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Written Question
Department for Education: Artificial Intelligence
Wednesday 2nd August 2023

Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many automated decision-making systems are currently in use by the Department for Education, even partially, to make decisions that affect people’s legal rights or entitlements; and how many of those systems have publicly available equality impact assessments or data protection impact assessments or both.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

I refer the noble Lord to the answer of 24 July 2023 to Question 194009.


Written Question
Mathematics: Higher Education
Thursday 20th January 2022

Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of health of the (1) study of, and (2) research into, pure mathematics in Higher Education.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government strongly supports mathematical sciences in higher education. Ensuring that there is high-quality provision in a range of subjects is critical in order to build our workforce and support our public services.

We are pleased many students chose to take up courses in mathematical sciences (39,210 students in England in the 2019/20 academic year). Our student loan system supports students who have the qualifications to access higher education, including a range of mathematics courses. In the 2019/20 academic year, a total of £300 million was made available as tuition fee and maintenance loans for students doing maths courses. Breakdowns of higher education enrolments in England can be found here: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-49.

The UK continues to be a world leader in mathematics. Following the government’s announcement in January 2020 to invest additional funding into Mathematical Sciences, UK Research and Innovation has awarded £104 million of additional funding to the discipline, over and above the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council’s core Mathematical Sciences Theme budget. The additional investment has funded institutes, small and large research grants, fellowships, doctoral studentships and postdoctoral awards.

Furthermore, the department has funded the Advanced Maths Support Programme (AMSP) since 2018, providing support to schools and colleges to improve the effectiveness of level 3 maths teaching and increase participation, providing tailored support to schools and colleges. To ensure that the programme is targeted at those students, teachers, schools and colleges most in need, the AMSP provides support through a priority area programme and a national programme.

The AMSP delivers high quality teacher professional development as well as focused support and enrichment for students and institutions across A level mathematics, further mathematics and core maths to improve participation and provision in level 3 mathematics through targeted support.

The AMSP provides targeted support for students preparing for study at higher education. Over summer 2021 the AMSP ran a 4 to 6 week supported self-study programme of approximately 30 learning hours for year 13 students to support transition to higher education.

The AMSP also provides regular higher level problem solving classes and other support and information for students considering studying maths and maths-rich subjects at university and helps them to prepare for university admission tests.


Written Question
Schools: Pharmacy
Tuesday 7th July 2020

Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase the number of applicants to pharmacy schools in England.

Answered by Baroness Berridge

Universities are autonomous bodies, independent from government, and they have control over decisions about who to admit to their courses. However, overall numbers of students studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are rising. We are encouraging more students into STEM, at all stages of their education, and in 2019 there were 54,000 more entries to STEM A levels than in 2010 – a 26% increase. Data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) also shows that the share of students studying science subjects at English higher education institutions has increased from 41% in 2010/11 to 46% in 2018/19.

In 2018/19, there were 3,020 full-time undergraduate enrolments to pharmacy, up from 2,715 in 2010/11[1].

Despite rising STEM student numbers, we are far from complacent and we know that employer groups continue to point to an unmet demand for higher level STEM skills. Effective careers guidance and advice is key to supporting young people in their education and career choices to undertake learning and develop skills in the areas employers are looking for. The government’s Careers Strategy sets out a long-term plan to build a world class careers system to achieve this ambition. We are increasing the information available to students to ensure they can make informed choices about what and where to study. The delivery of the Careers Strategy also ensures that STEM encounters, such as with employers and apprenticeships, are built into school career programmes.

[1] Department for Education's analysis of HESA student record


Written Question
Music: Qualifications
Thursday 20th December 2018

Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the consequences for mutual recognition of music qualifications if the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Music qualifications are not included in the EU Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications Directive. The EU only has supporting competence in education and there is no EU law on the recognition of academic qualifications.


Written Question
Social Mobility Commission
Thursday 8th February 2018

Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to appoint new Commissioners to the Social Mobility Commission; and if so, when.

Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton

The Department for Education is fully committed to the work of the Social Mobility Commission. We plan to begin the appointments process for a new chair and commissioners in due course. This is a public appointment, and the process will follow the procedures set out in the attached ‘Public appointments: guidance to departments’.


Written Question
ICT: Further Education
Tuesday 28th November 2017

Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what provision they have made for the teaching of digital skills and understanding in post-16 education; what assessment they have made of that provision; and whether they have any plans to change it.

Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton

We have announced that one of the first three T-Levels will be a digital specialism, to be taught from 2020; and introduced new innovative employer accredited digital degree apprenticeships. We have also announced £20 million towards developing an Institute of Coding to serve as a national focus for improving digital skills provision as well as established Ada, National College for Digital Skills which will seek to train up to 5,000 students in its first seven years for a wide range of digital careers.

To support those who have already left the formal education system, we announced in the March 2017 Digital Strategy that we will fully fund specified basic digital skills training for adults lacking these vital skills which will mirror existing entitlements for adult literacy and numeracy training. In the Budget we announced that digital skills will be an initial focus of the National Retraining Scheme, along with construction. As part of the scheme, the government will invest £30 million to test the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and innovative EdTech in online digital skills courses, so that students can benefit from this emerging technology, wherever they are in the country.

We are also working with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on the digital skills partnership, seeking to work with industry to identify and fill skills gaps across the UK.


Written Question
ICT: Secondary Education
Tuesday 28th November 2017

Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what provision they have made for the teaching of computer science, with particular regard to artificial intelligence, at Key Stage 4; what assessment they have made of that provision; and whether they have any plans to change it.

Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton

Our computing curriculum and computer science qualifications are world standard and we are committed to ensuring that teachers have the knowledge and skills they need to be able to teach them effectively.

The key stage 1-4 computing programme of study in the national curriculum, which was first taught from September 2014, is designed to ensure that pupils:

evaluate and apply information technology;

write computer programs;

understand and apply the fundamental principles and concepts of computer science; and

are responsible, competent, confident and creative users of information and communication technology.

The computing programme of study is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-computing-programmes-of-study.

Artificial intelligence (AI), as a branch of computer science, is not explicitly labelled in the computing curriculum as the programmes of study are designed to allow study of the full breadth of computing fields. However, programming is the bedrock by which AI operates and this is a core feature throughout.

The government will be investing £84 million of new funding to support digital skills through a new comprehensive programme, focused on improving computing teaching in schools. This will include training up to 8,000 existing computer science teachers to teach computer science GCSE, creating a new National Centre for Computing Education that will reach both primary and secondary schools, and pilots for activities with a focus on increasing uptake by girls.

This funding will be in addition to the £5.8 million we have already invested since 2012 in the Network of Teaching Excellence in Computer Science and £1 million for the creation of free online resources for primary school teachers.


Written Question
ICT: Secondary Education
Tuesday 28th November 2017

Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what provision they have made for the teaching of computer science, with particular regard to artificial intelligence, at Key Stage 3; what assessment they have made of that provision; and whether they have any plans to change it.

Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton

Our computing curriculum and computer science qualifications are world standard and we are committed to ensuring that teachers have the knowledge and skills they need to be able to teach them effectively.

The key stage 1-4 computing programme of study in the national curriculum, which was first taught from September 2014, is designed to ensure that pupils:

evaluate and apply information technology;

write computer programs;

understand and apply the fundamental principles and concepts of computer science; and

are responsible, competent, confident and creative users of information and communication technology.

The computing programme of study is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-computing-programmes-of-study.

Artificial intelligence (AI), as a branch of computer science, is not explicitly labelled in the computing curriculum as the programmes of study are designed to allow study of the full breadth of computing fields. However, programming is the bedrock by which AI operates and this is a core feature throughout.

The government will be investing £84 million of new funding to support digital skills through a new comprehensive programme, focused on improving computing teaching in schools. This will include training up to 8,000 existing computer science teachers to teach computer science GCSE, creating a new National Centre for Computing Education that will reach both primary and secondary schools, and pilots for activities with a focus on increasing uptake by girls.

This funding will be in addition to the £5.8 million we have already invested since 2012 in the Network of Teaching Excellence in Computer Science and £1 million for the creation of free online resources for primary school teachers.


Written Question
ICT: Primary Education
Tuesday 28th November 2017

Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what provision they have made for the teaching of computer science, with particular regard to artificial intelligence, at Key Stage 2; what assessment they have made of that provision; and whether they have any plans to change it.

Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton

Our computing curriculum and computer science qualifications are world standard and we are committed to ensuring that teachers have the knowledge and skills they need to be able to teach them effectively.

The key stage 1-4 computing programme of study in the national curriculum, which was first taught from September 2014, is designed to ensure that pupils:

evaluate and apply information technology;

write computer programs;

understand and apply the fundamental principles and concepts of computer science; and

are responsible, competent, confident and creative users of information and communication technology.

The computing programme of study is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-computing-programmes-of-study.

Artificial intelligence (AI), as a branch of computer science, is not explicitly labelled in the computing curriculum as the programmes of study are designed to allow study of the full breadth of computing fields. However, programming is the bedrock by which AI operates and this is a core feature throughout.

The government will be investing £84 million of new funding to support digital skills through a new comprehensive programme, focused on improving computing teaching in schools. This will include training up to 8,000 existing computer science teachers to teach computer science GCSE, creating a new National Centre for Computing Education that will reach both primary and secondary schools, and pilots for activities with a focus on increasing uptake by girls.

This funding will be in addition to the £5.8 million we have already invested since 2012 in the Network of Teaching Excellence in Computer Science and £1 million for the creation of free online resources for primary school teachers.


Written Question
ICT: Primary Education
Tuesday 28th November 2017

Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what provision they have made for the teaching of computer science, with particular regard to artificial intelligence, at Key Stage 1; what assessment they have made of that provision; and whether they have any plans to change it.

Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton

Our computing curriculum and computer science qualifications are world standard and we are committed to ensuring that teachers have the knowledge and skills they need to be able to teach them effectively.

The key stage 1-4 computing programme of study in the national curriculum, which was first taught from September 2014, is designed to ensure that pupils:

evaluate and apply information technology;

write computer programs;

understand and apply the fundamental principles and concepts of computer science; and

are responsible, competent, confident and creative users of information and communication technology.

The computing programme of study is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-computing-programmes-of-study.

Artificial intelligence (AI), as a branch of computer science, is not explicitly labelled in the computing curriculum as the programmes of study are designed to allow study of the full breadth of computing fields. However, programming is the bedrock by which AI operates and this is a core feature throughout.

The government will be investing £84 million of new funding to support digital skills through a new comprehensive programme, focused on improving computing teaching in schools. This will include training up to 8,000 existing computer science teachers to teach computer science GCSE, creating a new National Centre for Computing Education that will reach both primary and secondary schools, and pilots for activities with a focus on increasing uptake by girls.

This funding will be in addition to the £5.8 million we have already invested since 2012 in the Network of Teaching Excellence in Computer Science and £1 million for the creation of free online resources for primary school teachers.