The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, which seeks to deliver a rich, broad, inclusive and innovative curriculum that equips young people with the knowledge, skills and attributes needed to thrive in life and work. The Review will publish its final report in autumn 2025.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the importance of citizenship education in our schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Citizenship education provides a framework to prepare pupils to be active, informed and responsible citizens. The national curriculum for citizenship is mandatory at key stages 3 and 4 and primary schools can choose to teach it. In secondary citizenship, pupils learn about democracy, politics, parliament and voting, as well as human rights, justice, media literacy, the law, and the need for mutual respect.
The Oak National Academy (Oak) is providing optional, free, adaptable digital curriculum resources. Oak launched its curriculum sequences for secondary citizenship in November 2024, with the full package of curriculum resources expected by autumn 2025.
The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, which seeks to deliver a rich, broad, inclusive and innovative curriculum that equips young people with the knowledge, skills and attributes needed to thrive in life and work. The Review will publish its final report in autumn 2025.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the gap between the lowest and highest achievers in GCSE maths performance.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
High and rising standards across education, from early years to adulthood, are the key to unlocking stronger outcomes and a better future for children and young people. Our new regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE) teams are now working closely with schools, including Maths Hubs to sharing best practice and put in place targeted plans to drive-up performance in schools needing extra support.
The department funded, school-led network of Maths Hubs across both primary and secondary schools, focusses on reducing attainment gaps by providing school-to-school support with mathematics subject knowledge and pedagogy training for teachers. In addition, the department funds the Maths Champions programme working with early years settings to boost young children’s basic number skills, and the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme supporting disadvantaged students with an aptitude for mathematics to go on to further study.
The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE. The Review is closely examining the key challenges to attainment for young people and the barriers which hold children back from the opportunities and life chances they deserve, to help us ensure high standards for all. The Review’s interim report, published in March, recognised the need for the curriculum to respond to social and technological change, including to consider what opportunities might be offered around the rise of artificial intelligence and trends in digital information demand.
Please note that in the context of international standings in PISA tests, this response extends only to England as education is a devolved matter.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the current maths curriculum in the context of increasing demand for data skills.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
High and rising standards across education, from early years to adulthood, are the key to unlocking stronger outcomes and a better future for children and young people. Our new regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE) teams are now working closely with schools, including Maths Hubs to sharing best practice and put in place targeted plans to drive-up performance in schools needing extra support.
The department funded, school-led network of Maths Hubs across both primary and secondary schools, focusses on reducing attainment gaps by providing school-to-school support with mathematics subject knowledge and pedagogy training for teachers. In addition, the department funds the Maths Champions programme working with early years settings to boost young children’s basic number skills, and the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme supporting disadvantaged students with an aptitude for mathematics to go on to further study.
The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE. The Review is closely examining the key challenges to attainment for young people and the barriers which hold children back from the opportunities and life chances they deserve, to help us ensure high standards for all. The Review’s interim report, published in March, recognised the need for the curriculum to respond to social and technological change, including to consider what opportunities might be offered around the rise of artificial intelligence and trends in digital information demand.
Please note that in the context of international standings in PISA tests, this response extends only to England as education is a devolved matter.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve the UK’s PISA mathematics performance.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
High and rising standards across education, from early years to adulthood, are the key to unlocking stronger outcomes and a better future for children and young people. Our new regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE) teams are now working closely with schools, including Maths Hubs to sharing best practice and put in place targeted plans to drive-up performance in schools needing extra support.
The department funded, school-led network of Maths Hubs across both primary and secondary schools, focusses on reducing attainment gaps by providing school-to-school support with mathematics subject knowledge and pedagogy training for teachers. In addition, the department funds the Maths Champions programme working with early years settings to boost young children’s basic number skills, and the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme supporting disadvantaged students with an aptitude for mathematics to go on to further study.
The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE. The Review is closely examining the key challenges to attainment for young people and the barriers which hold children back from the opportunities and life chances they deserve, to help us ensure high standards for all. The Review’s interim report, published in March, recognised the need for the curriculum to respond to social and technological change, including to consider what opportunities might be offered around the rise of artificial intelligence and trends in digital information demand.
