Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Sutton Trust report entitled The Recent Evolution of Apprenticeships, published on 8 December, what steps she is taking to increase the uptake of higher and degree level apprenticeships by young people from more disadvantaged areas.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The table attached shows the take-up of apprenticeships by age and home deprivation level from 2017/18 to 2022/23.
The department wants to see more young people from disadvantaged backgrounds accessing higher and degree level apprenticeships as they are crucial in driving social mobility by boosting skills and improving earnings and career opportunities.
We are promoting apprenticeships to students of all backgrounds through our Apprenticeship Support & Knowledge programme. The department publishes the Higher and Degree apprenticeship vacancy listing twice a year, which will highlight over 350 vacancies across the country that are available for young people to apply for in 2023 and 2024. The link to the vacancy listing can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-and-degree-apprenticeships.
The department wants to ensure apprenticeships are accessible for young people and is working with UCAS on the expansion of their apprenticeships service. From this autumn, young people will see more personalised options on UCAS, including apprenticeships. From autumn 2024, students will be able to apply for apprenticeships alongside an undergraduate degree application. This will help put technical and vocational education on an equal footing with traditional academic routes.
The department is also making up to £8 million available to higher education providers in the 2022/23 financial year to support them to grow their degree apprenticeship offers. We are also working with the Office for Students to improve access to and participation in higher and degree apprenticeships.
The department knows that small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are key in creating apprenticeship opportunities for those in disadvantaged areas and we have recently launched an SME pathfinder in four regions of the North of England to support employers to find and hire new apprentices at all levels.
The department provides additional funding to employers and training providers to support them to take on young apprentices aged 16 to18, and apprentices aged 19 to 24 that have an education, health and care plan or have been in care. Apprentices starting in August under the age of 25 that have been in local authority care can also claim a bursary of £3,000.
The department will continue to champion the Social Mobility Commission’s Apprenticeships Toolkit for employers, and work with some of the country’s most influential employers through the Apprenticeship Diversity Champions Network to set out how employers can better recruit and support apprentices from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many complaints he received of maladministration by academy admission authority appeal panels in each of the last five years; and what the average time taken was to (a) reply to and (b) resolve complaints in the same period.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department aims to acknowledge all complaints within three working days. In relation to admission maladministration complaints relating to academies, the Department has received the following number in the last five calendar years:
Year | Academy Admission Appeal Panel Complaints | Average Days to Resolve |
2018 | 233 | 20.68 |
2019 | 352 | 23.39 |
2020 | 406 | 15.78 |
2021 | 339 | 15.66 |
2022 | 253 | 19.07 |
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help improve the recruitment and retention of early years practitioners in (a) Hull West and Hessle and (b) England.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The department is working proactively with the sector and local authorities, including those in the Kingston upon Hull area, to build our understanding of the situation and how we might support the sector to attract more staff to work in early years education and childcare.
The government is providing a package of training, qualifications, expert guidance, and targeted support for the early years sector to help address existing recruitment and retention challenges, including providing additional funding for graduate level specialist training leading to early years teacher status and an accredited level 3 early years SENCO qualification. More information on the early years education recovery programme can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-education-recovery-programme.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the financial performance of the Office for Students.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Officials in the department and the Office for Students (OfS) regularly discuss the OfS's finances and funding and its business planning and efficiency, including the level of resource it needs to deliver its priorities.
The Framework Document between the department and the OfS can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1129117/OfS_framework_document.pdf.
The document sets out the governance framework within which the OfS and the department operate, and the OfS’s core responsibilities, including in relation to financial matters.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she expects the Public Bodies Review Programme for 2023-24 to assess the Office for Students.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The Cabinet Office has not yet published the list of public bodies to be prioritised for review in the 2023/24 financial year.
It is currently the intention that the Office for Students will be reviewed under the Public Bodies Review Programme from autumn 2023, with findings likely published by the end of the financial year. These timings may change.
Cabinet Office guidance outlines the requirements for reviews of public bodies, including the new requirements covering governance, accountability, efficacy and efficiency of arm’s length bodies.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when the Public Bodies Review Programme 2023-24 will report on its review of the Office for Students.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The Cabinet Office has not yet published the list of public bodies to be prioritised for review in the 2023/24 financial year.
It is currently the intention that the Office for Students will be reviewed under the Public Bodies Review Programme from autumn 2023, with findings likely published by the end of the financial year. These timings may change.
Cabinet Office guidance outlines the requirements for reviews of public bodies, including the new requirements covering governance, accountability, efficacy and efficiency of arm’s length bodies.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 20 July 2022 to Question 37614, Schools: Buildings, which schools in Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle constituency have at least one construction element in (a) condition grade C and (b) condition grade D.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Condition Data Collection (CDC) was one of the largest and most comprehensive data collection programmes in the UK public sector. It collected data on the building condition of government funded schools in England. It provides a robust evidence base to enable the Department to target capital funding for maintaining and rebuilding school buildings.
The key, high level findings of the CDC programme were published in May 2021 in the ‘Condition of School Buildings Survey: Key Findings’ report. This report is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/989912/Condition_of_School_Buildings_Survey_CDC1_-_key_findings_report.pdf.
Individual CDC reports have been shared with every school and their responsible body in the Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle constituency to use alongside their existing condition surveys to plan maintenance schedules and investment plans. The Department plans to publish detailed school level CDC data. This data is being prepared and will be published as soon as possible.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has provided additional funding to (a) further and (b) higher education providers to help them prepare for the introduction of the lifelong loan entitlement in the period since that policy was announced; whether her Department plans to provide additional funding for this purpose in future financial years; and what recent estimate she had made of whether the lifelong loan entitlement will be available from 2025.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Additional funding has been provided to Further and Higher Education providers as part of the Higher Education Short Course trial in the period since the Lifelong Loan Entitlement (LLE) was announced. The Government is considering other activities required to ensure providers are ready to respond to the LLE for launch in 2025, a timeline which the Government remains committed to and is on track to deliver.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many applications there have been to date for places on the Higher Education Short Courses trial; how many and what proportion of those applications were accepted; and how many and what proportion of those that were accepted applied for (a) fee and (b) maintenance loans.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The Higher Education Short Courses trial, which will be rolling out over the course of the 2022/23 academic year, has seen 22 providers develop over 100 short courses. The department will be monitoring the overall number of students and number of applications for loans as part of the trial, which is due to run for three years in total.
The department is developing bespoke engagement activity to further engage trial providers. We are keen to explore how they can maximise their relationships with employers to ensure steady uptake of the new short courses opening throughout the year and beyond. We will continue to work closely with those providers to maximise the number of applications.
We are only offering tuition fee loans for the courses within this trial. This is the first time that a tuition fee loan from the Student Loans Company has been available to students applying for Higher Education short courses. Those who need additional support may be eligible for a study-costs bursary which can be used towards study-related costs, such as childcare, books, and travel, and is distributed directly by their provider.
The department is gathering and evaluating data throughout the trial alongside the Student Loan Company, Office for Students and providers, and will use this to inform the development of the Lifelong Loan Entitlement. We currently have no plans to publish any specific data.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what accessible formats her Department has considered for the 2023 exam season; and whether her Department has considered making modified exam papers consistent across all exam boards and qualifications.
Answered by Nick Gibb
This is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have asked its Chief Regulator, Dr Jo Saxton, to write to the Honourable Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.