Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that apprentices are not affected by the transition to the provision by Ofqual of external quality assurance of apprenticeship end-point assessments through the regulation of end-point assessment organisations.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Simplifying and strengthening the way we conduct external quality assurance of endpoint assessment organisations (EPAOs) will help to ensure that EPAOs are consistently delivering high quality, fair and reliable endpoint assessments for apprentices and their employers.
To ensure a smooth transition to the new arrangements we are working closely with Ofqual, EPAOs and the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. Throughout the transition process our primary aim is to minimise any disruption to apprentices or employers. We are maintaining effective quality oversight of end point assessments in the interests of all stakeholders, including apprentices and have, for example, extended the overall transition deadline to December 2022 to minimize any disruption and will work with any EPAO that fails to achieve the required standard in order to deliver a bespoke plan which priorities the quality of the apprenticeship experience.
We actively manage the register of EPAOs to ensure there is sufficient coverage of EPAOs for all apprenticeship standards and apprentices and continue to do so throughout the transition.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that pupils are not disadvantaged due to the disruption caused by the covid-19 pandemic when undertaking their GCSE examinations this year.
Answered by Robin Walker
It is our firm intention that examinations will go ahead this year. It is of great importance to give pupils the opportunity to sit their examinations and we have put measures in place to ensure they can do so fairly.
We have worked with Ofqual to put in place several adaptations to support the safe and fair delivery of examinations in this academic year to recognise the disruption pupils have already faced, and to account for further disruption. The adaptations being made were welcomed during our joint consultation with Ofqual and include:
In balancing public confidence in qualifications with fairness, Ofqual have also confirmed that 2022 will be a transition year for grading. Grades will be set at a mid-point between 2021 and pre-pandemic grades. In 2023, Ofqual plans to return to results that are in line with those in pre-pandemic years. This package of adaptations, combined with Ofqual’s approach to grading, provides unprecedented support to maximise fairness and help pupils reach their potential.
Alongside these adaptations, we have announced almost £5 billion in dedicated education recovery funding, including a further £1.8 billion in the recent Spending Review. We have made significant investments in areas that evidence tells us will be the most effective, such as tutoring and teaching, and have directed funding at the most disadvantaged.
In the unlikely event that examinations cannot go ahead fairly or safely, we have contingency arrangements in place and have confirmed pupils will receive teacher assessed grades instead.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has provided guidance to schools on pre-booked overseas trips with Camp International.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In line with the Government’s COVID-19 response roadmap, the Department advises against all domestic and international residential educational visits until at least Step 3 and no earlier than 17 May. Guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/schools-coronavirus-covid-19-operational-guidance#educational-visits.
The Department will update guidance in line with the timetable set out in the roadmap, including advice on international educational visits, after the Global Travel Taskforce has reported its findings.
Any disputes regarding travel provider, and/or travel insurer, performance or behaviour should be resolved in line with the contractual arrangements and in line with the relevant industry and sector representative body disputes process.
The Association of British Insurers provide information and support at: https://www.abi.org.uk/products-and-issues/topics-and-issues/coronavirus-hub/travel-insurance/.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of providing schools with the flexibility to decide on how to manage their summer school programmes in order to ensure that programmes take into account the specific needs of their pupils in response to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
£200 million will be made available to secondary schools to deliver face-to-face summer schools. Schools will have the flexibility to plan a summer programme that best meets the needs of the school and its pupils. The Department will be publishing guidance for schools shortly.
Although schools are free to involve other pupils where the school has identified a particular need, the Department expects that most will want to focus summer schools on pupils making the transition into Year 7.
The aim of the programme, drawing on the evidence of good practice, is to deliver a summer school that offers a blend of academic education and enrichment activities, but the specific design will be for schools to decide.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the outbreak of covid-19, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that school pupils can sit exams safely in summer 2021.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The COVID-19 contain framework guidance sets out how national and local partners will work with the public at a local level to prevent, contain and manage outbreaks.
The Department has worked closely with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Public Health England (PHE) to develop specific guidance for school settings. Where schools implement the system of controls outlined in our September reopening guidance, in line with their own workplace risk assessment, PHE and DHSC confirm that they create an inherently safer environment for children and staff where the risk of transmission of infection is substantially reduced.
The Department is working with Ofqual and engaging widely with the education sector to identify any risks to examinations at a national, local, and individual student level, and to consider measures needed to address any potential disruption. This could be a student unable to sit examinations due to illness or self isolation, or schools affected by a local outbreak during the examination season resulting in examination centres not being able to open. More details will be published later in the autumn.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Eduaction, what plans his Department has to work with the university sector to introduce free sanitary products on campuses.
Answered by Vicky Ford
On 20 January 2020, the department launched a new scheme which makes free period products available for state-funded primary schools, secondary schools and colleges in England. The scheme remained in operation during partial school and college closures, and these organisations are still able to order a range of period products and distribute them to learners.
Higher education providers such as universities are autonomous bodies, independent from the government. It is for each individual provider to make their own decisions about how best to support their students. However, many providers may choose to provide certain services to support inclusion.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department has provided to dance schools to prepare for their safe reopening as covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Indoor dance lessons for children are considered to be an out-of-school setting. Out-of-school settings are currently not able to reopen. However, as my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, confirmed on 23 June, holiday clubs and out-of-school clubs for children will be able to restart over the summer, subject to the science and with safety measures in place. Adjustments to current measures for these clubs will be part of Step 3 of the recovery strategy (from 4 July). We will be providing guidance for the sector on how to implement the protective measures necessary to open safely as soon as possible, this will cover group sizes and social distancing measures.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has to allow the reopening of church facilities that are routinely used as early years settings.
Answered by Vicky Ford
From 1 June, places of worship and community centres are allowed to open for providers on the early years register which usually use those premises. Information about this can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures.
Providers should ensure they are acting in line with the protective measures and safe working guidance as well as the planning guide for early years and childcare settings. They should also ensure they are managing risks related to other users of the premises.
Guidance on protective measures and safe working guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-protective-measures-in-education-and-childcare-settings/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-protective-measures-in-education-and-childcare-settings.
The planning guide for early years settings can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preparing-for-the-wider-opening-of-early-years-and-childcare-settings-from-1-june.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of releasing an online version of the proposed Key Stage Two SATs examinations that were cancelled due to the covid-19 outbreak so that pupils can measure their own learning.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In response to the COVID-19 outbreak and the impact on schools, the department has removed all requirements on schools and local authorities relating to the 2020 statutory primary assessments, including statutory trialling activities.
The cancellation of statutory trialling means the rigorous process undertaken by the department for developing statutory assessments has been disrupted and it has not been possible to complete trialling for all the assessments intended for administration in 2021. As a result, the department will preserve the 2020 assessments for use in the next academic year, which also provides value for money for the taxpayer.
The statutory test papers from previous years are available online, so suitable high-quality alternatives are available without the release of the 2020 test papers.
Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that GCSE pupils taught by external providers have their learning validated in the absence of exams due to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As both my right hon. Friends, the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer, have made clear, the Government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID-19.
Our latest guidance on GCSEs is set out below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-cancellation-of-gcses-as-and-a-levels-in-2020/coronavirus-covid-19-cancellation-of-gcses-as-and-a-levels-in-2020.
The independent qualifications regulator Ofqual is working closely with exam boards to develop and implement a system for awarding GCSE grades this summer that is as fair as possible. Ofqual is consulting until 29 April on a range of aspects of that system, including the issues the hon. Member has raised. The consultation is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/exceptional-arrangements-for-exam-grading-and-assessment-in-2020.
Ofqual will be responding on those issues as soon as possible after the consultation has closed.