Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what methods his Department uses to collect the views of parents on education policy.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
Parents and carers are often included in the departments individual research studies on specific interventions, generally asking about the impact on their child. Research studies commissioned by the department are published here: https://www.gov.uk/search/research-and-statistics?content_store_document_type=research&keywords=&organisations%5B%5D=department-for-education.
The department’s main means of interacting with parents and carers of school pupils is from our dedicated panel which was set up to engage with parents and carers and in a robust and representative way. Parents and carers who have agreed to regularly participate in surveys across the academic year are asked to fill out an online survey on a range of topics. Last academic year this was approximately every four weeks, and this academic year will be approximately every six weeks. These surveys have helped to inform our response on a range of issues and is also helping to shape our education recovery.
The findings from the 2020/21 academic year's surveys (Parent and Pupil Panel) were published in October 2021 and are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/parent-and-pupil-panel-omnibus-surveys. The first survey for the 2021/22 academic year took place in December 2021 with parents and carers of school pupils joining the newly renamed Parent, Pupil and Learner Panel.
The department also regularly interviews parents of early years children on government childcare offers, amongst other topics related to childcare, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-survey-of-parents-2019. The next publication is due in July 2022. Whilst interviewing had to be postponed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the department set up an online survey of parents to gather evidence on childcare use and other topics during COVID-19. This was last published in September 2021 and is conducted on an ad-hoc basis. The most recent publication can be found here: https://www.ipsos.com/ipsos-mori/en-uk/childcare-use-perceived-impact-child-development-information-working-home-and-awareness-and-use.