Please note that in the context of international standings in PISA tests, this response extends only to England as education is a devolved matter.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the article by The University of Manchester entitled Making headlines: Young people’s social media use and navigating media narratives, published on 9 June 2025.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The department notes the article published by the University of Manchester, and officials have recently discussed its content with the authors. Media literacy skills are embedded across the curriculum, including citizenship, computing, English and relationships, sex and health education, which together develop critical thinking, research skills, an understanding of the media in shaping opinion and how to be a discerning consumer of information online, including through social media.
The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review’s interim report noted the rise of artificial intelligence and trends in digital information and that it is necessary that the curriculum keep pace with these changes, including a renewed focus on digital and media literacy and critical thinking skills. The Review’s final report and recommendations will be published in autumn with the government’s response.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that schools in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency and (b) Staffordshire are able to offer high quality music education through (i) the national curriculum and (ii) in music education.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
As part of the government’s Opportunity Mission, the department wants to widen access to music education.
Music Hubs continue to play a vital role across England, with grant funding of £76 million for the 2025/26 academic year. This includes nearly £2.2 million for the Hub partnership led by The Music Partnership, covering Shropshire, Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Telford and Wrekin, and includes support for schools in Newcastle-under-Lyme and wider Staffordshire.
The department is also investing £2 million to support the Music Opportunities Pilot over four years, helping disadvantaged children and those with special educational needs and disabilities learn to play instruments or sing to a high standard in schools across 12 pilot areas. This includes Sir Thomas Boughey Academy in Newcastle-under-Lyme. The government established the Curriculum and Assessment Review to seek to deliver a rich, broad, inclusive and innovative curriculum, including music. The final report and government response will be published this autumn. Following this, we will legislate so that academies will teach the reformed national curriculum, alongside maintained schools. This will ensure music is an entitlement for pupils in every state-funded school.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of increasing the breadth of subjects students study at A-Level on (a) life chances, (b) employability and (c) the economy.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
High and rising school standards are at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give children and young people the best life chances. The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18, chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE.
The Review aims to ensure that the assessment system captures the strengths of every child and young person and the breadth of curriculum and prepare children with the skills for future life and work.
The independent Review’s interim report sets out that many areas of the curriculum and assessment system are working well, including A levels.
During the panel’s next phase of work, it is addressing subject-specific challenges, aiming to ensure a rich, broad, inclusive and innovative curriculum that readies young people for life and work.
The Review’s final report and recommendations will be published in autumn, at which point the government will respond.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure more students from less affluent areas are taught by trained maths teachers.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
Recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers is critical to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. This is why the government’s Plan for Change has committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers in secondary and special schools and in our colleges, over the course of this Parliament.
The department has announced an initial teacher training financial incentives package for the 2025/26 recruitment cycle worth £233 million, including bursaries worth £29,000 tax-free and scholarships worth £31,000 tax-free mathematics.
For 2024/25 and 2025/26, mathematics teachers in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools will also receive a targeted retention incentive worth up to £6,000 after tax.
Our High Potential Initial Teacher Training (HPITT) programme, delivered by Teach First, specifically supports schools in disadvantaged communities to recruit the teachers they need. Over the last three cohorts in 2022, 2023 and 2024, an average of 82% of HPITT participants across all subjects have been placed in disadvantaged schools.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps she has taken to encourage youth democracy in schools in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
Democracy forms a central part of the national curriculum for citizenship at key stages 3 and 4. Primary schools can choose to teach citizenship at key stages 1 and 2, following the non-statutory framework for citizenship.
Schools have considerable flexibility to organise the content and delivery of their curriculum and enrichment programme, including to suit their local context. This can include providing opportunities for pupil participation in democratic processes, subject to schools meeting their obligations to ensure political balance.
UK Parliament run educational tours for pupils, youth and community groups to see how Parliament works in action. UK Parliament also produce resources which can be downloaded or ordered for free, tailored to different age groups.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport funds the UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) to support young people to engage in the democratic process. Every two years, the UKYP runs ‘Make Your Mark’, a youth vote open to all 11 to 18 year-olds in the UK, for them to be able to vote on what are the most important issues for young people.