Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 1 September 2025 to Question 73665 on Pupils: English Language, what proportion of children starting primary school cannot speak English to an acceptable standard.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department does not hold specific data on the proportion of children starting primary school who are unable to speak English to an acceptable standard.
Information on teacher assessments of children’s development at the end of the early years foundation stage (EYFS), specifically the end of the academic year in which a child turns five, is published as part of the annual statistical release, which can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/early-years-foundation-stage-profile-results/2023-24.
The latest data on the percentage of children at expected level for communication and language, including speaking, can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/d481e08f-ef55-4809-f8d6-08de0724494a.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to remove interest rates on student loans.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Student loans are subject to interest to ensure that those who can afford to do so contribute to the full cost of their degree. To consider both students and taxpayers, and ensure the real value of the loans over the repayment term, interest rates are linked to inflation.
Interest rates do not impact monthly repayments made by student loan borrowers. Student loan repayments are based on a borrower’s monthly or weekly income, not the interest rate or the amount borrowed. Regular repayments are based on a fixed percentage of earnings above the applicable student loan repayment threshold.
No repayments are made for earnings below the relevant student loan repayment threshold. For lower earners who will not repay much of their loan, any outstanding debt, including interest built up, is cancelled after the loan term ends or in case of death or disability, at no detriment to the borrower.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether their Department has run any (a) recruitment and (b) internship schemes aimed to increase the number of people from underrepresented groups in the workforce in the last year.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Civil Service is committed to a truly diverse workforce and culture of openness and inclusivity, not as ends in themselves but as means of delivering better outcomes to the citizens we serve. As set out in the Civil Service People Plan 2024 - 2027, we are committed to ensuring we attract, develop and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds to create a modern Civil Service, now and for the future.
Civil Service recruitment must follow the rules set out in legislation within the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act (CRaGA) 2010, which outlines the requirements to ensure that civil servants are recruited on merit, via fair and open competition.
Going Forward into Employment (GFiE) accredits life chance recruitment pathways across government. GFiE pathways recruit people from a wide range of backgrounds into the Civil Service, including people from low socio-economic backgrounds, prison leavers, veterans, carers and care leavers. People recruited by GFiE develop skills, gain experience and build a career, contributing to the Opportunity Mission and to the wider economy. The department ran the annual GFiE accredited Care Leaver Internship Scheme in August 2025.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the total cost of (a) translations and (b) interpretation services in (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools in each of the last three years.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The schools national funding formula (NFF) allocates core funding to local areas for mainstream schools. The NFF includes an English as an additional language (EAL) factor. Pupils attract this funding to their school if their first language is not English and if they entered the state education system in England in the past three years. The table below shows the total funding allocated through the EAL factor from the 2021/22 to 2025/26 financial years:
Financial Year | Primary EAL funding | Secondary EAL funding | Total EAL funding | EAL funding as a proportion of total NFF funding |
2021/22 | £311 m | £108 m | £420 m | 1.1% |
2022/23 | £307 m | £105 m | £412 m | 1.1% |
2023/24 | £318 m | £116 m | £434 m | 1.0% |
2024/25 | £343 m | £141 m | £484 m | 1.1% |
2025/26 | £365 m | £173 m | £539 m | 1.1% |
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding has been allocated to local authorities to support (a) primary and (b) secondary school pupils who have English as a second language in each of the last five years.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The schools national funding formula (NFF) allocates core funding to local areas for mainstream schools. The NFF includes an English as an additional language (EAL) factor. Pupils attract this funding to their school if their first language is not English and if they entered the state education system in England in the past three years. The table below shows the total funding allocated through the EAL factor from the 2021/22 to 2025/26 financial years:
Financial Year | Primary EAL funding | Secondary EAL funding | Total EAL funding | EAL funding as a proportion of total NFF funding |
2021/22 | £311 m | £108 m | £420 m | 1.1% |
2022/23 | £307 m | £105 m | £412 m | 1.1% |
2023/24 | £318 m | £116 m | £434 m | 1.0% |
2024/25 | £343 m | £141 m | £484 m | 1.1% |
2025/26 | £365 m | £173 m | £539 m | 1.1% |
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the total cost of support provided to pupils with English as an additional language in (a) primary and (b) secondary education in each of the last five years.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The schools national funding formula (NFF) allocates core funding to local areas for mainstream schools. The NFF includes an English as an additional language (EAL) factor. Pupils attract this funding to their school if their first language is not English and if they entered the state education system in England in the past three years. The table below shows the total funding allocated through the EAL factor from the 2021/22 to 2025/26 financial years:
Financial Year | Primary EAL funding | Secondary EAL funding | Total EAL funding | EAL funding as a proportion of total NFF funding |
2021/22 | £311 m | £108 m | £420 m | 1.1% |
2022/23 | £307 m | £105 m | £412 m | 1.1% |
2023/24 | £318 m | £116 m | £434 m | 1.0% |
2024/25 | £343 m | £141 m | £484 m | 1.1% |
2025/26 | £365 m | £173 m | £539 m | 1.1% |
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with the university sector on the mental health of students.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government is committed to ensuring students in higher education (HE) have access to effective mental health support. This is why my noble Friend, the Minister for Skills has recently appointed a new HE Student Support Champion to lead a reconvened HE Mental Health Implementation Taskforce. Full details of the new champion will be announced shortly.
