Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what process his Department has in place to measure social mobility in children and young people from primary school age to (a) leaving education and (b) entering higher education.
Answered by Robin Walker
The department monitors key metrics internally and publishes data on outcomes of children and young people from early years to post-16. This includes breakdowns of data by disadvantaged and vulnerable cohorts, and by regions and local authority.
The most relevant measures that the department tracks by these cohorts are described below, with links to the latest statistical publications:
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department plans to take to make schools accountable for the outcomes of permanently excluded SEND children.
Answered by Will Quince
The government is taking forward an ambitious programme of action on behaviour, exclusion and alternative provision (AP) which will respect head teachers’ powers to use exclusion when they need to, enable schools to support children at risk of exclusion, and ensure that excluded children continue to receive a good education.
The department knows that the vast majority of pupils in AP have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), particularly social, emotional, and mental health, and that AP is increasingly operating as part of the SEND system. In the SEND Review, we will set out our plans for reforming AP to incentivise early support and to ensure that those who are at risk of a suspension or being permanently excluded remain safe and supported in high-quality education.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his planned timetable is for completion of the SEND Review.
Answered by Will Quince
The government is working at pace, and extensively with children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), parents and carers, as well as those working in local government, education, health and care services to ensure that proposals from our SEND Review translate into improved outcomes for children and young people, with a focus on preparing them for later life and adulthood.
The department will be bringing forward proposals for public consultation in the first three months of 2022.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of (a) involving SEND groups that have not to date been involved in the SEND Review in that process and (b) expanding the franchise of stakeholders beyond the National Network Parent Carer Forum in that review process.
Answered by Will Quince
The government continues to work extensively with a broad range of partners to ensure that proposals from our special educational needs and disability (SEND) Review translate into improved outcomes for children and young people, with a focus on preparing them for later life and adulthood.
Ministers and officials are meeting a widespread group of stakeholders, as well as establishing a new steering group in September 2021 that brings together government departments with representatives of parents, schools, colleges and early years, local government, health and care and independent experts. The group is helping the government conclude the SEND Review at pace and advise on proposals to be set out in a SEND Green Paper to be published in the first three months of 2022. Please see the following for further details about the new steering group: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/send-review-steering-group.
Public consultation of our proposals will provide an opportunity to hear further from children and young people, parents and those who work with them so they can continue to shape and challenge our thinking.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his planned timetable is for completing implementation of the commitments made in response to The Timpson review of school exclusion.
Answered by Robin Walker
The government is actively taking forward the recommendations from the Timpson Review of School Exclusion through its ambitious programme of action on behaviour, exclusion and alternative provision, which will back head teachers’ powers to use exclusion when they need to, enable schools to support children at risk of exclusion, and ensure that excluded children continue to receive a good education.
The department published a call for evidence on behaviour management strategies, in-school units and managed moves in June this year and will shortly be consulting on new statutory guidance on suspensions and permanent exclusions. In addition, as part of the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Review, we will be setting out our plans for reforming alternative provision so it can provide leadership and expertise across the whole school system to incentivise early support, and to ensure stable and high-quality provision for those children and young people most at risk of disengaging from education.
The department will be bringing forward proposals for public consultation in the first three months of 2022.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of universities resuming face-to-face teaching at the start of the new academic term in September 2021.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The government has now lifted the restrictions on higher education (HE) including removing all restrictions on face-to-face teaching. Providers are therefore able to shape courses without restrictions on face-to-face teaching and learning.
HE providers should therefore not be planning to restrict teaching based on COVID-19 restrictions. However, as autonomous institutions, it is for providers to determine their own provision, taking account of government guidance.
As a result of COVID-19, some providers have accelerated their digital teaching and learning plans, and some will retain an element of blended learning. We know that the COVID-19 outbreak has enabled many providers to identify new and innovative ways to teaching and learning, and students will continue to benefit from these alongside in-person provision.
We expect all universities to continue to deliver excellent teaching and learning, in line with guidance from the Office for Students (OfS), and that they should provide students with a full experience.
The OfS has made it clear that all HE providers must continue to comply with registration conditions relating to quality and standards and the OfS will be monitoring to ensure this is the case.
Universities should be open about what students can expect. If students have concerns, they should first raise them with their HE provider. If their concerns remain unresolved, students at providers in England or Wales can ask the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education to consider their complaint.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of whether GCSE and A-level examinations will take place without disruption in academic year 2021-22.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government has made clear its firm intention that exams will take place in summer 2022. Exams are the fairest way of judging pupils’ performance. The Department has engaged with a wide range of stakeholders who have all called for exams to go ahead.
