Asked by: Cat Eccles (Labour - Stourbridge)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what evidence her department is using to assess demand for Criminology in the West Midlands and across England.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department considers a wide range of evidence when considering employer demand for skills, including data and commentary by the Labour Market Evidence Group, available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/labour-market-evidence-group-key-publications.
Asked by: Cat Eccles (Labour - Stourbridge)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of recent changes to the Disabled Students’ Allowance on students’ ability to access assistive software where they have functional impairments arising from disability.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Supporting disabled students to access and succeed in higher education remains a government priority. The department’s consultation on assistive software funded through the Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) seeks to gather evidence on how best to modernise the support provided, taking into account the significant advances in technology in recent years.
The proposals in the consultation envisage that assistive software will continue to be funded through DSA where there is an additional disability-related need for it that cannot be met by any other software available to the student free of charge. The consultation closed on 18 June and no policy decisions on changes have yet been made.
We have undertaken an initial Equality Impact Assessment (EIA), the key points of which are set out in the consultation document. We intend to expand and update the EIA further as we gather more evidence of impacts through the consultation process. This will then be used to inform final policy decisions following the consultation.
Asked by: Cat Eccles (Labour - Stourbridge)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if Criminology is to sit within Protective Services, in what way will the new qualification maintain the academic and social-science content that supports progression to university courses such as criminology, law, psychology, policing and criminal justice.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department published the Post-16 Pathways implementation plan on 20 May, which sets out how we will deliver changes to the technical and vocational qualifications that a young person can choose from age 16.
V Levels are designed to link to occupational standards and support progression into Level 4+ study, whether in higher education or a higher-level apprenticeship. As there are no specific occupational standards in criminology at Level 3, we are exploring options for V Levels in occupational routes that best align to existing criminology qualifications, such as protective services, while considering the interplay with existing A levels such as sociology, to ensure we are not duplicating content.
We will work with the sector to consider options and update the implementation plan by early 2027.
Existing qualifications in this subject area will retain funding approval until at least the 2029/30 academic year, when we aim to introduce a V Level in the subject area of protective services.
Asked by: Cat Eccles (Labour - Stourbridge)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when will schools receive information about the future of Criminology.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department published the Post-16 Pathways implementation plan on 20 May, which sets out how we will deliver changes to the technical and vocational qualifications that a young person can choose from age 16.
V Levels are designed to link to occupational standards and support progression into Level 4+ study, whether in higher education or a higher-level apprenticeship. As there are no specific occupational standards in criminology at Level 3, we are exploring options for V Levels in occupational routes that best align to existing criminology qualifications, such as protective services, while considering the interplay with existing A levels such as sociology, to ensure we are not duplicating content.
We will work with the sector to consider options and update the implementation plan by early 2027.
Existing qualifications in this subject area will retain funding approval until at least the 2029/30 academic year, when we aim to introduce a V Level in the subject area of protective services.
Asked by: Cat Eccles (Labour - Stourbridge)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, will funding for Criminology remain in place for the next academic year.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department published the Post-16 Pathways implementation plan on 20 May, which sets out how we will deliver changes to the technical and vocational qualifications that a young person can choose from age 16.
V Levels are designed to link to occupational standards and support progression into Level 4+ study, whether in higher education or a higher-level apprenticeship. As there are no specific occupational standards in criminology at Level 3, we are exploring options for V Levels in occupational routes that best align to existing criminology qualifications, such as protective services, while considering the interplay with existing A levels such as sociology, to ensure we are not duplicating content.
We will work with the sector to consider options and update the implementation plan by early 2027.
Existing qualifications in this subject area will retain funding approval until at least the 2029/30 academic year, when we aim to introduce a V Level in the subject area of protective services.
Asked by: Cat Eccles (Labour - Stourbridge)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to create a V Level in Criminology or to incorporate Criminology into a broader Protective Services route.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department published the Post-16 Pathways implementation plan on 20 May, which sets out how we will deliver changes to the technical and vocational qualifications that a young person can choose from age 16.
V Levels are designed to link to occupational standards and support progression into Level 4+ study, whether in higher education or a higher-level apprenticeship. As there are no specific occupational standards in criminology at Level 3, we are exploring options for V Levels in occupational routes that best align to existing criminology qualifications, such as protective services, while considering the interplay with existing A levels such as sociology, to ensure we are not duplicating content.
