Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data his Department holds on the number of A level exam results achieved by students on free school meals, separated by grade, for each of the last five academic years.
Answered by Will Quince
The table below shows A level entries and results for students aged 16 to 18 at the start of the academic year, and eligible for free school meals, for the last five years. The data corresponds to the number of entries within a single academic year and refers to students in schools and colleges in England. X grades are awarded when there is no result and Q grades are awarded when the result is pending.
| A level entries and results | ||||
Version | Provisional | Provisional | Revised | Revised | Revised |
Time Period | 2020/21 | 2019/20 | 2018/19 | 2017/18 | 2016/17 |
A* | 4,170 | 2,528 | 1,316 | 1,353 | 1,537 |
A | 8,335 | 6,106 | 4,370 | 4,168 | 4,548 |
B | 11,171 | 9,933 | 8,849 | 9,009 | 9,356 |
C | 10,289 | 10,081 | 10,629 | 10,531 | 10,747 |
D | 5,258 | 5,055 | 7,899 | 7,442 | 7,827 |
E | 2,516 | 1,864 | 3,889 | 3,575 | 3,473 |
U | 504 | 238 | 1,638 | 1,447 | 1,229 |
X3 | 157 | 103 | 201 | 177 | 123 |
Q4 | 16 | 15 | 1 | 7 | 2 |
Total Entries | 42,416 | 35,923 | 38,792 | 37,709 | 38,842 |
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data his Department holds on the number of GCSE exam results achieved by students on free school meals, separated by grade, for each of the last five academic years.
Answered by Will Quince
The attached table shows the collective entries for students on free school meals, broken down by GCSE grades, for the last five academic years.
Discounting has been applied where pupils have taken the same subject more than once. In 2019/20 and 2021/21, only one entry per subject is counted and we count the entry with the highest grade for results received in summer 2022. Previously only the first entry grade would count, and this is still the case for any results received before summer 2021. Double grades refer to GCSE combined science, which was introduced in 2017/18. Therefore, this data is unavailable for 2016/17.
By 2019/20 and 2020/21, all GCSEs in England have been reformed and use the new 9 to 1 grading system (rather than A*-G). Grade U refers to pupils' results which are ungraded or unclassified. Grade X refers to pupils who were absent or whose results are pending.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) in-school mental health counsellors and (b) mental health workers there were in schools in each year from 2010 to 2021.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Information on the number of in-school mental health counsellors and mental health workers is not collected centrally.
The department collects information on staff working in state funded schools via the annual School Workforce Census but does not directly identify in-school mental health counsellors and mental health workers. The results are published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
Our most recent survey of mental health provision in schools and colleges published in 2017 found that 61% of schools and colleges (56% of primary schools, 84% of secondary schools and 93% of colleges) reported offering access to counselling service for their pupils.
School and college-based counselling is valuable provision which can play a particularly effective role as part of a whole-school or college approach, within which support can come from several sources. In that context, it is important that schools and colleges have the freedom to decide what support to offer to students and staff based on their needs, drawing on an evidence base of effective practice. Our ‘Counselling in schools’ guidance offers support and advice to schools on setting up and improving counselling services and how they can work together to best support pupils: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/counselling-in-schools.
We are also committed to delivering our joint green paper delivery programme with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England, which includes introducing new Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) into schools and colleges. These teams are intended to provide early intervention on mild to moderate issues, as well as helping staff within a school or college setting to provide a ‘whole school approach’ to mental health and wellbeing.
The £79 million boost to children and young people’s mental health support that we announced in March will include accelerating the rollout of MHSTs. There are now over 280 MHSTs set up or in training, and this will grow to around 400 by April 2023, supporting nearly 3 million children across the country. This increase means that millions of children and young people will have access to significantly expanded mental health services. High level MHST breakdowns by year, region and area can be found here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/mental-health/cyp/trailblazers/mh-support-teams/.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the number of university students on placements who took their own lives between in (a) 2019 and (b) 2020.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
Student mental health and suicide prevention are key priorities for this government. We continue to work closely with the higher education (HE) sector to promote good practice. Universities are not only experts in their student population, but also best placed to identify the needs of their particular student body, including those students undertaking placements as part of their studies.
