Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will take steps to help schools to continue making arrangements for pupil exchanges with EU Member States after 1 January 2021: and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
School exchanges provide pupils with the chance to experience different cultures, improve their language skills and to build their independence. It is for individual schools to choose where and how they might wish to run a school exchange, including whether they use the support of third-party companies and organisations such as the British Council.
The Department funds the British Council-delivered International School Exchange programme, which provides opportunities for young people, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to take part in an international exchange and visit partner schools around the world, including in EU Member States. It is hoped to restart the programme in the latter part of 2021.
The newly announced Turing scheme, which replaces the UK’s participation in Erasmus+, will allow thousands of students to study and take part in work placements in the EU and beyond. The Turing scheme will be backed by over £100 million, providing funding for around 35,000 students in universities, colleges and schools to go on placements and exchanges overseas, starting in September 2021.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the future provision of funding for Music Education Hubs.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department funds a national network of 120 Music Education Hubs who work with the majority of schools to deliver four core roles, one of which is to enable children from all backgrounds and every part of England to have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument. This includes children with special educational needs and disabilities.
Discussions between my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury concerning the current spending review have taken place with regards to all departmental policies which includes Music Education Hubs.
The Spending Review is expected to conclude by 25 November.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will take steps to arrange for UK students studying at universities in France to be tested for covid-19 to enable them to return home for Christmas without the need for quarantine; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
All international arrivals and passengers travelling from a country not on the travel corridor list will need to self-isolate on their return for 14 days, and that includes UK nationals studying abroad: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-travel-corridors#countries-territories-and-regions-on-the-travel-corridor-list.
On arrival, students should adhere to Public Health England advice. Students are not exempt from wider restrictions in place when in the UK and are required to complete a passenger locator form as all other international arrivals would. The government will review these measures regularly to ensure that they are in line with the latest scientific evidence and that they remain effective and necessary.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will implement an appeals system to enable A-level students whose grades were adversely affected by schools' and colleges' interpretation of Ofqual guidance to have their centre-assessed grades reviewed by examination boards: and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
This year, appeals against A and AS Level and GCSE grades can be submitted by schools or colleges where they think the exam board did not apply its procedures properly and fairly or where the data used by the exam board to calculate results contained an error.
Guidance to schools and colleges from the independent qualifications regulator in England, Ofqual, provided advice on objectivity in deciding on their centre assessment grades. All centre assessment grades were signed off by head teachers and or college principals who confirmed that they honestly and fairly represented the grades that these students would have been most likely to achieve if they had sat their exams as planned.
Any students who have evidence of bias or discrimination will be able to go through the normal complaints procedure at their school or college or complain to the exam board, which could investigate potential malpractice.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether additional funding will be made available to schools to acquire additional space in which to teach appropriately distanced classes during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
From 1 June, primary schools have been able to welcome back children in nursery, reception, year 1 and year 6, alongside children of critical workers and vulnerable children. Each school’s circumstances will be slightly different. Any school that cannot achieve the small group sizes set out in the protective measures guidance for the current phase of wider opening should discuss options with their local authority or academy trust. If necessary, schools have the flexibility to focus first on continuing to provide places for priority groups and then, to support children’s early learning, schools should prioritise groups of children as follows:
We know that in some schools, there will be capacity to welcome more children back, in group sizes of no more than 15, before the summer holidays. Primary schools have the flexibility to do this, but should only welcome back additional children where provision for eligible groups has already been made, and where they do not require additional funding, staff or classrooms to do so.
We have published guidance on the additional funding we are providing to schools to cover unavoidable costs incurred due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak that cannot be met from their existing resources. The fund is targeted towards the costs we have identified as the biggest barrier to schools operating as they need to at this challenging time.
The cost categories covered by the fund are clearly set out in the guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-schools/school-funding-exceptional-costs-associated-with-coronavirus-covid-19-for-the-period-march-to-july-2020. These are: the increased premises-related costs of opening over school holidays; support for free school meals for eligible children who are not in school, where schools are not using the national voucher scheme; and additional cleaning costs relating to cases or suspected cases of coronavirus, above the cost of existing cleaning arrangements.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will issue guidance to (a) schools, (b) parents, and (c) insurance companies prohibiting school residential trips until after the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department currently advises against any overseas, domestic or residential visits for children under 18 organised by schools. This advice will remain under review and will be updated in line with guidance from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), the Department for Transport (DfT) and Public Health England (PHE).
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the timeframe is for the ending of the provisions in the Coronavirus Act 2020 in relation to duties on local authorities under Section 42 of the Children and Families Act 2014.
Answered by Vicky Ford
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, has issued a notice to modify temporarily the duty on local authorities and health commissioning bodies to secure or arrange the provision specified in education, health and care (EHC) plans, so that they can discharge this by using their ‘reasonable endeavours’. The modified duty applies to all local authorities and health commissioning bodies in England.
The maximum period for which a notice can be issued is a month, although the Secretary of State can issue a further notice if necessary. The current notice is in force from 1 to 30 June 2020 (inclusive), following a notice that was issued for the month of May.
We are committed to ceasing this temporary change to the duty on local authorities and health commissioning bodies to secure or arrange the provision specified in EHC plans at the earliest opportunity. We will continue to work with a range of stakeholders, including representative bodies for local authorities and parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and a number of specialist SEND organisations, to keep this measure under close review and to inform decisions as to whether or not further notices should be issued.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the covid-19 lockdown, if he will give discretion to independent schools to prioritise the return of Year 8 pupils due to undertake Common Entrance examinations.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As of 1 June 2020, the Government has asked primary schools to welcome back children in Nursery, Reception, year 1 and year 6, alongside priority groups.
We want to get all children and young people back into education as soon as the scientific advice allows because it is the best place for them to learn, and because we know how important it is for their mental wellbeing to have social interactions with their peers, carers and teachers. The safety of children and staff is our utmost priority.
Guidance for schools and childcare settings to prepare for wider opening from 1 June 2020 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-educational-and-childcare-settings-to-prepare-for-wider-opening-from-1-june-2020/actions-for-education-and-childcare-settings-to-prepare-for-wider-opening-from-1-june-2020.
We expect all mainstream schools and colleges, including independent schools, to follow the same approach, to ensure national parity for children in this year group.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that home educated pupils can secure public examination grades in 2019-20.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced to the House on 18 March, the Government has taken the difficult decision to cancel all examinations due to take place in schools and colleges in England this summer, as part of the fight to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
The Department’s priority is to ensure that students can move on as planned to the next stage of their lives, including starting university, college or sixth form courses or apprenticeships, in the autumn. For GCSE, AS and A-level students, we will make sure they are awarded a grade which reflects their work. Our intention is that a grade will be awarded this summer based on the best available evidence, including any non-examination assessment that students have already completed. Students will also have the option to sit an examination, as soon as is reasonably possible after the beginning of the academic year, if they wish to do so.
The independent regulator of qualifications, Ofqual, is working urgently with examination boards to set out proposals for how this process will work and to look at the options available in relation to external candidates, including home educated students.
Further information will be published as soon as possible.
Asked by: Desmond Swayne (Conservative - New Forest West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will extend his sanitary product scheme to primary schools; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
No one should be held back from reaching their potential because of their gender or background. That is why my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in his Spring Statement on 13 March 2019 that the Department for Education will lead a scheme to provide access to free sanitary products in all secondary schools and colleges in England. The scheme will be rolled out during the next academic year. As the scheme develops, we will also consider providing free sanitary products in primary schools.