Asked by: Juliet Campbell (Labour - Broxtowe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Department is taking to ensure that careers advisers receive training on the challenges experienced by young people with dyslexia and other neurodiverse differences.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Careers adviser qualifications and continuing professional development (CPD) include content on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). This helps advisers understand dyslexia and other forms of neurodiversity, identify barriers to learning and progression, work effectively with special educational needs coordinators and other professionals, and provide tailored careers guidance.
To further strengthen support for young people with SEND, the department has commissioned Transform Your Training to develop a series of CPD modules for careers advisers, including a module focused specifically on supporting young people with SEND.
Asked by: Juliet Campbell (Labour - Broxtowe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to reduce regional and socioeconomic inequalities in access to diagnostic assessments for neurodivergent differences such as dyslexia and ADHD.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Effective early identification and support are critical to improving outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those who may have neurodivergent differences such as dyslexia or ADHD.
The SEND Code of Practice is clear that identifying and meeting a child's SEND does not require a diagnostic label. Education settings should identify and respond to needs at the earliest opportunity through a graduated approach, with support determined by a child or young person's needs.
The department is strengthening the education system's ability to identify and meet needs earlier and more consistently through the development of National Inclusion Standards. These will support education settings to provide appropriate support based on need, helping to ensure that children and young people can access support without having to wait for a diagnosis, regardless of where they live.
Furthermore, the department is strengthening its needs-led approach through the new Experts at Hand offer. Backed by Ā£1.8 billion over the next three years, it will give mainstream education settings direct access to specialist expertise without the need for a referral, helping to ensure that all children and young people can access timely support when they need it, based on their identified needs.
Asked by: Juliet Campbell (Labour - Broxtowe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the financial barriers for families seeking a diagnostic assessment for dyslexia.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Effective early identification and support are critical to improving outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those who may have neurodivergent differences such as dyslexia or ADHD.
The SEND Code of Practice is clear that identifying and meeting a child's SEND does not require a diagnostic label. Education settings should identify and respond to needs at the earliest opportunity through a graduated approach, with support determined by a child or young person's needs.
The department is strengthening the education system's ability to identify and meet needs earlier and more consistently through the development of National Inclusion Standards. These will support education settings to provide appropriate support based on need, helping to ensure that children and young people can access support without having to wait for a diagnosis, regardless of where they live.
Furthermore, the department is strengthening its needs-led approach through the new Experts at Hand offer. Backed by Ā£1.8 billion over the next three years, it will give mainstream education settings direct access to specialist expertise without the need for a referral, helping to ensure that all children and young people can access timely support when they need it, based on their identified needs.
Asked by: Juliet Campbell (Labour - Broxtowe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of teachers have completed continuing professional development relating specifically to dyslexia in each of the last five academic years.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department does not hold data on all professional development completed by teachers. Decisions relating to teachersā professional development rest with schools, headteachers and teachers themselves, as they are in the best position to judge their own requirements.
The department does deliver professional development for teachers to support children and young people with reading difficulties, for which we have information on take up.
For example, āReading Ambition for Allā is a continuous professional development programme delivered by our regional improvement for standards and excellence English Hubs, which is primarily aimed at reading leaders, special educational needs co-ordinators and senior leaders. The programme draws on the latest research on how children learn to read and explores the appropriate teaching, support and provision for the lowest attaining children in reading, with a particular focus on those with special educational needs and disabilities. So far, 1,181 schools have taken part in this programme.
Additionally, the national professional qualification (NPQ) for leading literacy supports leaders of literacy to develop all pupilsā language capability and word reading skills, as well as how to contribute to effective professional development linked to literacy in their own setting. The latest published data shows that over 7000 teachers have taken this NPQ since it was introduced.
Asked by: Juliet Campbell (Labour - Broxtowe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve joint commissioning between education, health and social care services in delivering support for children with Dyslexia.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England on reforms to the special educational needs and disabilities system, including strengthening joint workforce planning and local commissioning arrangements between education, health and care partners.
As part of this work, the department is delivering the Experts at Hand offer, which will provide schools and settings with access to expert advice and guidance to support the identification and meeting of a range of special educational needs, including dyslexia. The offer is intended to strengthen early identification and promote effective and inclusive practice across education settings.
Asked by: Juliet Campbell (Labour - Broxtowe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of making safe sleep training for early years staff mandatory.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
The early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework, which early years providers are required to follow, includes a requirement for babies to be placed down to sleep in line with the latest government safety guidance here: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/sudden-infant-death-syndrome-sids/.
To make the existing requirements clearer for all, the department plans to add in more detail to the EYFS frameworks. We have worked with safe sleep experts including the Lullaby Trust on proposed new wording. We plan to make these changes as soon as possible.
The āEarly years qualification requirements and standardsā document sets out the minimum qualification requirements, including the qualifications criteria at levels 2 and 3, that staff must meet to be recognised as level 2, level 3 or level 6 members of staff for the purpose of working within the EYFS staff:child ratios. The document is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-qualification-requirements-and-standards.
Both the level 2 and level 3 criteria include knowledge of rest and sleep provision, with level 3 also including use of equipment, furniture and materials safely with regard for sleep safety.
Asked by: Juliet Campbell (Labour - Broxtowe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to upgrade the teacher training curriculum to include mandatory training on how to teach dyslexic children.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
On 16 January we announced plans for a new expectation on schools and other settings to ensure staff receive training on SEND and inclusion, supported by Ā£200m investment during this Parliament into government-backed training courses and materials.
The department recently introduced a new training framework for trainee and early career teachers. The initial teacher training and early career framework (ITTECF), which became mandatory from September 2025, sets out the minimum entitlement to training for all new teachers. This framework includes more content on adaptive teaching and supporting pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). For example, developing an understanding of different pupil needs and learning how to provide opportunities for success for all pupils, including those with dyslexia. We are committed to continuous improvement and will be reviewing the ITTECF in 2027, which will focus on the support we provide trainees and early career teachers in teaching pupils with SEND.
Asked by: Juliet Campbell (Labour - Broxtowe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to remove the prohibition on student finance for applicants with PhDs wanting to study in Government-prioritised research fields.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Postgraduate Doctoral Loan provides up to Ā£30,301 for courses starting on or after 1 August 2025 and is intended as a contribution to the costs of PhD study.
Students who already have a doctoral degree, or a qualification thatās equivalent or higher, are not eligible for the Postgraduate Doctoral Loan.
There are no plans to change the eligibility criteria of Postgraduate Doctoral Loans.
Asked by: Juliet Campbell (Labour - Broxtowe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of recent immigration policy changes on the higher education sector.
Answered by Janet Daby
The government has been clear that we welcome international students who meet the requirements to study in the UK. International students come from all over the world and benefit UK higher education (HE) and our society, boosting our economy by more than Ā£21 billion a year.
The government expects the UKās HE sector to remain highly attractive. We have four UK universities in the worldās top 10 and 17 in the top 100, alongside a wide array of other high-quality institutions.
The system must, however, ensure that international students make a positive contribution to the communities in which they study. We will not permit anyone who seeks to exploit the system.
The Immigration White Paper, published in May, sets out a balanced approach which helps the government achieve our manifesto commitment of reducing net migration while maintaining the UKās global competitiveness.
Asked by: Juliet Campbell (Labour - Broxtowe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support estranged and care-experienced students in higher education.
Answered by Janet Daby
The department is committed to ensuring that care experienced and estranged people can access, participate and achieve in higher education (HE).
All looked-after children must have a personal education plan, which should set out the support needed to help realise their short and long-term academic outcomes. To ensure they have a greater chance of achieving the prior attainment needed to access HE, the government provides Ā£14 million per year of additional funding to support looked-after children up to the age of 19. This is administered by virtual school heads and can be used on attainment raising activity such as tuition, mentoring or careers advice and other activities based on the individual needs of each looked-after child.
In addition to a statutory Ā£2,000 Care Leavers in HE bursary, all HE providers registered with the Office for Students (OfS) that intend to charge higher level tuition fees must have an Access and Participation Plan (APPs) approved by the OfS. These plans articulate how providers will improve equality of opportunity for underrepresented groups. Care experienced and estranged students are classed as āat riskā groups in the Equality of Opportunity Risk Register and providers should take account of inequalities they may experience when developing their APPs.