Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of trends in the number of students enrolling in adult education in each year since 2010.
Answered by Anne Milton
We recognise that participation in adult (19+) further education has decreased. The latest full year statistics are published on GOV.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/further-education-and-skills-statistical-first-release-sfr.
We are considering adult skills more widely as a department and will therefore be considering trends in the take-up of adult education as part of this. In addition, we are looking carefully at further education funding in preparation for the Spending Review. We are considering how effective our funding and regulatory structures are in supporting high quality provision, and in line with the aims of the Post-18 Review, to ensure a coherent vision for further and higher education.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many exclusions per head of population there have been in each local authority area in each of the last nine years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The National Statistics release ‘Permanent and fixed-period exclusions in England 2016 to 2017’ includes information on the number and rate of permanent and fixed period exclusions. Exclusion rates are calculated as a percentage of the total headcount of the sole and dual main registered pupil population on roll as at January census day.
The full release is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/permanent-and-fixed-period-exclusions-in-england-2016-to-2017.
Information at a national level, by local authorities and by schools for each academic year from 2006/07 to 2016/17 is available in the Underlying data section of the release, in the file “national_region_la_school_data_exc1617.csv”.
The Department does not publish exclusion figures as a proportion of the total population. Population estimates at a local authority level are published by the Office for National Statistics, available here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he has taken to ensure that (a) people on teacher training courses are trained in dealing with children with additional learning needs and (b) sufficient on-going training is offered to qualified teachers to ensure that an adequate level of training is maintained.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Initial teacher training (ITT) providers must design their courses to enable trainees to meet The Teachers’ Standards. These Standards set out the key elements of effective teaching and the minimum expectations for professional practice. In order to become a qualified teacher, trainees must satisfy the Standards, which include a requirement that they have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils, and are able to use and evaluate distinctive teaching approaches to engage and support them.
The Department published the Framework of Core Content for ITT in July 2016 to further support effective training. The Framework advises that, “ITT providers should ensure Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) training is integrated across the ITT programme”. The Department is currently undertaking an audit of SEND provision across ITT providers, which it will use to produce a best practice guide.
On 28 January 2019, the Department published the Recruitment and Retention strategy and the Early Career Framework (ECF). The ECF provides a two-year improved support package for newly qualified teachers, providing them with support they need to help all pupils succeed and widen access for all - including pupils identified within the four areas of need set out in the SEND code of practice.
Schools and headteachers are best placed to make specific decisions about how to support and improve their teachers, but the Department is assisting schools with this through the national network of teaching schools and the Standard for Teachers’ Professional Development.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the average of real terms per pupil funding for 5-16 year olds in England in (a) 2000-2010, and (b) 2011-2018.
Answered by Nick Gibb
School funding for 5-16 year olds is set to be more than 50% higher in 2020 than in 2000, and the core schools budget will be £43.5 billion by 2019/20.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) estimate that between 1999/00 and 2009/10, school spending grew by around 5% each year, in real terms per pupil. Funding was protected in real terms per pupil between 2010/11 and 2015/16. It was protected in real terms overall between 2015/16 and 2017/18. The Department is committed to protecting funding in real terms per pupil between across 2018/19 and 2019/20, following an additional £1.3 billion in July 2017, over and above plans set out at the 2015 Spending Review.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of per pupil funding in England by his Department in each of the last eight years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department has protected the core schools budget overall in real terms since 2010. School funding in England is at its highest ever level, rising to £43.5 billion in 2020. Figures from the Institute for Fiscal Studies show that real terms per pupil funding for five to 16 year olds in 2020 will be more than 50% higher than it was in 2000.
The Department recognises that schools have faced cost pressures in recent years. The Department has announced a strategy (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-excellent-school-resource-management) setting out the range of support, current and planned, that it is making available to help schools reduce costs. This outlines the extensive support the Department is providing for schools and includes guidance to improve how they buy goods and services.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with educational psychologists on the effect of reception baseline assessments on infant mental health.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The National Foundation for Education Research (NFER) are working with the department to develop and deliver the reception baseline assessment (RBA). NFER have been developing assessments for over 70 years, and all aspects of the RBA design are informed by an evidence base of early years research. As we move forward with the development and piloting of the assessment, the department will continue to work very closely with the sector to ensure we get the experience right for pupils.
The department is confident that the assessment will not be stressful or upsetting for children. It will be teacher-mediated and carried out one-to-one with the child using age-appropriate resources that they can handle and manipulate, lasting around 20 minutes. It will be similar to the on-entry assessments that schools already carry out in the reception year.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department uses Office for National Statistics estimates of personal well-being when formulating policy; and what policies his Department has introduced to improve national well-being in the last 12 months.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The estimates of personal wellbeing by the Office of National Statistics are an excellent source of data on a range of aspects of children and young people’s lives and we endeavour to use the most relevant information to inform policy thinking wherever it is available.
To improve the wellbeing of children, young people and adults, a number of recent policies have been introduced to make sure that all schools have access to mental health support. This includes 30 hours of free childcare for 3 and 4 year olds, the doubling of primary school’s PE and sport premium to £320 million per year since September 2017, and the investment of up to £26 million in a breakfast club programme which will establish or improve breakfast clubs in over 1,700 schools and will be targeted at the most disadvantaged areas of the country.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of University students who have accessed mental health services through (a) their university and (b) the NHS in each of the last seven years.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Higher education providers (HEPs) are not required to submit information on students accessing their mental health services. Students have no obligation to disclose to their institution or any other party if they access NHS mental health services.
Research conducted last year by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) states:
The IPPR research is available at: https://www.ippr.org/publications/not-by-degrees.
The University Mental Health Charter, announced in June, is backed by the government and led by the sector, and will drive up standards in promoting student and staff mental health and wellbeing.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the findings of the National Education Union and Child Poverty Action Group, Child poverty and education: A survey of the experiences of NEU members, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of school staff who are personally purchasing equipment for students.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
School staff should not have to purchase equipment for their students. Core funding for schools and high needs is at its highest ever level, having risen from almost £41 billion in the period 2017 to 2018 to £42.4 billion this year. It will rise further to £43.5 billion in the period 2019 to 2020.
Since 2010, there are 637,000 fewer children living in workless households. 75% of children from workless families moved out of poverty when their parents entered into full-time work.
Supported by the National Living Wage, the lowest paid have seen their wages grow by almost 7% above inflation between April 2015 and April 2017. This year, the government raised the Income Tax personal allowance to £11,850.
Under the Labour government, in the period 2009 to 2010, someone working full-time on the minimum wage earned over £10,500 and had to pay £820 to the government in income tax. Under the Conservative government, in the period 2018 to 2019, they earn over £14,200 and would only pay £490.
Asked by: Chris Ruane (Labour - Vale of Clwyd)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of university students have been diagnosed with a mental health condition.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Any disclosure of diagnosed mental health conditions by higher education students to their institution is voluntary. The actual number of university students with diagnosed mental health conditions is therefore unknown.
Latest data available from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) for the academic year 2016/17 shows that 57,300 students enrolled at UK Higher Education Institutions had declared that they suffer from a mental health condition, which is 2.5% of all enrolments.