Asked by: Nick Fletcher (Conservative - Don Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the cancellation of exams for summer 2021, for what reason schools are being billed fees by exam boards.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Given the ongoing disruption to education caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, the Department announced in January that GCSE, AS and A level exams will not go ahead as planned this summer.
The Department and Ofqual launched joint consultations on 15 January 2021 on how to award grades for both general qualifications and vocational and technical qualifications in 2021 so they are robust and fair. We received over 100,000 responses from pupils, parents, teachers, head teachers and other stakeholders. There was widespread support for our approach.
In terms of fees from exam boards, awarding organisations will need to cover their costs which, for example, will include the provision of assessment and support materials, managing the quality assurance and appeals processes. We expect they will make commercial decisions on fees and refunds on that basis. Given the unusual circumstances this year, it is not possible for them to have certainty about their 2021 costs in advance.
The Government will provide funding to awarding organisations with respect to formal appeals of teacher assessed grades submitted to them by state-funded providers and any providers on behalf of private candidates. These centres will not need to pay a fee to awarding bodies when submitting their appeal.
Asked by: Nick Fletcher (Conservative - Don Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
What recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of educating children on financial responsibility.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Economic and financial education are important parts of a broad and balanced curriculum and provide the essential knowledge to ensure that young people are prepared to manage their money well, make sound financial decisions and know where to seek further information when needed.
Pupils currently receive financial education through the maths and citizenship curricula, both subjects are in the National Curriculum.
Finance education as part of the citizenship curriculum can be taught at all key stages. The curriculum seeks to develop young people’s financial awareness and skills by helping them to look after their money and realise that future wants and needs may be met through saving. This is built on at secondary school to cover income and expenditure, credit and debt, insurance, savings and pensions, financial products and services, and how public money is raised and spent.
The Department has introduced a rigorous mathematics curriculum, which provides pupils with the knowledge and skills to make important financial decisions. In the primary mathematics curriculum, there is a strong emphasis on arithmetical knowledge; this knowledge is vital, as a strong understanding of numeracy will underpin pupils’ ability to manage budgets and money. There is also specific content about financial education, including calculations with money.
Schools are also free to include the teaching of financial education in their non-statutory personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) provision if they wish, drawing on the PSHE Association’s non-statutory programme of study.
We trust schools to use their professional judgement and understanding of their pupils to develop the right teaching approach for their particular school, drawing on the expertise of subject associations and organisations.
The Department continues to work closely with the Money and Pensions Service and other stakeholders such as Her Majesty’s Treasury, to consider what can be learned from a range of external initiatives and whether there is scope to provide further support for the teaching of financial education in schools.
Asked by: Nick Fletcher (Conservative - Don Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 23 March 2021 to Question 169074 and the Answer of 23 March 2021 to Question 169981, on Abortion: Health Education, and with reference to the endorsement by Public Health England of the Abortion and Abortion Care Fact Sheet for use in schools, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on ensuring that the school curriculum (a) equally respects the views of people opposed to abortion and (b) educates pupils on alternatives to abortion.
Answered by Nick Gibb
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, meets regularly with Cabinet colleagues to discuss the Department’s agenda.
The statutory guidance on the new curriculum for Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education, which came into force in September 2020, makes clear that by the end of secondary education young people should know the facts relating to pregnancy. It states that there should be medically and legally impartial information. Pupils should be made aware of the relevant legal provisions when particular topics are being taught, including abortion. It is for schools to decide how best to comply with this in order to meet the needs of their pupils. To support teachers to deliver these topics safely and with confidence, the Department has produced RSHE Teacher Training Modules which are available for all schools on GOV.UK. The ‘Intimate and sexual relationships including sexual health’ teacher training module covers pregnancy specifically. Each training module covers safeguarding to make sure teachers, pastoral staff and the designated safeguarding lead are equipped to deal with sensitive discussions and potential disclosures.
Asked by: Nick Fletcher (Conservative - Don Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 22 September 2020 to Question 90289 on Remote Education: Coronavirus, if he will make it compulsory for schools to remotely educate whole classes rather that stating that such schools should plan to do so.
Answered by Nick Gibb
On 1 October, the Department published a temporary continuity direction which makes it clear that schools have a duty to provide remote education for state-funded, school-age children unable to attend school due to COVID-19. This will come into effect from 22 October 2020. The direction poses no additional expectations on the quality of remote education expected of schools beyond those set out in this guidance.
