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 improve lessons about (a) financial responsibility and (b) budgeting in schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government is committed to strengthening pupils’ foundational understanding of financial education in mathematics and citizenship, with digital resources to support teaching, following publication of the Curriculum and Assessment Review final report in November 2025.
The department will be engaging with sector experts and young people in how best to reflect this in the updated curriculum. There will be public consultation on the updated curriculum Programmes of Study in 2026, to seek views on the content before they are finalised.
Oak National Academy, an independent Arm’s Length Body, is providing high quality curriculum materials to support financial literacy.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made about the adequacy of teaching in schools on (a) financial responsibility and (b) budgeting.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government is committed to strengthening pupils’ foundational understanding of financial education in mathematics and citizenship, with digital resources to support teaching, following publication of the Curriculum and Assessment Review final report in November 2025.
The department will be engaging with sector experts and young people in how best to reflect this in the updated curriculum. There will be public consultation on the updated curriculum Programmes of Study in 2026, to seek views on the content before they are finalised.
Oak National Academy, an independent Arm’s Length Body, is providing high quality curriculum materials to support financial literacy.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made about the potential merits of making all Ofsted inspections unannounced.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Ofsted typically gives a short period of notice of its inspections. This supports the effective conduct of the inspection visit. Ofsted also has the ability to inspect without notice where it has concerns about a provider.
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 increase teacher retention.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
A strong retention strategy is at the heart of the government’s pledge for 6,500 more expert teachers, as part of its Plan for Change. The department has already implemented a near 10% pay award over two years and we are offering the Targeted Retention Incentive, worth up to £6,000 after tax for teachers of key subjects in the first five years of their careers who work in disadvantaged schools.
Last year we accepted in full the School Teacher Review Body’s recommendations on Teaching and Learning Responsibility payments. From September 2026, these additional payments will be paid to teachers based on the proportion of responsibility they carry out, rather than their contracted hours. This change follows calls from the sector and will improve equality of opportunity for part-time workers, better enabling them to move into leadership roles.
In addition to financial incentives, our ’Improve workload and wellbeing for school staff’ service provides a range of resources for schools to review and reduce workload and improve staff wellbeing. This service can be accessed here: https://improve-workload-and-wellbeing-for-school-staff.education.gov.uk/.
We are seeing signs of improvement: the latest School Workforce Census reported one of the lowest leaver rates since 2010, with 1,300 fewer teachers leaving the state-funded sector than the year before, and more teachers are returning to state schools after having previously left than at any point in the last ten years, with 17,274 teachers returning to the classroom.
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 increase the availability of sign language education courses.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
There are a variety of British Sign Language (BSL) qualifications available, from Level 1 through to Level 6. This includes Level 1 and 2 accredited qualifications offered by the Institute of British Sign Language, Signature and ABC Awards.
There are also funds available for adults who want to learn new skills through the Adult Skills Fund (ASF), which fully funds or co-funds skills provision for eligible adults aged 19 and above from pre-entry to level 3. 68% of the ASF is devolved to 13 strategic authorities, including the East Midlands Authority, who are responsible for ASF provision to their residents. The Department for Work and Pensions is responsible for the remaining ASF and makes funding available for a range of qualifications including the Level 1 Award in BSL.
The government, working with Ofqual, has also developed the content and assessment arrangements for a new BSL GCSE.
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 30 October 2025 to Question 73667 on Schools: Interpreters and Translation Services, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of increases in English as an additional language funding on the long term financial sustainability of schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The schools national funding formula (NFF) allocates core funding for mainstream schools based on school and pupil characteristics. The English as an additional language (EAL) factor forms part of the NFF, accounting for 1.1% of the funding allocated through the NFF in financial year 2025/26.
The funding that schools receive through the EAL factor forms part of their overall core funding. It is not ringfenced and it is for schools to decide how to spend the funding they receive to meet the needs of their pupils.
A school’s financial position depends on the overall amount of funding they receive, rather than the funding allocated through individual factors in the NFF. The overall core schools budget (CSB) is increasing by £3.7 billion in 2025/26, meaning the CSB will total £65.3 billion, compared to almost £61.6 billion in 2024/25.
For the 2025/26 financial year, 18,453 schools have at least one pupil on roll who attracts EAL funding through the NFF. The funding that schools actually receive is dependent on their local authority’s funding formula.
The government remains committed to keeping the school funding system under review to ensure it continues to be fair and responsive to the needs of all schools.
