Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that universities provide students with sufficient teaching time to deliver value for money for the cost of tuition.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Higher education (HE) providers in England have the autonomy to design and deliver their courses. Providers should be transparent about the amount of contact hours, and balance of face-to-face and online teaching, that students can expect so they can make informed choices about what and where to study.
The Office for Students (OfS) is the independent regulator of HE in England. It does not mandate specific levels of face‑to‑face teaching, but its conditions of registration set minimum quality standards for student experience. These require effective student engagement, up‑to‑date resources, and adequate support. The OfS can investigate providers that do not meet these standards.
The department expects the HE sector to demonstrate that it delivers the very best outcomes for both students and the country, in return for the investment students are asked to make. To support this, we intend to link future inflationary fee uplifts to judgements on HE providers’ quality.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has considered including guidance on autistic burnout in future SEND Code of Practice revisions.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
In February, the government published the ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ Schools White Paper and consultation on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reform. This included a commitment to update the SEND Code of Practice to clarify the responsibilities of education settings and local partners, as well as making the guidance easier to use and navigate. The update will place a stronger emphasis on an evidence-based approach and early intervention as part of a whole-setting commitment to inclusion.
Furthermore, the development of the National Inclusion Standards and Specialist Provision Packages will provide a clear framework for how children are best supported. Educators will be able to draw on these to put in place evidence-based support as needs are identified, including for autistic children and young people.
We will undertake a separate, full public consultation on the proposed changes to the Code.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will provide additional training for teachers on supporting pupils with dyslexia.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for The Wrekin to the answer of 1 August 2025 to Question 61402.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to increase the accessibility of adoption files for adoptees who have reached adulthood.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Local authorities have been advised to retain adoption records for at least 100 years, an increase from the previous 75-year requirement. The department has also asked them to ensure timely access to these records.
Subject to Parliamentary approval, the department will make this a legal requirement by introducing regulatory changes. These changes will ensure that all adoption case records for individuals adopted before 30 December 2005 are preserved for a minimum of 100 years. This is already a requirement for records for individuals adopted after 30 December 2005.
In addition, the department is supporting and working with Adoption England, who have recently published new guidance to promote consistent and legally compliant practice on access to records across all regional adoption agencies. Adoption England also continues to fund FamilyConnect, a pilot national advice line that supports adopted adults, birth parents, relatives, and professionals with searching for and accessing adoption records.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps with education unions to investigate links between viewing online violent social media content on personal mobile devices and physical attacks on teaching staff in schools.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
All pupils and staff should feel safe and protected at school, and nobody should face violence or abuse. The department will always support our hard working teachers to ensure they can work in safe and calm classrooms. All school employers have a duty to take reasonable steps to protect the health, safety and welfare of their employees.
Schools should prohibit the use of mobile phones and other smart technology with similar functionality throughout the school day, including during lessons, the time between lessons, breaktimes and lunchtime, as set out in the 2024 ‘Mobile phones in schools’ guidance. The department expects all schools to take steps in line with this guidance to ensure mobile phones do not disrupt pupils’ learning.
From July this year, the child safety duties under the Online Safety Act will be in force, requiring online services to protect children from content that is harmful to them, including violent and abusive content. The government recognises concerns about the impact of social media on children, which is why the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology commissioned a feasibility study, led by the University of Cambridge, to investigate methods and data to understand the links between children’s smartphone use, social media and their wellbeing.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill on faith communities.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The department has published its Equalities Impact Assessment for all measures of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, setting out impacts across protected characteristics including religion or belief. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childrens-wellbeing-and-schools-bill-impact-assessments.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will ensure all schools have (a) lock down plans which all teaching staff are taught, (b) direct feed panic alarms to local police stations, (c) security bollards at the main entrances and exits and (d) two door interlocking systems.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
This government is committed to ensuring that children, young people and adult learners are safe from terrorist incidents and attacks. This is why the department publishes comprehensive guidance alongside a range of high-quality resources to support education settings in their protective security, and their preparedness and response to incidents and attacks.
The ‘Protective Security and Preparedness for education settings’ guidance, developed in collaboration with the National Counter-Terrorism Security Office, offers a comprehensive approach to enhancing safety and preparedness, ensuring that educational settings can provide a secure and supportive environment for learning. This includes planning for a number of different response options such as lockdown, evacuation and invacuation, communicating during an incident, having plans in place to respond effectively to different types of incidents and testing out those plans.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will increase the powers of local education authorities to take action against parents who threaten teaching staff over decisions taken under school disciplinary procedures.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
No teacher should feel unsafe or face violence or abuse in the workplace. The department will always support teachers to ensure they can work in safe and calm classrooms. All school employers, including trusts, have a duty to take reasonable steps to protect the health, safety, and welfare of their employees.
Schools should have their own clear processes in place for dealing with issues of bullying or harassment from parents. All incidences of bullying or harassment by a parent should be reported immediately to the designated lead and head teacher or governing body or proprietor.
Should the incident constitute a potential criminal offence, it would be for the school to consider involving the police, having followed the advice contained in the ‘When to call the police’ guidance for schools and colleges by the National Police Chief’s Council, written in partnership with the department and Home Office.
For staff who are experiencing bullying or harassment from any source, support is available from sources including Education Support, a charity supporting the mental health and wellbeing of teachers and education staff in schools, colleges and universities.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will have discussions with the Secretary of State for Education on (a) domestic extremist threats and (b) other terror related threats against primary and secondary schools; and what assessment she has made of the potential measures of putting new measures in place to strengthen (i) entrances and (ii) perimeter boundaries in schools.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Prevent duty safeguards children and young people from extremist ideologies to prevent them from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. The department publishes over 150 resources to support schools, parents and pupils in protecting children from extremism. These resources can be found at: https://www.educateagainsthate.com/.
For any new school building the department recommends a security risk assessment is completed which will set out any necessary safeguarding and security requirements, where they are suitable.
The department publishes comprehensive and well-established ‘Protective Security and Preparedness’ guidance which helps staff prepare for and respond to terrorist and other significant threats. This guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protective-security-and-preparedness-for-education-settings.
The government will further strengthen the national security response through measures included in the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill. The Bill will require all education settings to take forward public protection procedures. This will establish a legal requirement which specifically relates to the response to a terrorist attack.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) in person and (b) online meetings she had with organisations representing children with special educational needs between 14 July 2024 and 14 October 2024.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education meets with a wide range of external stakeholders who represent children’s interests as part of her ministerial work. Details of ministers’ external meetings are published in quarterly ministerial transparency returns.