Alongside the direction, the Department also announced further remote education support to assist schools and further education (FE) colleges in meeting the remote education expectations set out in the schools guidance for full opening, published in July, and the autumn term guidance for FE colleges, published in August, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools; and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-further-education-provision/what-fe-colleges-and-providers-will-need-to-do-from-the-start-of-the-2020-autumn-term.
The support package will be available over the coming months to schools or FE colleges seeking additional support, and can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remote-education-during-coronavirus-covid-19.
For schools, the Department’s support includes 250,000 laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children and development resources for staff, including a good practice guide and school-led webinars. We are also investing £1.5m of additional funding to expand the EdTech Demonstrator programme, which provides peer-to-peer support for schools and colleges. For colleges, the Department’s support package will include 80 grants of £1,000 to colleges across England, providing additional training and support for mentors and coaches specialising in assisting teachers with remote education.
The package is designed to help schools and colleges build on and deliver their existing plans in the event that individual or groups of pupils are unable to attend school because of COVID-19 in line with guidance and the law. This adds to existing support outlined in the Answer of 22 September 2020, including resources available from Oak National Academy.
Schools and colleges have worked hard over the summer and the autumn term to prepare for full reopening and to develop remote education contingency plans. This is testament to their commitment to ensuring any missed education is recovered and that we prevent the attainment gap from widening further. We have a shared responsibility for working to ensure this generation of young people do not face long-term disadvantage.
Asked by: Nick Fletcher (Conservative - Don Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of making it compulsory for teachers to teach the same curriculum to whole classes and year groups through software that enables live teaching, in the event that those groups are sent home to self-isolate in response to a covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is committed to the continuation of high-quality education for all pupils during this difficult time. The Department published guidance on Thursday 2 July that sets out what is expected from schools for their remote education provision:
All schools should plan to ensure any pupils educated at home for some of the time are given the support they need to master the curriculum and so make good progress. Schools should also look to improve the quality of their existing provision against the expectations set out in the guidance on curriculum and remote education here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remote-education-during-coronavirus-covid-19.
The Department has provided a range of resources to support schools in delivering remote education. This includes examples of teaching practice during coronavirus, which provides an opportunity for schools to learn from each other’s approaches to remote education, as well as our work with sector-led initiatives such as Oak National Academy. Relevant guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remote-education-practice-for-schools-during-coronavirus-covid-19.
The Department has made £4.84 million available for Oak National Academy both for the summer term of the academic year 2019-20, and then for the 2020-21 academic year to provide video lessons for Reception up to Year 11. This will include specialist content for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. Oak will remain a free optional resource for 2020-21.
The Department has already invested over £100 million to support remote education, including the delivery of over 220,000 laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children who would not otherwise have access. The support package includes an investment of over £14 million on technical support to give schools access to cloud-based education platforms, nearly £6 million to support a new EdTech demonstrator school network, and over £85m to provide laptops, tablets and 4G internet devices, including security and e-safety packages and their distribution, and to top up the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund.
We have already delivered over 50,000 4G wireless routers to support disadvantaged children to learn at home and access vital social care services. These routers come with free data for the autumn term and will allow local authorities and academy trusts to support children who may have their education and care disrupted because of official coronavirus restrictions or disruption to face-to-face contact.
The Department is now supplementing this support by making available an initial 150,000 devices in the event that face-to-face schooling is disrupted as a result of local COVID-19 restrictions.
Asked by: Nick Fletcher (Conservative - Don Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he (a) has made an assessment of the equity of student loan repayments being taken from probationary police officers in London whose allowance takes them over the threshold for repayment and (b) plans to change his policy on that issue.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Repayments are made based on a borrower’s monthly or weekly income, not the interest rate, amount borrowed or borrower’s occupation. Repayments are calculated as a fixed percentage of earnings, with only the amount of earnings above the relevant repayment threshold being considered – and if the borrower’s income drops, so do repayments made. No repayments are made on earnings below the repayment thresholds. Any outstanding debt is written off at the end of the loan term with no detriment to the borrower.
If, at the end of the year, the borrower’s total income is below the relevant annual threshold, they may reclaim any repayments from the Student Loans Company made during that year.