We will work with the sector to consider options and update the implementation plan by early 2027.
Existing qualifications in this subject area will retain funding approval until at least the 2029/30 academic year, when we aim to introduce a V Level in the subject area of protective services.
Asked by: Cat Eccles (Labour - Stourbridge)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to reduce pay inequalities between Further Education staff and staff in schools and academised sixth form colleges.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Further education (FE) colleges and sixth form colleges are responsible for setting and negotiating pay within colleges and have the freedom to implement pay arrangements within their own local circumstances. In addition, there are sector-led arrangements for pay in FE colleges and sixth form colleges through the National Joint Forum and National Joint Council.
Last year, we announced an additional £190 million for colleges and other 16 to 19 providers for the 2025/26 financial year. We are providing nearly £9 billion in 16 to 19 programme funding for the 2026/27 academic year. This funding will support both FE colleges and sixth form colleges in addressing pressures, including supporting recruitment and retention of excellent specialist teachers.
Our targeted retention incentive offer is designed to retain eligible FE teachers in technical subjects with payments of up to £6,000 after tax. In its first year, nearly 6,000 teachers received a payment. Eligible teachers at FE colleges, sixth form colleges and 16 to 19 only academies and schools are able to access the scheme.
Asked by: Cat Eccles (Labour - Stourbridge)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that adequate (a) training and (b) funding is made available for schools to meet the needs of children with physical challenges requiring individualised support.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government is committed to strengthening the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system to help improve outcomes for children and young people.
The department has published allocations for £740 million high needs capital in 2025/26. This funding is intended to create facilities within mainstream schools that can deliver more intensive support adapted to suit pupils’ needs. It can also be used to adapt mainstream schools to be more accessible and to create special school places for pupils with the most complex needs.
Funding for schools is increasing by £4.2 billion by financial year 2028/29, compared to this financial year 2025/26. This additional funding will provide an above real terms per pupil increase on overall schools funding, which will take per-pupil funding to its highest ever level and enable us to transform the SEND system. We intend to set out plans for reforming the SEND system in further detail in the coming months.
The department has recently commissioned the Council for Disabled Children to produce new guidance for schools on their duties towards their disabled pupils under equality law, including a new handbook on their accessibility duty, available here: https://councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/files/Accessibility%20plans%20and%20the%20Equality%20Act%202010%20A%20handbook%20for%20schools.pdf. We have also commissioned a forthcoming training package to complement that guidance.
Asked by: Cat Eccles (Labour - Stourbridge)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure that children have access to a (a) full and (b) balanced curriculum; and what steps she is taking to help ensure that children have access to the creative arts (i) up to and (ii) after GCSE level.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The department wants every child, regardless of background, to have a rich and broad, inclusive and innovative curriculum.
Art and design, music, dance (included in physical education) and drama (included in English) are in the national curriculum and are compulsory in all maintained schools. From key stages 1-3 for art and design, music, and dance; and key stages 1-4 for drama. At key stage 4, all pupils in maintained schools have an entitlement to study an arts subject, if they wish.
The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review aims to ensure that all pupils gain knowledge and skills that set them up for life. The Review will publish its final report in the autumn, and the government will respond.
Alongside the Review, we have announced our intention to launch a new National Centre for Arts and Music Education, to help meet the government’s ambitions for improved and more equitable arts education.
Asked by: Cat Eccles (Labour - Stourbridge)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the post- (a) 16 and (b) 18 support for young people raised in kinship.
Answered by Janet Daby
This government is committed to ensuring more children are supported in a strong kinship care arrangement, avoiding care where possible, because we know that this leads to better outcomes.
We are legislating through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to require local authorities to publish a local offer for children and families in kinship arrangements and requiring local authorities to offer family group decision making to families with children on the edge of care. These measures will ensure more children are supported within their family networks, and with kinship carers instead of entering care.
Some children in kinship care, such as those placed with kinship foster carers, are entitled to leaving care support if they have been in care for a minimum of 13 weeks, some of which was after they reached age 16, when they cease to be looked after. This includes support from a Personal Adviser up to the age of 25, and support to engage in education, employment or training, including a £2,000 bursary if they attend higher education.
This support will also include providing continuity of support and relationships when care leavers reach age 18 through the ‘Staying Put’ programme and investing in family-finding, mentoring and befriending programmes.