There is continued uncertainty about the path of the COVID-19 outbreak, including whether further disruption to education may occur over the course of the 2021/22 academic year. Even if some public health restrictions were to be needed over the coming academic year, the Department believes it will be possible for pupils to take exams safely, but we recognise the need to have plans in place for the unlikely event that that is not possible.
The Department is working with Ofqual, exam boards, and representatives of schools and colleges to ensure that contingency arrangements are in place for scenarios where exams cannot be held for any reason, or where individual pupils are unable to sit exams due to illness or self-isolation. The Department will announce the detail of these contingency plans in the autumn term.
The Department also recognises that pupils who will be taking exams in summer 2022 have had disruption to their education in the last two academic years. Whilst we believe it is in pupils’ interests that they cover as much of the curriculum as possible, we also recognise that in order to be fair, exams in 2022 will need to be adapted to take this disruption into account. The Department has recently consulted jointly with Ofqual on a range of adaptations to exams. We are currently considering the responses to that consultation and will announce final decisions shortly.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what precautionary covid-19 related health and safety measures will be implemented in schools when the academic year begins in September 2021.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department’s priority is for all schools to deliver face to face, high quality education to all children, pupils and students. The Department has worked closely with the Department of Health and Social Care and Public Health England to revise the guidance for schools. Schools should continue to ensure good hygiene for everyone, maintain appropriate cleaning regimes, keep occupied spaces well ventilated and follow public health advice on testing, self-isolation and managing confirmed cases of COVID-19. As pupils will potentially have mixed with many other people during the summer holidays, all secondary school pupils should receive 2 on-site lateral flow device tests, 3 to 5 days apart, on their return in the autumn term.
Schools should continue to conduct risk assessments and take appropriate action in line with the control measures. Schools should have contingency plans in place outlining the actions they would take if pupils and staff test positive for COVID-19, or how they would operate if they were advised to take extra measures to help break chains of transmission.
The evidence is clear that being out of education causes significant harm to educational attainment, life chances, and mental and physical health. In making decisions, the Government has balanced education and health considerations, weighing the impact of these measures on teaching, wellbeing and the functioning of schools and nurseries, against the risks posed by COVID-19, in a context that has now fundamentally changed due to the success of the vaccination rollout.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of improving ventilation in school buildings to help prevent the spread of covid-19.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) have advised the Government that ventilation should be integral to the COVID-19 risk mitigation strategy, and that this should include identification of how a space is ventilated, as well as guidance to ensure the ventilation is adequate.
On 21 August 2021, the Department announced that CO2 monitors will be provided to all state-funded nurseries, schools and colleges from September. Backed by a £25 million Government investment, the new monitors will enable staff to act quickly where ventilation is poor and provide reassurance that existing ventilation measures are working.
The programme will provide nurseries, schools and colleges with sufficient monitors to take representative readings from across the indoor spaces in their estate, assessing all spaces in a relatively short space of time. It is expected that monitors will confirm that in most cases, existing ventilation is sufficient.
The Department will also provide new guidance on how to better manage ventilation, including how using CO2 monitors can help.
The majority of the 300,000 carbon dioxide monitors will become available over the autumn term, with special schools and alternative provision prioritised to receive their full allocation from September.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the quality of teaching provided to university students during the covid-19 outbreak; and whether he plans to support students pursuing a reduction in fees charged during that period.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
This has been a difficult and uncertain time for students, however, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education and I have continued to work closely with higher education representative bodies, mission groups and the regulator throughout the COVID-19 outbreak. The government’s clear and stated expectation throughout the COVID-19 outbreak is that universities are expected to maintain quality and academic standards and the quantity of tuition should not drop.
The higher education regulator in England, the Office for Students (OfS), has also made it clear that all higher education providers must comply with registration conditions relating to quality and standards. This means ensuring that courses provide a high-quality academic experience, students are supported and achieve good outcomes, and standards are protected, regardless of whether a provider is delivering its courses through in-person teaching, remote online learning, or a combination of both.
The OfS has and continues to take very seriously the potential impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on teaching and learning. It has actively monitored providers to ensure that they maintain the quality of their provision, that it is accessible for all, and that they have been clear in their communications with students about how arrangements for teaching and learning may change throughout the year. The OfS has also followed up directly with providers where they received notifications from students, parents or others raising concerns about the quality of teaching on offer.
If students have concerns about their tuition, there is a process in place. They should first raise their concerns with their university. If their concerns remain unresolved, students at providers in England or Wales can ask the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education to consider their complaint.
Universities and other higher education providers are autonomous and responsible for setting their own fees within maximum fee limits set by Regulations.
Ultimately, whether an individual student is entitled to a refund of their tuition fees depends on the specific contractual arrangements between the provider and student. Students do have consumer rights, and it is for them to decide whether to seek to exercise these.