The Minister for Skills, met with the new champion earlier this month to set out her strategic priorities for mental health in HE, and on 10 October the champion reconvened the HE Mental Health Implementation Taskforce. The taskforce will be a key vehicle for discussions with the university sector around driving forward improvements.
Updates on the work of the taskforce will be published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/higher-education-mental-health-implementation-taskforce.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department are taking to promote reading in children.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government's Opportunity Mission will help every child to achieve and thrive at school through excellent teaching and high standards. It aims to break the link between young people’s background and their future success. Reading is central to this mission and is crucial for success at school and in life.
On 7 July 2025, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced that 2026 will be The National Year of Reading, a campaign to address the decline in reading enjoyment amongst children, young people and adults. The National Year of Reading will position reading as a powerful contemporary activity, aiming to engage new audiences in reading and change the national reading culture for good.
The government has committed £27.7 million this financial year to support and drive high and rising standards in reading. This includes supporting the teaching of phonics, early language and reading for pleasure via the English Hubs programme. Furthermore, the government’s reading framework provides guidance on improving the teaching of reading.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how her Department allocated the extra money returned to the Government by local authorities from fines for taking children out of school in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Over the past three financial years, the department has not received revenue from penalty notices issued for school absences. This reflects the system’s design. It is not intended to generate profit, and local authorities must not set income targets. All revenue must be ring-fenced for attendance-related purposes.
Funds should first cover penalty notice administration and prosecution costs. Any surplus must support attendance initiatives that do not involve issuing penalty notices or prosecutions, in line with the statutory attendance guidance.
This revenue must not be absorbed into wider budgets or used for core attendance duties or legal services. It must remain dedicated to attendance functions.
While any surplus at year end must be returned to my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, in line with expectation, no surpluses have been returned during the period in question.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what purposes their Department has used artificial intelligence in the last year.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As part of our artificial intelligence (AI) adoption strategy, the department has established a secure infrastructure that enables teams to test and evaluate AI solutions within a controlled sandbox environment prior to the development of new AI-based products. Examples of initiatives currently in development include:
A records management tool, which classifies digital records to identify those that must be retained and archived in accordance with legislative requirements and The National Archives.
The Find Education and Training tool, which integrates multiple datasets including course offerings, training programmes, and geographic mapping to support 16 to 18-year-old learners in accessing appropriate educational or training provision.
In addition, we have deployed Microsoft Copilot Chat across the organisation to support staff in their daily work. Examples of how this tool is used include document summarisation, multi-source information analysis, and to support the drafting of briefings and papers.
Throughout these initiatives, the department has aligned our approach with the government’s AI Playbook, particularly its security principles. This includes ensuring our AI systems are secure by design, resilient to threats, and deployed in accordance with the Cyber Security Standard. Risk assessments and assurance processes are embedded into our development lifecycle to uphold robust security and governance.
The department also acknowledges and adheres to the mandatory obligation for government departments to comply with the AI Transparency and Risk Standards, which guide our efforts to ensure transparency, accountability, and responsible risk management in all AI deployments.