Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve the number of extracurricular activities offered to pupils at state schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department has published a new enrichment framework with clear benchmarks against which schools and colleges can evaluate their own offer and improve provision. Ambassadors have been appointed as experts within their areas, using their expertise to help develop and expand opportunities for young people.
The £22.5 million Enrichment Expansion Programme will work with approximately 400 schools in the most deprived areas of England to support them to meet the benchmarks set out in the enrichment framework. This is alongside a variety of governmental programmes, including upcoming PE and School Sport Partnerships and a new National Centre for Arts and Music Education, as well as National Education Nature Parks, TechYouth, the Cadet Expansion Programme, Erasmus+ and Building Equal Access to Chess in Schools.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s ‘Every Child Can’ programme will deliver £132.5 million for new activities programmes structured around the framework categories, delivered through schools, community programmes, weekend activities and holiday provision.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made about the potential relationship between free school meals and educational attainment in Ashfield constituency.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not routinely assess the relationship between free school meals (FSM) and educational attainment at individual constituency level. However, pupils in Ashfield who are eligible for FSM benefit from the same national programmes and support as eligible pupils elsewhere in England.
Pupils eligible for FSM have lower attainment on average than their peers across the education system. This outcome is evident across the country regardless of region. Evidence shows that access to nutritious school meals is linked to higher attainment, improved behaviour, and better concentration.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure SEND students in mainstream schools receive adequate additional support in their subjects.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is delivering a new, world-leading school curriculum that raises standards for all children and embeds inclusion for all pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), or need additional stretch.
To support the development of a more inclusive mainstream system, we are investing £500 million per financial year over the next three years through an Inclusive Mainstream Fund (IMF) to support schools, colleges and early years settings with upfront funding to help them move towards becoming more inclusive by design.
We have published guidance for school leaders on how to develop an Inclusion Strategy and use their IMF allocations alongside core budgets to more effectively invest in inclusive approaches and activities that address barriers to learning and participation.
Additionally, we are giving teachers better tools to identify and support needs early, while ensuring specialist settings meet the needs of pupils with the most complex needs. To support this, on 16 January the government announced a new training package, backed by £200 million of new funding, so that all teachers, educators, teaching assistants, support staff and leaders across early years, schools and post-16 settings can be trained to support pupils with SEND.
The department is also investing around £1.8 billion over three years in a new Experts at Hand offer, providing mainstream settings with access to specialist expertise from health and education professionals to strengthen staff capability, improve support for pupils with SEND in the classroom, and enable earlier intervention where needs arise.
We will support schools to respond to pupils’ learning and development needs with evidence‑informed resources, helping make mainstream education more inclusive and improving outcomes. This aligns with our commitment to deliver a high‑quality, ambitious curriculum for every child, including those with SEND.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her department has made of anticipated future trends in educational attainment at (a) primary and (b) secondary level in the Ashfield constituency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Attainment data for both key stage 2 and key stage 4 is published at parliamentary constituency, local authority, regional and national level.
‘Every child achieving and thriving’ sets the department’s our plan to deliver improved outcomes for all children, regardless of their background or where they live. Our ambition is for all children to achieve higher standards, while halving the disadvantage gap.
We are delivering this though Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence teams, who are supporting all schools to navigate a pathway to improvement. We are also introducing a refreshed, high-quality curriculum and assessment system and recruiting 6,500 additional teachers. Alongside this, we are addressing barriers to learning through measures to improve attendance, roll out free breakfast clubs and tackle child poverty.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that secondary schools offer a wide range of creative subjects for pupils at GCSE.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government has committed to revitalising arts in schools, and in particular widening access to arts subjects. This is supported by wide-ranging measures, including revising the national curriculum and qualifications, setting clearer expectations on schools with the recently published Enrichment Framework guidance, the removal of the EBacc secondary school performance measures and consultation on new Progress 8 measures and the establishment of a new National Centre for Arts and Music Education.
For key stage 4, all pupils in maintained schools must be offered the opportunity to study a range of subjects and obtain an approved qualification, including GCSEs. This includes an entitlement to study a qualification in at least one arts subject, art and design, music, dance, drama, and media arts, alongside an entitlement to study a qualification in design and technology. These entitlements will extend to academy-status schools following the introduction of the revised national curriculum.
Reform of the curriculum and assessment system will also support clear pathways into further study, training and high-quality careers, while maintaining high standards and the importance of both knowledge and skills. We expect there to be a public consultation on proposals for curriculum and assessment in due course.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that (a) primary and (b) secondary school students do enough physical activity per week.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
In November 2025, the government responded to the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, in which we accepted the recommendations made on PE. As part of this, we will revisit the aims of compulsory PE across all key stages and make clear the purpose of PE for all pupils, to ensure that schools recognise the need to protect at least two hours of PE time for their pupils throughout their time at school.
The government wants all children to access the significant physical and mental health benefits being physically active provides. We are investing £1 billion to support this, including £580 million to establish a PE and School Sport Partnership Network, almost £200 million in capital funding to improve school sports facilities, and a further £150 million PE and sport premium payment to support eligible primary schools during the transition to the new approach. The Network will support access for all children in both primary and secondary schools, especially those who are currently less active, through improving PE provision and increasing enrichment opportunities related to physical activity and sport.
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 is taking to support schools with the costs of providing high quality PE.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Ashfield to the answer of 21 August to Question 11573.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support private external companies that provide general curriculum PE lessons to schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Ashfield to the answer of 14 August 2026 to Question 14416.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that children who didn’t reach the water safety section of national curriculum swimming lessons receive the required teaching on water safety.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The PE national curriculum makes specific reference to swimming and water safety, stating that all primary pupils must learn to swim competently and confidently over a distance of at least 25 metres, use a range of strokes effectively, and perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations. It is for schools to ensure that pupils are taught the nation curriculum. Data suggests that 73% of children can swim 25 metres before they leave primary school.
Our reforms to the PE curriculum will ensure there is a clear emphasis on swimming and water safety, and our new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network will bring the expertise of national governing bodies including Swim England directly into schools.
In addition, we have made changes to statutory requirements for relationships, sex and health education in both primary and secondary to ensure all pupils are taught about the water safety code, supporting them to be safe in different types of water. This requirement comes into force from September.
Oak National Academy offers swimming and water safety units as part of its PE curriculum, developed in partnership with Swim England for all age groups. We also work closely with sector organisations like Swim England and the Royal Life Saving Society UK, supporting all schools to provide swimming and water safety lessons through teacher training and resources.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate the Government has made of the number of children who didn’t reach the water safety section of national curriculum swimming lessons.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The PE national curriculum makes specific reference to swimming and water safety, stating that all primary pupils must learn to swim competently and confidently over a distance of at least 25 metres, use a range of strokes effectively, and perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations. It is for schools to ensure that pupils are taught the nation curriculum. Data suggests that 73% of children can swim 25 metres before they leave primary school.
Our reforms to the PE curriculum will ensure there is a clear emphasis on swimming and water safety, and our new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network will bring the expertise of national governing bodies including Swim England directly into schools.
In addition, we have made changes to statutory requirements for relationships, sex and health education in both primary and secondary to ensure all pupils are taught about the water safety code, supporting them to be safe in different types of water. This requirement comes into force from September.
Oak National Academy offers swimming and water safety units as part of its PE curriculum, developed in partnership with Swim England for all age groups. We also work closely with sector organisations like Swim England and the Royal Life Saving Society UK, supporting all schools to provide swimming and water safety lessons through teacher training and resources.