Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools undertook reception baseline assessment in the academic year 2016-17 with her Department's approved provider (a) Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring, Durham University, (b) Early Excellence, (c) GL Assessment and (d) National Foundation for Education Research.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The following numbers of schools undertook the reception baseline assessment in the 2016/17 academic year:
(a) Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring, Durham University: 913 schools;
(b) Early Excellence: 2,038 schools;
(c) GL Assessment: 33 schools; and
(d) National Foundation for Education Research: 917 schools.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the international evidential basis is for the validity and reliability of an accountability progress measure using an assessment at the start of school as a baseline which is directly linked to an appropriate content domains at the end of Key Stage 2.
Answered by Nick Gibb
There is evidence from the University of Durham that a baseline in reception can be used to measure progress by the end of primary school[1].
Different countries use different assessment systems to evaluate school quality and the progress made by pupils. Baseline assessments are used in a number of countries for a wide range of purposes; including demonstrating the value of early years and understanding what children know when they start school.
The Department will soon be launching a consultation on primary assessment and the implications for accountability. This will cover key issues, including the best starting point to measure the progress that children make in primary school.
[1] http://www.cem.org/primary
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the cost of reception baseline assessment in academic year 2016-17.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In the 2016/17 academic year, the expenditure to date on the optional reception baseline has been £745,000 and we anticipate claims amounting to a further £125,000 by the end of the year. The Department has provided funding to cover the basic cost of approved baselines for maintained schools, academies, and free schools in the academic years 2015/16 and 2016/17. Further details on whether the optional baseline will be available for schools to use in the 2017/18 academic year will be provided in due course.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which ongoing statutory duties local authorities will be expected to fund from the new central schools services block from 2018-19.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The central school services block will fund statutory duties, including some historic duties where applicable, that local authorities carry out for all pupils from 2018-19. These duties are set out in Annex 1 of the consultation document, which is attached below and is also available here:
Further information is available in the central school services block section of the consultation document.
We are currently consulting on the new national funding formula. The consultation will be open until 22 March and is available here:
https://consult.education.gov.uk/funding-policy-unit/schools-national-funding-formula2/.
Shape and content of the central school services block
Allocation route | Previously funded from centrally retained DSG | Previously funded from ESG |
Central school services block per pupil rate | School admissions | Education welfare services |
Central school services block historic commitments funding | Contribution to combined budgets: costs of providing combined education and children’s services Termination of employment costs: premature retirement or dismissal costs for maintained school staff Equal pay – back pay: costs of meeting equal pay commitments in schools Capital expenditure from revenue (CERA): where the authority uses revenue funding to meet capital costs Prudential borrowing costs: for repayment of some authority loans Exceptions agreed by the Secretary of State: centrally retained schools budget expenditure that has been approved by application to the Secretary of State |
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Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to evaluate the effect of the implementation of the new national curriculum on (a) teacher workload, (b) Special and Educational Needs and Disability inclusion and (c) school budgets.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As schools embed the new National Curriculum we are monitoring the effect of implementation on teacher workload, pupils with special educational needs and disability and school budgets in a number of ways.
We introduced the Department for Education (DfE) Protocol in 2015 giving schools a minimum lead in time for significant changes to policy in accountability, curriculum and qualifications; to help us manage the impact of reforms on schools.
We will shortly publish the results of the first biennial survey into teacher workload, a commitment from the 2014 Workload Challenge, which will help us track teacher workload so that so that further action can be taken if needed.
Through our careful management of the economy, we have protected the core schools budget in real terms. That means that in 2017-18, schools will have more funding than ever before for children’s education, totalling over £40 billion.
We will continue to support schools to improve their financial health and efficiency, to maximise the amount of resources they can direct to improving outcomes for pupils.
The Department regularly collects and publishes data about schools in the Teacher Voice surveys; the most recently published report includes information about the progress of pupils with special educational needs: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/584503/Teacher_Voice_Summer_2016_Report_Final.pdf.
The National Curriculum framework inclusion statement sets out that lessons should be planned to ensure that there are no barriers to every pupil achieving. In many cases, such planning will mean that pupils with special educational needs and disability will be able to study the full National Curriculum. Where the full National Curriculum is not the most appropriate route to maximising pupils' education, disapplication of all or part of the National Curriculum may be considered for an individual or a group of pupils.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to evaluate the effect of the national curriculum on the teaching and learning of subjects other than English and mathematics in primary school.
Answered by Nick Gibb
All state-funded schools are accountable to pupils, their parents and the wider community. They must all teach a broad and balanced curriculum and there is a statutory requirement for maintained schools to teach the National Curriculum. They are required to publish their curriculum provision, content and approach, by academic year and by subject online. Ofsted inspectors will also consider the extent to which the school is providing a broad and balanced curriculum, which helps pupils progress and succeed across the range of subjects.
