Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of including a list of student groups with disproportionately high exclusion rates in her Department’s statutory exclusion guidance.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department remains committed to providing world class education, training, and care for everyone whatever their background, and to taking the action needed to address disparities.
Head teachers use suspensions and permanent exclusions when required, as part of creating calm, safe and supportive classrooms that bring out the best in every pupil. Schools should only use permanent exclusion as a last resort. The Department supports teachers in taking proportionate and measured steps to ensure good behaviour in schools.
The Department is aware that some groups of children have a greater likelihood of suspension and permanent exclusion than others, although local context means there will be different patterns across the country. The updated ‘Suspension and Permanent Exclusion’ guidance sets out that schools, local authorities, and local partners should work together to understand what lies behind local trends. This guidance is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1101498/Suspension_and_Permanent_Exclusion_from_maintained_schools__academies_and_pupil_referral_units_in_England__including_pupil_movement.pdf.
The Department’s ‘Understanding your data: a guide for school governors and academy trustees’ makes clear that governing boards should carefully consider the level and characteristics of pupils who are leaving the school and challenge the school and academy trust management teams on any permanent exclusions to ensure it is only used as a last resort. This includes looking at suspensions, pupils taken off roll, those directed to be educated off site in Alternative Provision (AP), and whether there are any patterns to the reasons or timing of such moves.
Schools also have a clear duty not to discriminate against pupils based on protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. Ofsted’s assessment of behaviour in schools includes specific consideration of rates, patterns, and reasons for exclusions, as well as any differences between groups of pupils.
The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and AP Implementation Plan, published on 2 March 2023, sets out a new national vision and delivery model for the AP system. As needs will be identified and supported early, this should reduce the numbers of preventable exclusions and expensive long term placements, and lead to improvements in pupils’ wellbeing and outcomes.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to tackle potential disparities in school exclusions among (a) different racial groups and (b) people with multiple protected characteristics.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department remains committed to providing world class education, training, and care for everyone whatever their background, and to taking the action needed to address disparities.
Head teachers use suspensions and permanent exclusions when required, as part of creating calm, safe and supportive classrooms that bring out the best in every pupil. Schools should only use permanent exclusion as a last resort. The Department supports teachers in taking proportionate and measured steps to ensure good behaviour in schools.
The Department is aware that some groups of children have a greater likelihood of suspension and permanent exclusion than others, although local context means there will be different patterns across the country. The updated ‘Suspension and Permanent Exclusion’ guidance sets out that schools, local authorities, and local partners should work together to understand what lies behind local trends. This guidance is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1101498/Suspension_and_Permanent_Exclusion_from_maintained_schools__academies_and_pupil_referral_units_in_England__including_pupil_movement.pdf.
The Department’s ‘Understanding your data: a guide for school governors and academy trustees’ makes clear that governing boards should carefully consider the level and characteristics of pupils who are leaving the school and challenge the school and academy trust management teams on any permanent exclusions to ensure it is only used as a last resort. This includes looking at suspensions, pupils taken off roll, those directed to be educated off site in Alternative Provision (AP), and whether there are any patterns to the reasons or timing of such moves.
Schools also have a clear duty not to discriminate against pupils based on protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. Ofsted’s assessment of behaviour in schools includes specific consideration of rates, patterns, and reasons for exclusions, as well as any differences between groups of pupils.
The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and AP Implementation Plan, published on 2 March 2023, sets out a new national vision and delivery model for the AP system. As needs will be identified and supported early, this should reduce the numbers of preventable exclusions and expensive long term placements, and lead to improvements in pupils’ wellbeing and outcomes.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential benefits of providing specialist support to children identified as at risk of exclusion.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department remains committed to providing world class education, training, and care for everyone whatever their background, and to taking the action needed to address disparities.
Head teachers use suspensions and permanent exclusions when required, as part of creating calm, safe and supportive classrooms that bring out the best in every pupil. Schools should only use permanent exclusion as a last resort. The Department supports teachers in taking proportionate and measured steps to ensure good behaviour in schools.
The Department is aware that some groups of children have a greater likelihood of suspension and permanent exclusion than others, although local context means there will be different patterns across the country. The updated ‘Suspension and Permanent Exclusion’ guidance sets out that schools, local authorities, and local partners should work together to understand what lies behind local trends. This guidance is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1101498/Suspension_and_Permanent_Exclusion_from_maintained_schools__academies_and_pupil_referral_units_in_England__including_pupil_movement.pdf.
The Department’s ‘Understanding your data: a guide for school governors and academy trustees’ makes clear that governing boards should carefully consider the level and characteristics of pupils who are leaving the school and challenge the school and academy trust management teams on any permanent exclusions to ensure it is only used as a last resort. This includes looking at suspensions, pupils taken off roll, those directed to be educated off site in Alternative Provision (AP), and whether there are any patterns to the reasons or timing of such moves.
Schools also have a clear duty not to discriminate against pupils based on protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. Ofsted’s assessment of behaviour in schools includes specific consideration of rates, patterns, and reasons for exclusions, as well as any differences between groups of pupils.
The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and AP Implementation Plan, published on 2 March 2023, sets out a new national vision and delivery model for the AP system. As needs will be identified and supported early, this should reduce the numbers of preventable exclusions and expensive long term placements, and lead to improvements in pupils’ wellbeing and outcomes.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to allow school exclusion decisions to be appealed to first-tier tribunals in cases where racial discrimination is alleged.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government condemns and strives to tackle all forms of discrimination, prejudice, and harassment. Under the Equality Act 2010, schools have a duty to take steps to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation, and to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations across all protected characteristics, including between people of different ethnic backgrounds. The Department has published advice to support schools to fulfil their duties under the Equality Act 2010, which can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/315587/Equality_Act_Advice_Final.pdf.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding for education, health and care plans in schools.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
The core schools budget is £4 billion higher this financial year than last year and will rise by another £3.5 billion, on top of that, in the next financial year, reaching a total of £57.3 billion. Taken together, this means an increase of over 15% in just two years.