Whilst it is for HE providers to determine what welfare and counselling services they need to provide to their students to offer that support, the government is proactive in promoting good practice in this area. We continue to work closely with Universities UK (UUK) on embedding the Stepchange programme within the sector. Further information can be found here: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/stepchange. Stepchange calls on HE leaders to adopt mental health as a strategic priority and take a whole-institution approach, embedding it across all policies, cultures, curricula and practice. The Stepchange programme relaunched in March 2020 as the Mentally Healthy Universities programme. The university Mental Health Charter, announced in June 2018, is backed by the government and led by the sector. The charter, developed in collaboration with students, staff and partner organisations, aims to drive up standards of practice, including leadership, early intervention and data collection. Further information can be accessed here: https://www.studentminds.org.uk/charter.html.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, I have stressed the importance of protecting student and staff wellbeing. We recognise that many students are facing additional mental health challenges due to the disruption and uncertainty caused by the outbreak. I have engaged with universities on this issue and have written to Vice Chancellors on numerous occasions during the past year, most recently last month, outlining that student welfare should remain a priority. I have also convened a working group of representatives from the HE and health sectors to specifically address the current and pressing issues that students are facing during the COVID-19 outbreak.
My hon. Friend, the Minister for Children and Families, and I have also convened a Mental Health in Education Action Group to drive action to mitigate the impact of the outbreak on the mental health and wellbeing of children, young people and staff in nurseries, schools, colleges and universities.
We expect HE providers to continue to support their students, which has included making services accessible from a distance whilst restrictions have been in place. We encourage students to stay in touch with their provider’s welfare teams as these services are likely to continue to be an important source of support. Many providers have bolstered their existing mental health services, and adapted delivery mechanisms including reaching out to students who may be more vulnerable. Staff at universities and colleges have been proactive in supporting their students, showing resourcefulness and there are many examples of good practice.
We have worked with the Office for Students (OfS) to provide Student Space, a dedicated mental health and wellbeing platform for students, which has been funded by up to £3 million by the OfS in the 2020/21 academic year. We have also asked the OfS to allocate £15 million towards student mental health in 2021/22 through proposed reforms to Strategic Priorities Grant funding, to help address the challenges to student mental health posed by the transition to university, given the increasing demand for mental health services. This will target those students in greatest need of such services, including vulnerable groups and hard-to-reach students.
The Office for National Statistics data shows that in 2016/17 – the last year on record – there were 95 student deaths by suicide in England and Wales. Further information can be found here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/estimatingsuicideamonghighereducationstudentsenglandandwalesexperimentalstatistics/2018-06-25#:~:text=The%20rate%20of%20suicide%20in,it%20difficult%20to%20identify%20statistically.
The incoming President of UUK, Professor Steve West, and I will jointly chair a new roundtable on suicide prevention in June. Through this we will develop and support the adoption of the Suicide Safer Universities framework and promote good practice in the sector, helping to make sure students are well supported during their time at university, including when undertaking placements as part of their studies.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to improve mental healthcare provision for students in the context of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
Student mental health and suicide prevention are key priorities for this government. We continue to work closely with the higher education (HE) sector to promote good practice. Universities are not only experts in their student population, but also best placed to identify the needs of their particular student body, including those students undertaking placements as part of their studies.
Whilst it is for HE providers to determine what welfare and counselling services they need to provide to their students to offer that support, the government is proactive in promoting good practice in this area. We continue to work closely with Universities UK (UUK) on embedding the Stepchange programme within the sector. Further information can be found here: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/stepchange. Stepchange calls on HE leaders to adopt mental health as a strategic priority and take a whole-institution approach, embedding it across all policies, cultures, curricula and practice. The Stepchange programme relaunched in March 2020 as the Mentally Healthy Universities programme. The university Mental Health Charter, announced in June 2018, is backed by the government and led by the sector. The charter, developed in collaboration with students, staff and partner organisations, aims to drive up standards of practice, including leadership, early intervention and data collection. Further information can be accessed here: https://www.studentminds.org.uk/charter.html.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, I have stressed the importance of protecting student and staff wellbeing. We recognise that many students are facing additional mental health challenges due to the disruption and uncertainty caused by the outbreak. I have engaged with universities on this issue and have written to Vice Chancellors on numerous occasions during the past year, most recently last month, outlining that student welfare should remain a priority. I have also convened a working group of representatives from the HE and health sectors to specifically address the current and pressing issues that students are facing during the COVID-19 outbreak.