The National Curriculum, which was introduced in schools in 2014, focuses on the essential knowledge that must be taught, allowing teachers to take greater control over the wider curriculum in schools and how it is taught. Schools have the freedom to organise their lessons as they see fit and to teach any part of the programme of study for a particular Key Stage at a time they judge suitable for their pupils during that Key Stage.
The Department collects and publishes data about primary schools, including the amount of time a sample of primary school teachers estimate is spent teaching each subject in their school. This can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/584503/Teacher_Voice_Summer_2016_Report_Final.pdf.
The Standards and Testing Agency also publishes the results of the biennial Key Stage 2 science sampling test which tracks science attainment of primary school pupils.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the new national funding formula for schools on the recruitment and retention of teachers in Nottingham City.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government has protected the core schools budget in real terms since 2010. We are introducing a fair funding formula so that schools across the country are funded according to the needs of their pupils rather than where those pupils happen to live. On average, schools in Nottingham would be the third highest funded in the country, outside London, under our proposals. We are currently consulting on the proposals with the consultation closing on 22 March.
We recognise that schools will need to make efficiency savings. In response to this we have produced tools, information and guidance for schools, including Workforce Planning Guidance. This guidance contains links to advice and case studies, as well as lists of options and questions for school leaders to consider when reviewing their staff structures.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2017 to Question 60334, and with reference to the Answer of 10 June 2015 to Question 856, whether the figures supplied in those answers for the average salaries of teaching assistants in November 2013 and November 2015 were calculated on the same basis.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The following table shows the time series of average salaries for full-time teaching assistants in all state funded schools in England. Figures for 2010 are not available.
| All Full-time Teaching Assistants |
2011 | £18,800 |
2012 | £18,800 |
2013 | £19,000 |
2014 | £19,000 |
2015 | £19,200 |
Source: School Workforce Census
Salaries are rounded to the nearest £100.
These figures are consistent with those published in PQ60334 published in Hansard, which is available at the following web link: http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2017-01-17/60334
The figures published in the answer of 10 June 2015 to Question 856 included both full and part-time teaching assistants. The preference is to show salaries for full-time teaching assistants because the salary data for part-time teaching assistants is not always provided on a comparable basis.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds relating to teaching assistants and other school support staff on trends in (a) teacher recruitment and retention, (b) performance and effectiveness, (c) days lost due to sickness, (d) skills attained and (e) employment on term-time-only contracts.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The number and characteristics of teaching assistants and school support staff employed in state-funded schools in England is published in the annual series of statistical first releases ‘School Workforce in England’. The latest available information, as at November 2015, is in tables 1, 2b, 3b and 6 at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2015
Information is not collected centrally for teaching assistants and school support staff on the following: recruitment and retention, performance and effectiveness, days lost due to sickness, skills attained, and term-time only contracts.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average salary was for (a) general teaching assistants, (b) higher-level teaching assistants and (c) all teaching assistants in (i) local authority maintained schools, (ii) academy schools and (iii) free schools in each year between 2010 and 2015.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The following table shows the average salary for all full-time general teaching assistants, higher level teaching assistants, and all teaching assistants in local authority maintained schools, academy schools, and free schools in England, from November 2011 to 2015.
Figures for 2010 are not available.
| Full-time General Teaching Assistants | Full-time Higher Level Teaching Assistants | Full-time All Teaching Assistants |
2011 |
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|
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Local Authority Maintained Schools | £18,700 | £21,400 | £18,900 |
Academies | £18,400 | £20,400 | £18,600 |
Free Schools | SUPP | SUPP | SUPP |
All Schools | £18,600 | £21,300 | £18,800 |
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2012 |
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Local Authority Maintained Schools | £18,600 | £21,500 | £18,900 |
Academies | £18,300 | £21,000 | £18,500 |
Free Schools | £15,700 | SUPP | £16,000 |
All Schools | £18,500 | £21,400 | £18,800 |
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2013 |
|
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Local Authority Maintained Schools | £18,800 | £22,000 | £19,100 |
Academies | £18,500 | £21,200 | £18,700 |
Free Schools | SUPP | SUPP | £16,300 |
All Schools | £18,700 | £21,800 | £19,000 |
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2014 |
|
|
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Local Authority Maintained Schools | £18,800 | £21,900 | £19,200 |
Academies | £18,500 | £21,300 | £18,700 |
Free Schools | £16,500 | £19,500 | £16,700 |
All Schools | £18,700 | £21,700 | £19,000 |
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2015 |
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Local Authority Maintained Schools | £19,000 | £22,400 | £19,400 |
Academies | £18,900 | £21,400 | £19,100 |
Free Schools | £16,900 | £19,500 | £17,000 |
All Schools | £18,900 | £22,100 | £19,200 |
Source: School Workforce Census
Figures where there are less than 50 teaching assistants have been suppressed.