Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her department is taking to help ensure that the Pupil Premium is spent on supporting the needs of the eligible children’s needs.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is providing £3.2 billion of pupil premium funding in 2026/27 to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in state-funded schools in England.
To ensure pupil premium is focused on effective approaches, schools must use their pupil premium in line with the evidence-informed 'menu of approaches'.
Schools with more than 5 eligible pupils must publish a strategy statement annually on their school website using the department template. Schools are held accountable for the outcomes they achieve with all their funding, including through Ofsted inspections and by governors and trustees, and pupil premium is no exception.
An evaluation of pupil premium and recovery premium, published in March 2025, found that overall schools were positive about the impact of the funding, and 85% agreed that having pupil premium meant they had a better strategy for meeting the needs of disadvantaged pupils. The evaluation is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-and-recovery-premium-evaluation.
A report published by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) in October 2025 found that generally schools’ planned spending of pupil premium aligned with the challenges identified, and that schools used a variety of evidence sources to support their choice of approaches. The report is available here: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/projects-and-evaluation/projects/pupil-premium-statement-research-project.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her department has made of the efficacy of schools’ use of the Pupil Premium to support eligible children.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is providing £3.2 billion of pupil premium funding in 2026/27 to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in state-funded schools in England.
To ensure pupil premium is focused on effective approaches, schools must use their pupil premium in line with the evidence-informed 'menu of approaches'.
Schools with more than 5 eligible pupils must publish a strategy statement annually on their school website using the department template. Schools are held accountable for the outcomes they achieve with all their funding, including through Ofsted inspections and by governors and trustees, and pupil premium is no exception.
An evaluation of pupil premium and recovery premium, published in March 2025, found that overall schools were positive about the impact of the funding, and 85% agreed that having pupil premium meant they had a better strategy for meeting the needs of disadvantaged pupils. The evaluation is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-and-recovery-premium-evaluation.
A report published by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) in October 2025 found that generally schools’ planned spending of pupil premium aligned with the challenges identified, and that schools used a variety of evidence sources to support their choice of approaches. The report is available here: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/projects-and-evaluation/projects/pupil-premium-statement-research-project.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what consideration her department has given to the potential benefits of changing Pupil Premium rules so that funding goes directly towards supporting the eligible child’s care.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The purpose of pupil premium funding is to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in state-funded schools in England.
Pupil premium is not a personal budget for individual pupils. It is for schools to decide how to allocate the funding, after assessing the needs of their disadvantaged cohort, including previously looked after children.
To ensure that pupil premium is focused on effective approaches to raising the educational attainment of disadvantaged pupils, schools must use their pupil premium in line with the evidence-informed 'menu of approaches'. Under the ‘wider strategies’ category this can include supporting pupil’s social and emotional needs.
Previously looked after children and young people under adoption orders, special guardianship orders and child arrangements orders are eligible for funding for therapy through the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment has her department made of the potential benefits to allowing parents of previously looked after children to make financial contributions to the Pupil Premium for therapy.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The purpose of pupil premium funding is to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in state-funded schools in England.
Pupil premium is not a personal budget for individual pupils. It is for schools to decide how to allocate the funding, after assessing the needs of their disadvantaged cohort, including previously looked after children.
To ensure that pupil premium is focused on effective approaches to raising the educational attainment of disadvantaged pupils, schools must use their pupil premium in line with the evidence-informed 'menu of approaches'. Under the ‘wider strategies’ category this can include supporting pupil’s social and emotional needs.
Previously looked after children and young people under adoption orders, special guardianship orders and child arrangements orders are eligible for funding for therapy through the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
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 the £100,000 earnings threshold for free childcare on incentives to work.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
It is our ambition that all families have access to high quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.
The working parent entitlement aims to support parents to return to work or to work more hours if they wish. To be eligible, parents must expect to earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at National Minimum Wage and less than £100,000 adjusted net income per year. The minimum income threshold rises in line with National Minimum Wage increases at the beginning of the financial year.
The government needs to use public funds in a way that provides value for money and considers it reasonable to target this funding at those individuals earning under £100,000 adjusted net income. Only a small proportion of parents earn over the £100,000 adjusted net income maximum threshold. Parents who earn over the maximum income threshold can still claim the universal 15 hours for three and four-year-olds in England.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Home Office’s policy paper entitled Restoring order and control: a statement on the Government’s asylum and returns policy, published on 17 November 2025, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Home Office’s proposed legislation on the duty for public bodies to prioritise vulnerable children, as set out in the Children Act 1989.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department will work with the Home Office as they carefully consider the appropriate pathways and wider provision for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and asylum-seeking families with children. We will continue to focus on ensuring vulnerable children are protected and their welfare safeguarded.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Education and Skills Funding Agency in enabling young people to retake English and Maths GCSEs to a timetable that enables them to undertake paid employment.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Progress towards, and attainment of, level 2 mathematics and English is essential for helping 16 to 19 students to by allowing them to seize opportunities in life, learning and work.
Under Part 1 of Education and Skills Act 2008, young people aged 16 and 17 who have not attained level 3 qualifications of sufficient size are under a duty to continue in education or training until their 18th birthday. However, schools and colleges can tailor a study programme to the needs of an individual student, and we know that many students undertake part time work alongside their studies.
Study programmes are designed to be full-time with a minimum of 580 planned hours per academic year, however, part time programmes may be agreed where, for example, a student combines part time education with full time employment.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve the employment rate for graduates under the age of 25.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In September, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, announced plans aimed at ensuring young people gain the skills needed in the job market, with a target of two thirds of young people in higher education by age 25.
The Post-16 education and skills white paper sets out our plans to ensure higher education equips graduates with the technical skills needed in the economy, including by developing new higher technical qualification awarding powers.
It also sets out our plans to reform the Strategic Priorities Grant to align funding with future skills needs.
One of the primary objectives of the Office for Students is to ensure all students are able to progress into employment or further study. It is currently consulting on proposals to broaden the employment indicators it uses to assess higher education providers’ quality ratings, to incentivise more focus on supporting students to achieve positive employment outcomes.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with the video games industry on the number of vocational qualifications for 16 to 18 year olds.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Students deserve high-quality qualifications that meet their needs. The department continues to develop and improve qualifications so that they meet the needs of students and employers.
The Digital Software Development T Level provides young people with the core knowledge and skills for a career in software production and design, including in games design and development.
We will consider how to continue to improve the quality of qualifications available to students, including on games design, in the light of the recommendations from the Curriculum and Assessment Review, and will engage with employers and sector organisations on this in due course. The Curriculum and Assessment Review will publish recommendations in autumn 2025.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department holds information on the number of students that undertook undergraduate degrees in Games and Animation in the (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2023-24 academic years.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In the 2023/24 academic year, there were 15,450 undergraduate enrolments across all UK higher education (HE) providers in the subject area ‘Computer games and animation’ (common aggregation hierarchy (CAH) subject code 11-01-06).
In the 2013/14 academic year, there were 4,065 undergraduate enrolments across all UK HE providers in the subject areas ‘Games’ (Joint Academic Coding System (JACS) subject code I6) and ‘Computer generated visual & audio effects’ (JACS subject code I7).
In 2019/20, a new subject classification system, the Higher Education Classification of Subjects and the CAH, was introduced to replace the JACS. Subjects in both systems have been chosen to match as closely as possible, but counts of enrolments may not be directly comparable between the two systems.