Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment his Department has made of the number of pupils studying STEM subjects after the age of 16.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government tracks the number of people studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) at different stages, such as A Level[1], Higher Education[2] and Apprenticeships[3], which are all published online.
The Government has taken focused action to increase the take-up of STEM subjects across educational stages. For example, the Department is funding programmes in schools and colleges to increase the take-up of maths (such as the Advanced Maths premium), computing and physics; and to support better teaching of maths, science and computing in schools, including a new £84 million programme to improve computing teaching.
The Department is committed to improving STEM careers advice in schools in the recently published Careers Strategy by updating school and college statutory guidance to ensure that students have opportunities to engage with STEM employers and apprenticeships as part of school career programmes.
The Department is also involved with and supporting wider government initiatives such as the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy’s (BEIS) STEM Ambassador programme. BEIS’s and the Department for Education’s programmes (such as STEM Inspiration) include measures to increase participation among under-served groups, such as girls and women.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/a-level-and-other-16-to-18-results-2016-to-2017-revised.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps his Department has taken to recruit and retain teachers and teaching staff in (a) Medway, (b) Kent and (c) England.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The number of teachers in schools remains high with almost 452,000 teachers in England, 2,500 teachers in Medway and 13,100 teachers in Kent. An additional 32,000 trainee teachers were recruited in England last year.
Based on analysis of the School Workforce Census, the Department published a methodology for better understanding local teacher supply, the Supply Index, which demonstrates that variations in teacher supply issues appear at school level, with no geographical trends: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/682023/SFR86_2017_Main_Text.pdf. The Department has also announced a £30 million investment in tailored support for these schools, designed to help schools improve existing plans, join national programmes, build local partnerships or fund new initiatives.
Earlier this year, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State announced a new strategy to drive recruitment and boost retention of teachers across the country which will build upon the existing work already undertaken to support schools and continue to address the national drivers of workload, including through the Workload Reduction Toolkit and the Workload Advisory Group recommendations.
The Department has also taken a number of steps to improve this year’s initial teacher training recruitment figures including; increased generous bursaries (worth up to £26,000 for priority subjects); boosting marketing and support to applicants; making it easier to take the skills test; and working with providers to ensure every applicant is accepted who is ready to train to teach.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to reduce the attainment gap in (a) Medway and (b) England.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Since 2010 the key objective of education reform has been to reduce the attainment gap in schools. The Government has introduced the £2.5 billion Pupil Premium to support the education of disadvantaged pupils, and since 2010 the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers has narrowed by 10% in both primary and secondary school. In 2017, the percentage of pupils achieving the expected Key Stage 2 standard in Reading, Writing and Maths was 61% (48% for disadvantaged pupils and 67% for all other pupils). In 2016, the percentage was 53% (39% for disadvantaged pupils and 60% for all other pupils).
The Department is encouraging and supporting multi-academy trusts with strong track records in school improvement. The Department is already seeing the impact in academies; for instance, Victory Academy, located in one of the most deprived wards in Medway, which has become part of the Thinking Schools Academy Trust, was judged good by Ofsted in November 2017. The Inspire Special Free School; part of the Parallel Learning Trust, improved to good in June 2018.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many additional school places have been created in Medway since 2010.
Answered by Nick Gibb
2,808 places have been added to the Medway school estate since May 2010. A net increase of 1,612 primary school places and 1,196 secondary school places. The attached table provides a further breakdown of school places in Medway.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress the Government has made in increasing BAME participation in apprenticeships in line with its BAME 2020 vision to increase participation by 20 per cent.
Answered by Anne Milton
In 2016/17, 11.2 per cent of apprenticeship starts were from a black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) background. This is the highest reported over the past seven years, and considerably higher than the previous year of 10.5 per cent, but there is still more to do.
In February we launched a new partnership with five major cities in England, supported by city mayors, to make sure apprenticeships are accessible to individuals from all backgrounds.
Our Apprenticeship Diversity Champions Network, now comprised of over 55 members, continues to influence the behaviour of other employers to support more people from underrepresented groups, including members of BAME communities, to access apprenticeships.
Statistics covering latest in-year data relating to apprenticeships can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/further-education-and-skills-march-2018.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to encourage more SMEs to take on apprentices in (a) Kent, (b) Medway and (c) Gillingham and Rainham constituency.
Answered by Anne Milton
Smaller employers that do not pay the apprenticeship levy benefit from co-investment with 90 per cent of training and assessment costs for apprenticeships provided by government. For the smallest employers, those with fewer than 50 employees, 100 per cent of the training costs are covered for apprentices who are either 16 to 18-years old, 19 to 24-year-old care leavers or 19 to 24-year olds with an Education, Health and Care Plan.
Through our recent procurement to deliver apprenticeship training to non-levy payers (including smaller employers), we gave hundreds of providers across the country initial awards totalling around £490 million covering the period from January 2018 to April 2019. In April 2018, we awarded a further £68.6 million to 142 providers, including providers in Kent, Medway, Gillingham and Rainham.
Levy-paying employers are now able to transfer up to 10 per cent of funds to other employers, including smaller employers in their supply chain. This means that smaller organisations who may have previously felt that employing an apprentice was beyond their reach, will now have the opportunity to do so.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many universities are registered as apprenticeship providers in (a) the South East and (b) Kent.
Answered by Anne Milton
There are 102 universities listed on the register of apprenticeship training providers and all are eligible to deliver anywhere in England. Of which, 17 are in the South East and one is in Kent.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans Ofsted has to update its training and guidance on effective implementation of Supporting pupils with medical conditions at school.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Our recent promotion of the guidance through the department’s social media channels reached over 32,000 people. The department will consider whether further steps might be necessary to raise awareness of the guidance.
Ofsted’s Common Inspection Framework requires inspectors, in making judgements upon schools, to pay particular attention to the outcomes of a range of groups of pupils, including those with medical needs. Ofsted included guidance to inspectors on this matter in their March 2017 school inspection update, reminding inspectors that they should consider how schools are meeting the needs of pupils with medical conditions.
Ofsted’s onward plans are a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to you, and a copy of her reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.
Asked by: Rehman Chishti (Conservative - Gillingham and Rainham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 8 November 2017 to Question 110581, on pupils: health, what steps her Department plans to take to ensure that schools are (a) aware of and (b) comply with statutory guidance supporting pupils with medical conditions at school, further to promoting the duty through the Department's social media.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Our recent promotion of the guidance through the department’s social media channels reached over 32,000 people. The department will consider whether further steps might be necessary to raise awareness of the guidance.
Ofsted’s Common Inspection Framework requires inspectors, in making judgements upon schools, to pay particular attention to the outcomes of a range of groups of pupils, including those with medical needs. Ofsted included guidance to inspectors on this matter in their March 2017 school inspection update, reminding inspectors that they should consider how schools are meeting the needs of pupils with medical conditions.
Ofsted’s onward plans are a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to you, and a copy of her reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.