Local authorities are required by regulations to identify for each of their mainstream schools, through their local schools funding formula, a notional special educational needs (SEN) budget within which the school is expected to meet the additional cost (up to £6,000 per pupil) of supporting pupils with SEN, including those with an education health and care (EHC) plan. The department has issued guidance to local authorities on their calculation of the notional SEN budget using their local funding formula.
When the costs of additional support required for a pupil with SEN exceed £6,000, the authority should also allocate additional top-up funding to cover the excess costs. This funding comes from the authority’s high needs budget. Overall, high needs funding (part of the overall core schools budget referred to above) is increasing to £10.1 billion in financial year 2023/24, an increase of over 50% from the 2019/20 allocations. Typically, high needs funding is for children and young people with an EHC plan, in both mainstream and special schools, though local authorities have the discretion to provide high needs funding for those without an EHC plan.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to implement the 18+1 ethnicity monitoring system for data collection in education for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department follows the Office of National Statistics (ONS) and Government Statistical Service (GSS) harmonised standards for collecting and/or presenting statistics. More details about codes can be found here along with information on how the codes were chosen: https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/style-guide/ethnic-groups.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to address trends in the level of racial inequalities in school exclusions.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Behaviour in schools is a priority for the Government. Head teachers use suspensions and permanent exclusions when required as part of creating calm, safe and supportive classrooms. Schools should only use permanent exclusion as a last resort. The Department supports teachers in taking proportionate and measured steps to ensure good behaviour in schools.
The updated Suspension and Permanent Exclusion guidance 2022 sets out that schools, Local Authorities, and local partners should work together to understand what lies behind local exclusion trends. Guidance on updated suspension and permanent exclusion can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-exclusion.
This is in line with the commitment the Government made in Inclusive Britain: the Government’s response to the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities (published March 2022). Action 36 committed to ‘consult on and publish new and improved guidance on behaviour in schools and on suspensions and permanent exclusions in 2022’.
The Department’s ‘Understanding your data: a guide for school governors and academy trustees’ makes clear governing boards should carefully consider the level and characteristics of pupils who are leaving the school and deploy maximum challenge to the school and academy trust management teams on any permanent exclusions to ensure it is only used as a last resort.
Schools have a clear duty not to discriminate against pupils under the Equality Act 2010. Ofsted’s assessment of behaviour in schools includes specific consideration of rates, patterns and reasons for exclusions, as well as any differences between groups of pupils.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to respond to the correspondence of 10 February 2023 from the hon. Member for Lewisham East, reference JD32674.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Cabinet Office target is for Departments to reply to 95% of correspondence within 20 working days. The Department and its Ministers understand the importance of providing timely responses to correspondence and have set an internal target for responding to MP correspondence within 18 working days. A response to the hon. Member’s letter will be sent by 8 March 2023.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of the total subject hours for (i) history, (ii) geography, (iii) English and (iv) religious education in key stages (a) three, (b) four and (c) five were taught by teachers without a post A-level qualification in that subject in the last 12 months.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Information on the school workforce in England, including subjects taught in state funded secondary schools, is collected as part of the annual School Workforce Census each November. Information is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
Overall figures for Key Stages 3 to 5 are available in the national statistic publication, which is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/5b359029-bbd3-4856-812c-08dae43019f8.
Timetabled teaching is reported for a typical week in November, as determined by the school. It does not cover an entire year of teaching. If there are variations in timetabling across the year, this is not covered in the data available to the Department.
Subject taught is collected from secondary schools that use electronic timetabling software that can produce data in the format required. Data is then weighted to provide national totals.
Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 21 December 2022 to Question 110853 on Religion: Secondary Education, if she will make an estimate of the number and proportion of teachers of (a) religious education, (b) geography, (c) history and (d) English who spent the majority of their timetabled hours teaching each subject in the last 12 months.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Information on the school workforce in England, including subjects taught in state funded secondary schools, is collected as part of the annual School Workforce Census each November. Information is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
As of November 2021, 49% of teachers teaching religious education (RE), 72% teaching geography, 73% teaching history, and 87% teaching English were teaching these subjects for at least 50% of the time in a typical week of the school timetable. The following table breaks this information down further.
Teachers in secondary schools in England who spent the majority1 of their timetabled hours teaching RE, geography, history or English
November 2021
Subject | Teachers2 | Teachers with majority1 of hours teaching that subject | |
Number | Percentage | ||
RE | 15,529 | 7,608 | 49% |
Geography | 16,548 | 11,892 | 72% |
History | 17,587 | 12,873 | 73% |
English | 39,043 | 33,940 | 87% |
Source: School Workforce Census and Database of Teacher Records
1 - 50% or more of individual teachers’ total timetabled hours.
2 - Teachers with at least some of their timetabled time set to teach the subject.
Timetabled teaching is reported for a typical week in November, as determined by the school. It does not cover an entire year of teaching. If there are variations in timetabling across the year, this is not covered in the data available to the Department. As this information is based on electronic timetabling data, it does not include time spent by teachers on their classroom preparation, training, or any other non-timetabled activities.
Data on subjects taught is collected from a large sample of secondary schools. This is then weighted to provide national totals.