Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase (a) teaching capacity and (b) student places in further education colleges.
Answered by Janet Daby
To ensure that further education colleges can meet student demand, the department is spending approximately £87 million in the 2024/25 academic year to support in-year growth costs. This recognises the very large increase in students this year, which has led to the need for an unprecedented amount of in-year growth.
The department will be investing over £400 million more on 16 to 19 education in the 2025/26 financial year to respond to the significant increase in student numbers and other pressures on the system. We are making approximately £50 million of this funding available to colleges for April to July 2025 to respond to current priorities and challenges as they see fit, including workforce recruitment and retention. In addition, eligible early career teachers of science, technology, engineering and mathematics and priority technical subjects can receive up to £6,000 after tax annually, on top of their normal pay.
In the 2025/26 financial year, the department is providing £10 million of capital funding to Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Leeds City Council to support capacity for rising numbers of 16 to 19-year-olds, increasing opportunities in these places with the greatest pressures.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Spring Statement of 26 March 2025, how the £625 million for construction skills will be allocated; and when providers will receive (a) funding allocations and (b) bidding information.
Answered by Janet Daby
My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has announced an additional £625 million of funding to support construction skills training, with the detail set out in the Spring Statement 2025. This is expected to deliver up to 60,000 additional skilled construction workers this Parliament.
The measures will support the expansion of existing skills programmes, including Skills Bootcamps and apprenticeships, as well as help to deliver new initiatives, such as establishing ten Technical Excellence Colleges specialised in construction in every region in England.
Additional information regarding allocations and bidding information at regional and provider level will be shared in due course.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of students that will be entering further education colleges in the 2025-26 academic year.
Answered by Janet Daby
The information requested is not held centrally.
For capital funding, the department uses information from a number of sources, including the Office for National Statistics, to understand future demand so that there is sufficient capacity in the system.
For revenue funding for 16 to 19-year-olds, allocations to colleges are based on the previous year’s numbers, with growth funding available where there is exceptional growth. The most recently published 16 to 19 student numbers relate to the 2023/24 academic year and can be found in the funding allocations for the 2024/25 academic year at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/16-to-19-education-and-skills-funding#published-allocations.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to mandate (a) allergy safety training, (b) the provision of spare epipens and (c) other allergy safety measures in schools.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions. The accompanying statutory guidance makes clear to schools what is expected of them in taking reasonable steps to fulfil their legal obligations and to meet the individual needs of pupils with medical conditions, including allergies.
In 2017 the Department of Health published non-statutory guidance confirming that schools are able to purchase spare adrenaline auto injectors (AAIs) from a pharmacy, without a prescription and for use in an emergency situation. This guidance is kept under review and gives clear advice to schools on the recognition and management of an allergic reaction and anaphylaxis, and outlines when and how an AAI should be administered for pupils in schools.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 31 March 2025 to Question 40830 on Dyslexia: Screening, how she plans to use the £1 billion provided for high needs budgets in the 2025-26 financial year.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
We are providing a £1 billion increase to high needs funding to help meet the increase in costs local authorities will face this year, as they in turn provide support to schools and colleges, and ultimately to children and young people with SEND. Schools decide how to spend their budgets to meet their legal duties and other responsibilities, including support for their pupils with SEND, including those with dyslexia.
High needs funding in England will total over £12 billion in the 2025/26 financial year. Of that total, Warwickshire County Council is being allocated over £104 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), an increase of £6.9 million on their 2024/25 DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs national funding formula.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 31 March 2025 to Question 40830 on Dyslexia: Screening, whether her Department has considered international (a) evidence and (b) best practice in the support of pupils with specific learning difficulties.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The department is committed to improving support for all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, including those with specific learning difficulties. As part of this, the department is considering both international evidence and best practice in its policymaking on special educational needs, with a focus on strengthening the evidence base on what works to identify and support needs in mainstream settings, including for specific learning difficulties.
The department has commissioned evidence reviews from University College London, which will highlight what the best available evidence suggests are the most effective tools, strategies and approaches for teachers and other relevant staff in mainstream settings to identify and support children and young people (age 0 to 25) with different types of needs.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 31 March 2025 to Question 40830 on Dyslexia: Screening, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of Key Stage 2 statutory assessments for recognising persistent reading difficulties.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
End of key stage 2 tests and assessments enable teachers and parents to identify the areas in which individual pupils might require additional support so that they can succeed in secondary school. The tests also inform parents of their child’s achievements in relation to the expectations outlined in the national curriculum.
While the key stage 2 English reading test is not a diagnostic tool for dyslexia, it may highlight a pupil’s difficulty with reading when compared against the age-related expectations in the national curriculum. Secondary schools can use this information to provide any relevant support for the pupil as they transition into year 7.
The Curriculum and Assessment Review published its interim report on 18 March 2025. The Review panel have been clear that assessments in key stage 1 and 2 are an important part of assessing children's progress throughout primary school, and that the system of primary assessment is generally working well. The report can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/curriculum-and-assessment-review-interim-report.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to deliver a Music and Arts Pupil Premium to schools.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
Schools are expected to fund the delivery of music and arts teaching from their core budget. The government has committed to putting education back at the forefront of national life, with a further £3.2 billion going into schools’ budgets, with £1 billion for children and young people with high needs. Overall core revenue funding for schools totalled almost £61.6 billion in the 2024/25 financial year.
Over and above core school funding, the government is investing £79 million per year for the Music Hubs programme, which includes the 2024/25 academic year. The 43 Music Hubs partnerships across England offer a range of services, including musical instrument tuition, instrument loaning and whole-class ensemble teaching. To widen access to musical instruments, the government is investing £25 million in capital funding for musical instruments, equipment and technology from the 2024/25 academic year.
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education announced last month our intention to launch a National Centre for Arts and Music Education to promote opportunities for children and young people to pursue their artistic and creative interests in school, including through the government’s network of Music Hubs. Our intention is to launch in September 2026, with a delivery lead appointed through an open procurement. One of the responsibilities of the National Centre will be to lead the Music Hubs programme.
Future funding for music and arts education is subject to the ongoing spending review and more details will be published in due course.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase recruitment of music teachers.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
High-quality teaching is the most important in-school factor in determining a child’s educational outcomes. Recruiting and retaining additional numbers of qualified, expert teachers is therefore critical to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and boost the life chances of every child. This is why the department will recruit 6,500 new, expert teachers.
To deliver this pledge we are resetting the relationship with the sector to ensure teaching is once again a valued and attractive profession and one that existing teachers want to remain in, former teachers want to return to and new graduates wish to join.
The 2024/25 initial teacher training census reported 331 trainees had begun courses in music, up from 216 trainees in the 2023/24 academic year. We reintroduced a £10,000 music bursary for the 2024/25 academic year and are continuing to offer this for courses starting in 2025/26.
A successful recruitment strategy starts with a strong retention strategy, and the department wants to ensure teachers of all subjects and phases stay and thrive in the profession. We agreed a 5.5% pay award for teachers this academic year, 2024/25, and have taken steps to improve teachers’ workloads and wellbeing and enable greater flexible working, to support retention and help re-establish teaching as an attractive profession.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether music education will be one of the metrics assessed in the Ofsted report card announced for schools in England.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
Ofsted is currently consulting on a revised education inspection framework and inspection report card. This is therefore a matter for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver. I have asked him to write to the hon. Member for Stratford-on-Avon directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.