There are no plans to amend the regulations to apply different repayment terms to borrowers in different occupations.
Asked by: Nick Fletcher (Conservative - Don Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many laptops were provided to Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council by his Department in response to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government has committed over £100 million to support vulnerable and disadvantaged children in England to access remote education and social care services, including by providing laptops, tablets and 4G wireless routers.
We are providing laptops and tablets to disadvantaged and vulnerable children who would otherwise not have access and are preparing for examinations in year 10, receiving support from a social worker or are a care leaver. Where care leavers, children with a social worker at secondary school and children in year 10 do not have internet connections, we are providing 4G wireless routers.
The Department has ordered over 200,000 laptops and tablets and allocated devices to local authorities and academy trusts based on its estimates of the number of eligible children that do not have access to a device. Local authorities and academy trusts are best placed to identify and prioritise children and young people who need devices. All local authorities and academy trusts can place orders for the devices they need.
The Department has published information about how many laptops, tablets and 4G wireless routers we have delivered or dispatched to local authorities and academy trusts as of 30 June, which can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/laptops-tablets-and-4g-wireless-routers-progress-data. This includes 635 devices to Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council for children with a social worker and care leavers.
Asked by: Nick Fletcher (Conservative - Don Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether academies attended by 16 to 19 year-olds will have access to the £1 billion support package to tackle the impact of lost teaching time.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The £1 billion COVID-19 catch-up package is made up of £650 million to be shared across state primary and secondary schools over the 2020/21 academic year, and a National Tutoring Programme, worth £350 million, which will increase access to high-quality tuition for the most disadvantaged pupils over the 2020/21 academic year. We will announce further details of how these will operate as soon as possible.
We are committed to supporting all children and young people to make up for time spent out of education. We know that remote education has been working well for many students in post-16 education, and we will continue to work with the sector to establish the best way to support students to make up for the disruption due to COVID-19.
Asked by: Nick Fletcher (Conservative - Don Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to allow schools to re-allocate expenditure on examinations to online learning resources due to the cancellation of examinations due to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government recognises that schools and colleges want clarity on exam fees following the cancellation of this summer’s exams. The Department for Education and the exam boards are working together to ensure that schools and colleges are provided with further information as soon as possible. The exam boards are looking at the costs that will be saved this summer, alongside new work they need to undertake to gather centre assessment grades and provide calculated grades to students.
Schools and colleges will continue to receive their budgets for the coming year, regardless of any periods of partial or complete closure. This will ensure that they are able to continue to meet their regular financial commitments. We expect schools and colleges to pay any due invoices for exams, as the process is worked through.
The Department is committed to ensuring that students can continue to learn at home in these very difficult circumstances. We recognise that many schools and colleges have already shared resources for students who are at home, and we have issued guidance for schools and colleges which signposts to an initial list of free online resources identified by educational experts and teachers.
Leading state schools have collaborated to open The Oak National Academy, which was launched online on 20 April 2020. This free initiative is led by 40 teachers who have assembled video lessons and resources for any teacher in the country to make use of if they wish to do so. 180 video lessons will be provided each week, across a broad range of subjects, for every year group from reception through to year 10. In addition, the BBC has developed resources for families as part of a comprehensive new education package, which is now available on television and online at BBC Bitesize.
We have also committed over £100 million to boost remote education, including giving free laptops and tablets to children from disadvantaged backgrounds across England, care leavers and those with a social worker, to help them learn from home during the lockdown. Additionally, if families of these children do not have good access to the internet, we will provide them with 4G routers so that these children can learn online and access social care services. The Department will also ensure that every school and college that wants it has access to free, expert technical support to get set up on Google for Education or Microsoft’s Office 365 Education.
Asked by: Nick Fletcher (Conservative - Don Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to provide schools with more buses to enforce social distancing when schools re-open after the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Parents and children and young people should be encouraged to walk or cycle where possible, and avoid public transport at peak times.
Home to school transport provided or organised by schools, academy trusts or local authorities varies widely. Schools, trusts and local authorities should work together and with relevant transport providers to put in place arrangements which fit the local circumstances, including the measures being put in place to reduce contact. Further guidance is available here:
This guidance sets out that local authorities or transport providers could consider the following: