Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to send the allocation towards the operation of free breakfast clubs to primary schools.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is committed to offering a free and universal breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged pupils in England. Breakfast clubs support children’s attendance and attainment, enabling them to thrive academically and socially, and supporting working families.
From this summer term, we are funding 750 early adopter schools to test and learn our new free breakfast clubs, ahead of national rollout. Early adopter schools have already received their first payments and will continue to receive termly fixed payments, plus attendance-based payments based on the number of children who attend, over the course of the scheme.
Funding for breakfast clubs beyond the current financial year will be confirmed through the next phase of the spending review. Payment schedules and allocations for the next academic year will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will protect apprenticeship funding for (a) SMEs and (b) young people when the Growth and Skills Levy is introduced.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Stockton West to the answer of 12 May 2025 to Question 49739.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the causes of the recent improvement in the apprenticeship achievement rate.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The apprenticeship achievement rate for apprenticeship standards increased by 6 percentage points to 60.5% for the 2023/24 academic year.
There are a range of drivers of non-achievement, and the department worked in partnership with providers, employers and apprentices to understand and directly address these.
The Apprenticeship Accountability Framework has supported and challenged providers to take proactive steps to improve the quality of their provision. Where performance falls short, the framework enables targeted challenge and intervention. As a result, most providers with an Accountability Framework Improvement Plan significantly improved their achievement rates between 2021/22 and 2023/24.
In addition, the support and guidance available to employers and apprentices has been enhanced and the department has worked with the Learning and Work Institute to produce a number of guides to support apprentices’ on-programme experience, including a line manger guide to apprenticeships.
The department has also introduced tools to provide timely feedback on quality and reasons for withdrawal so that we can continue to drive forward progress in the coming years, in partnership with the sector.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of fully funding apprenticeships for under-22s in SMEs on apprenticeship starts.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Stockton West to the answer of 9 April 2025 to Question 42594.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she plans to take to encourage a greater emphasis on developing skills for work in (a) schools and (b) colleges.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18, to ensure a rich, broad, inclusive and innovative curriculum that readies young people for life and work.
The Review is being undertaken in close consultation with education professionals and other experts, parents, children and young people, and other stakeholders such as employers, universities and trade unions. The Review has consulted employers and further education (FE) providers through events and meetings and has received call for evidence submissions from a variety of employers, colleges and representatives.
FE colleges already prepare people of all ages for the skills they need for work, delivering on wide range of technical education and training. This includes the following:
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with small businesses on their needs from the apprenticeship system.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Small businesses are a vital part of our economy and apprenticeship system. They provide valuable opportunities in priority sectors for young people and apprentices from disadvantaged areas.
This is why the department will continue to provide an effective levy-funded training offer for learners and employers. Our new growth and skills offer, with apprenticeships at the heart, represents a positive step towards better meeting the skills needs of employers, delivering greater flexibility for learners and employers in England.
The department engages with small employers regularly to promote apprenticeships. During National Apprenticeship Week 2025, we held a round table with small and medium employers and other key partners to better understand the challenges they are facing in recruiting apprentices. This insight allows us to better target engagement activities with small businesses.
Moreover, Skills England will play a key role in engagement with businesses and will be establishing effective forums for collaboration, ensuring that employer voices shape the skills agenda and drive meaningful outcomes. It will work with large and small businesses in the delivery of its functions to identify and tackle skills needs.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support her Department is providing to (a) Egglescliffe School and (b) all schools damaged by Storm Éowyn.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Egglescliffe school is a member of the Risk Protection Arrangement (RPA) and as a result of significant damage to the school roof during storm Éowyn the RPA team are working closely with the school to reinstate the damaged areas. Initial works to waterproof the affected buildings are underway and the permanent reinstatement plan is being developed.
Any RPA members impacted by storm Éowyn who have made claims within the rules of the scheme will be similarly supported in the restoration of the affected part of the estate.
Responsibility for ensuring the safety and condition of school buildings lies with the responsible bodies, such as local authorities, academy trusts and voluntary-aided bodies.
Where the department is alerted to significant safety issues with a building that cannot be managed with local resources, it will provide additional support on a case-by-case basis. The department will provide support and advice to responsible bodies to minimise impact on pupils and prioritise the continuity of face-to-face education.
All other schools that notified us of building related incidents due to Storm Éowyn have received advisory support and all pupils have returned to face-to-face education.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure that students from the UK have access to places at UK universities.
Answered by Robert Halfon
This government is focused on levelling up opportunities so that every young person, regardless of their background or geographic location, can get the skills and training needed to secure rewarding, well-paid jobs. The department wants to ensure people have the opportunities that will open doors and create the talent pipeline that our country needs to prosper now and in the future.
In 2021/22, Higher Education Statistics Agency data shows that UK students accounted for 85% of all undergraduate entrants to UK universities.
A disadvantaged English domiciled 18-year-old is now 74% more likely to enter higher education (HE) than they were in 2010, and the department is working to further close the disadvantage gap with our Access and Participation reforms. HE providers registered with the Office for Students that intend to charge tuition fees above the basic amount are rewriting their access and participation plans to focus on raising attainment in school pupils. This will help ensure pupils have more options for post-18 study and that they are better equipped to choose the path that is right for them from higher technical qualifications and apprenticeships as well as degrees. Providers should have revised plans in place for September 2025, with the first wave being ready for September 2024.
The government is committed to a sustainable funding model that supports high-quality provision, meets the skills needs of the country and maintains the world-class reputation of UK HE. The department has frozen maximum tuition fees for the 2024/25 academic year to deliver better value for students and to keep the cost of HE under control. By 2024/25, maximum fees will have been frozen for seven years.
The government has also continued to increase maximum loans and grants for living and other costs each year. Maximum support has been increased by 2.8% for the current, 2023/24, academic year.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of part-funding the training of educational psychologists; and whether she is taking steps to increase the number of educational psychologists.
Answered by David Johnston
The department knows that educational psychologists play a vital role in the support available to children and young people, including those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.
That is why, since 2020, the department has increased the number of educational psychologist trainees that it funds, from 160 to over 200 per annum, to continue supporting Local Authority educational psychology services. This includes full funding for the tuition fees and a bursary for the first year, while a bursary for the second and third years of training is funded by local authorities where trainees undertake their placements.
In November 2022, the department announced a further £21 million investment to train 400 more educational psychologists from 2024, in addition to the £10 million announced earlier in 2022 to train over 200 educational psychologists from September 2023.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support her Department provides to school pupils suffering from (a) partial and (b) total hearing loss.
Answered by David Johnston
The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan outlines the department’s mission for more children and young people to have their needs met effectively, including pupils with partial or total hearing loss.
It is the responsibility of local authorities, schools, and further education settings to commission appropriately qualified staff to support the education of children and young people in their area.
To teach a class of pupils with sensory impairments, a teacher is required to hold the relevant mandatory qualification, which is a Mandatory Qualification in Sensory Impairment (MQSI). Teachers working in an advisory role to support these pupils should also hold the appropriate qualification.
To offer MQSIs, providers must be approved by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education. The department’s aim is to ensure a steady supply of teachers for children with visual, hearing, and multi-sensory impairments, in both specialist and mainstream settings. There are currently six providers of the MQSI, with a seventh to begin in September 2024.
The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education has also developed a Sensory Impairment apprenticeship and expects it to be available from 2025. This will open a paid, work-based route into teaching children and young people with sensory impairments by enabling people to undertake high-quality apprenticeships.