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 30 October 2025 to Question 73667 on Schools: Interpreters and Translation Services, whether her Department monitors how (a) primary and (b) secondary schools spend English as an additional language funding.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The schools national funding formula (NFF) allocates core funding for mainstream schools based on school and pupil characteristics. The English as an additional language (EAL) factor forms part of the NFF, accounting for 1.1% of the funding allocated through the NFF in financial year 2025/26.
The funding that schools receive through the EAL factor forms part of their overall core funding. It is not ringfenced and it is for schools to decide how to spend the funding they receive to meet the needs of their pupils.
A school’s financial position depends on the overall amount of funding they receive, rather than the funding allocated through individual factors in the NFF. The overall core schools budget (CSB) is increasing by £3.7 billion in 2025/26, meaning the CSB will total £65.3 billion, compared to almost £61.6 billion in 2024/25.
For the 2025/26 financial year, 18,453 schools have at least one pupil on roll who attracts EAL funding through the NFF. The funding that schools actually receive is dependent on their local authority’s funding formula.
The government remains committed to keeping the school funding system under review to ensure it continues to be fair and responsive to the needs of all schools.
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 30 October 2025 to Question 73667 on Schools: Interpreters and Translation Services, what English as an additional language funding may be used for in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The schools national funding formula (NFF) allocates core funding for mainstream schools based on school and pupil characteristics. The English as an additional language (EAL) factor forms part of the NFF, accounting for 1.1% of the funding allocated through the NFF in financial year 2025/26.
The funding that schools receive through the EAL factor forms part of their overall core funding. It is not ringfenced and it is for schools to decide how to spend the funding they receive to meet the needs of their pupils.
A school’s financial position depends on the overall amount of funding they receive, rather than the funding allocated through individual factors in the NFF. The overall core schools budget (CSB) is increasing by £3.7 billion in 2025/26, meaning the CSB will total £65.3 billion, compared to almost £61.6 billion in 2024/25.
For the 2025/26 financial year, 18,453 schools have at least one pupil on roll who attracts EAL funding through the NFF. The funding that schools actually receive is dependent on their local authority’s funding formula.
The government remains committed to keeping the school funding system under review to ensure it continues to be fair and responsive to the needs of all schools.
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 30 October 2025 to Question 73667 on Schools: Interpreters and Translation Services, whether her Department plans to review the English as an additional language funding formula.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The schools national funding formula (NFF) allocates core funding for mainstream schools based on school and pupil characteristics. The English as an additional language (EAL) factor forms part of the NFF, accounting for 1.1% of the funding allocated through the NFF in financial year 2025/26.
The funding that schools receive through the EAL factor forms part of their overall core funding. It is not ringfenced and it is for schools to decide how to spend the funding they receive to meet the needs of their pupils.
A school’s financial position depends on the overall amount of funding they receive, rather than the funding allocated through individual factors in the NFF. The overall core schools budget (CSB) is increasing by £3.7 billion in 2025/26, meaning the CSB will total £65.3 billion, compared to almost £61.6 billion in 2024/25.
For the 2025/26 financial year, 18,453 schools have at least one pupil on roll who attracts EAL funding through the NFF. The funding that schools actually receive is dependent on their local authority’s funding formula.
The government remains committed to keeping the school funding system under review to ensure it continues to be fair and responsive to the needs of all schools.
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 30 October 2025 to Question 73667 on Schools: Interpreters and Translation Services, how many schools receive English as an additional language funding.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The schools national funding formula (NFF) allocates core funding for mainstream schools based on school and pupil characteristics. The English as an additional language (EAL) factor forms part of the NFF, accounting for 1.1% of the funding allocated through the NFF in financial year 2025/26.
The funding that schools receive through the EAL factor forms part of their overall core funding. It is not ringfenced and it is for schools to decide how to spend the funding they receive to meet the needs of their pupils.
A school’s financial position depends on the overall amount of funding they receive, rather than the funding allocated through individual factors in the NFF. The overall core schools budget (CSB) is increasing by £3.7 billion in 2025/26, meaning the CSB will total £65.3 billion, compared to almost £61.6 billion in 2024/25.
For the 2025/26 financial year, 18,453 schools have at least one pupil on roll who attracts EAL funding through the NFF. The funding that schools actually receive is dependent on their local authority’s funding formula.
The government remains committed to keeping the school funding system under review to ensure it continues to be fair and responsive to the needs of all schools.