Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of removing the 50 per cent cap on religious selection in free schools on the ability of parents to get their children into a local school.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
We want a diverse range of schools to give parents greater choice and drive up standards. The proposals set out in our consultation, 'Schools that Work for Everyone', aim to increase local capacity by enabling a wider group of providers to establish new schools. The proposal to remove the 50 per cent cap on religious selection in new free schools has, for some faith groups, been a barrier to setting up new schools. The removal of the cap and the establishment of new faith schools will add to the overall stock of places and should increase choice for parents.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of removing the 50 per cent cap on religious selection in free schools on religious tolerance and integration.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
All schools must promote religious tolerance and integration whatever their character and ethos. The Department is currently consulting on proposals to replace the 50% cap on faith admissions in faith free schools with new measures to better promote inclusivity and community cohesion. The proposed measures, alongside existing requirements to promote fundamental British values, will apply to all new faith free schools with 100% faith admissions and help ensure that pupils are prepared for life in modern Britain. The consultation document is available at: https://consult.education.gov.uk/school-frameworks/schools-that-work-for-everyone
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of changes to the cap on religious selection on the opening of new Catholic state schools.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Some faith groups, including the Catholic Church, have felt unable to open new schools through the free schools route because they believe it contravenes religious rules. This has meant, for example, that in areas where there has been significant growth in the Catholic population, the Catholic Church has not set up sufficient school places to meet demand.
We want more high quality providers to be able to set up new schools and we are consulting on how best to do that. The consultation document, 'Schools that work for everyone' is available at: https://consult.education.gov.uk/school-frameworks/schools-that-work-for-everyone
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to allow Parliament to vote on (a) whether to remove the current 50 per cent cap on religious selection in free schools and (b) other changes to the schools admissions code.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Department is currently consulting on proposals to remove the 50% cap on faith admissions in new faith free schools. The outcome of the consultation and government response will be presented to Parliament. The consultation document, 'Schools that work for everyone', is available at: https://consult.education.gov.uk/school-frameworks/schools-that-work-for-everyone
Any changes to the Schools Admissions Code are subject to Parliamentary scrutiny.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether all children and parents will receive the same request for data as part of the schools census.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The School Census is the DfE’s primary source of administrative data about pupils attending schools in England and has been running since 2006. It is collected termly from all state schools in England and contains information for each pupil such as their name, address, date of birth, gender, ethnicity, whether they have special education needs. The data collected is vital in supporting a number of the department’s strategic objectives and is widely used by DfE for the purpose of improving, and promoting, the education and well-being of children in England.
The Department publishes a School Census user guide. This guide supports schools in understanding Departmental data requirements and assists schools to meet their statutory duty to complete the school census.
The Census collects the same information for most children; for example, name, age, address. However some data is restricted to children of a certain age or attending certain types of school; for example, “learning aims” are only collected for post-16 pupils. The Census guidance is clear that for the new data items of nationality and country of birth to be collected this year, schools do not need to see any documentation when collecting this information, i.e. they do not need to see passports or other forms of identification. The guidance is also clear that parents and families are also able to refuse to provide this information if they wish. However, the Department is aware that a number of schools have not implemented the collection in accordance with the guidance. We will, therefore, work with the sector to consider how it can better support schools in collecting school census data for future rounds.
To address any uncertainties, I have placed an information note in the House Libraries.
The school census user guide for the 2016 to 2017 academic year is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-census-2016-to-2017-guide-for-schools-and-las.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if the Government will ensure that the current number of places in adult education classes on numeracy and literacy will be maintained following the projected merging of further education institutions.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The post 16 area reviews are aimed at improving the quality and relevance of the teaching offer to learners as well as ensuring the long term financial viability of colleges. The reviews take account of the best available evidence including the demand for numeracy and literacy in the local area. 22 area reviews are underway and there is no evidence that access to learning, including access to adult education classes on numeracy and literacy, is being reduced as a result of the area reviews.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what evidence the Government holds to demonstrate that merging further education colleges will create savings; and what assessment she has carried out on whether the policy of merging further education institutions in Scotland has been successful.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Where an area review recommends further education colleges to merge, there will have been a financial assessment of the efficiencies that could be secured through the merger. These are likely to include reductions in administrative and management costs, as duplication of functions is reduced. This will make resources available for re-investment in delivering high quality teaching. This was one of the lessons that was learned from the pilot review carried out in North East Norfolk and North Suffolk and reflects the assessment undertaken by an independent further education adviser in 2015 of mergers in the further education sector to date. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/current-models-of-collaboration-post-14-further-education)
As education is a devolved matter, any assessment of the mergers of further education institutions in Scotland would be a matter for the Scottish Government.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason her Department's review of further education institutions does not include sixth forms or universities.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Area reviews of post-16 education and training institutions are predominantly focused on general further education and sixth form colleges in order to ensure that there are high quality, financially resilient colleges that are able to meet the needs of young people and adults across the country. Schools with sixth forms and Higher Education Institutions can opt in to a review if they wish to do so and if they have the agreement of the review’s local steering group.
Each review conducts a detailed analysis of the current post-16 provision in the area which includes the offer made by schools with sixth forms and Higher Education Institutions. Regional Schools Commissioners and local authorities sit on local area review steering groups and will take account of the analysis from area reviews in any decisions they make about future schools provision.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government plans to take to ensure that (a) all children start their first year of school with the expected levels of language and communication skills and (b) the gap in those skills between children aged five from richer and poorer backgrounds is closed.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Government recognises a key part of raising the standard of education for all children, regardless of background, is to ensure they receive a good level of development in literacy and numeracy before they start school at age five, which is why in 2010 we extended the free entitlement to 15 hours for all three and four year olds
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework sets the prime areas of learning which early years providers must follow. This includes a focus on communication and language. The Early Years Foundation stage is published on gov.uk and is available at:
The 2014-15 EYFS Profile results tell us that the proportion of children achieving a good level of development continues to increase – 66 % in 2015, compared to 60% in 2014 and 52% in 2013. The EYFS Profile results also show that more than 80% of children are reaching the expected communication and language skills by age five. A higher proportion of children eligible for free school meals are achieving a good level of development – 51% in 2015 compared to 45% in 2014. Although the gap between disadvantaged children and their peers is narrowing, we recognise there is still some way to go.
The quality of early education is improving, the numbers of qualified staff have risen, the numbers of graduates in the workforce continues to rise, and a record number of providers are rated good or outstanding, with 86% of providers currently on the Early Years Register judged good or outstanding for overall effectiveness at 31 March 2016.
The quality of the workforce continues to rise with 87% of staff in full day care settings now qualified to level 3 (equivalent level of study to A-level). To improve the quality of the workforce further, we have introduced early years teachers who must meet the same entry qualification requirements as teachers of older children. We have also introduced an early years pupil premium to help providers support the learning and development of children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to publish a response to the finding of the National Union of Teachers survey, published in March 2016, that 70 per cent of school leaders believed that a lack of school funding was affecting education standards in their schools.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Funding for education is a priority for this government. As announced at the Spending Review, we have protected the core schools budget in real terms. This year the schools budget will total around £40 billion. We are also committed to making funding fairer by introducing a national funding formula. A national funding formula will ensure that all schools are on an even starting point from which to build educational excellence. This is because a national funding formula will recognise pupil need, and pupils with similar needs will attract the same amount of funding wherever they are in the country.