My hon. Friend, the Minister for Children and Families, and I have also convened a Mental Health in Education Action Group to drive action to mitigate the impact of the outbreak on the mental health and wellbeing of children, young people and staff in nurseries, schools, colleges and universities.
We expect HE providers to continue to support their students, which has included making services accessible from a distance whilst restrictions have been in place. We encourage students to stay in touch with their provider’s welfare teams as these services are likely to continue to be an important source of support. Many providers have bolstered their existing mental health services, and adapted delivery mechanisms including reaching out to students who may be more vulnerable. Staff at universities and colleges have been proactive in supporting their students, showing resourcefulness and there are many examples of good practice.
We have worked with the Office for Students (OfS) to provide Student Space, a dedicated mental health and wellbeing platform for students, which has been funded by up to £3 million by the OfS in the 2020/21 academic year. We have also asked the OfS to allocate £15 million towards student mental health in 2021/22 through proposed reforms to Strategic Priorities Grant funding, to help address the challenges to student mental health posed by the transition to university, given the increasing demand for mental health services. This will target those students in greatest need of such services, including vulnerable groups and hard-to-reach students.
The Office for National Statistics data shows that in 2016/17 – the last year on record – there were 95 student deaths by suicide in England and Wales. Further information can be found here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/estimatingsuicideamonghighereducationstudentsenglandandwalesexperimentalstatistics/2018-06-25#:~:text=The%20rate%20of%20suicide%20in,it%20difficult%20to%20identify%20statistically.
The incoming President of UUK, Professor Steve West, and I will jointly chair a new roundtable on suicide prevention in June. Through this we will develop and support the adoption of the Suicide Safer Universities framework and promote good practice in the sector, helping to make sure students are well supported during their time at university, including when undertaking placements as part of their studies.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department has issued to universities on safeguarding the mental health of (a) students on placements and (b) other students.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
Student mental health and suicide prevention are key priorities for this government. We continue to work closely with the higher education (HE) sector to promote good practice. Universities are not only experts in their student population, but also best placed to identify the needs of their particular student body, including those students undertaking placements as part of their studies.
Whilst it is for HE providers to determine what welfare and counselling services they need to provide to their students to offer that support, the government is proactive in promoting good practice in this area. We continue to work closely with Universities UK (UUK) on embedding the Stepchange programme within the sector. Further information can be found here: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/stepchange. Stepchange calls on HE leaders to adopt mental health as a strategic priority and take a whole-institution approach, embedding it across all policies, cultures, curricula and practice. The Stepchange programme relaunched in March 2020 as the Mentally Healthy Universities programme. The university Mental Health Charter, announced in June 2018, is backed by the government and led by the sector. The charter, developed in collaboration with students, staff and partner organisations, aims to drive up standards of practice, including leadership, early intervention and data collection. Further information can be accessed here: https://www.studentminds.org.uk/charter.html.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, I have stressed the importance of protecting student and staff wellbeing. We recognise that many students are facing additional mental health challenges due to the disruption and uncertainty caused by the outbreak. I have engaged with universities on this issue and have written to Vice Chancellors on numerous occasions during the past year, most recently last month, outlining that student welfare should remain a priority. I have also convened a working group of representatives from the HE and health sectors to specifically address the current and pressing issues that students are facing during the COVID-19 outbreak.
My hon. Friend, the Minister for Children and Families, and I have also convened a Mental Health in Education Action Group to drive action to mitigate the impact of the outbreak on the mental health and wellbeing of children, young people and staff in nurseries, schools, colleges and universities.
We expect HE providers to continue to support their students, which has included making services accessible from a distance whilst restrictions have been in place. We encourage students to stay in touch with their provider’s welfare teams as these services are likely to continue to be an important source of support. Many providers have bolstered their existing mental health services, and adapted delivery mechanisms including reaching out to students who may be more vulnerable. Staff at universities and colleges have been proactive in supporting their students, showing resourcefulness and there are many examples of good practice.
We have worked with the Office for Students (OfS) to provide Student Space, a dedicated mental health and wellbeing platform for students, which has been funded by up to £3 million by the OfS in the 2020/21 academic year. We have also asked the OfS to allocate £15 million towards student mental health in 2021/22 through proposed reforms to Strategic Priorities Grant funding, to help address the challenges to student mental health posed by the transition to university, given the increasing demand for mental health services. This will target those students in greatest need of such services, including vulnerable groups and hard-to-reach students.
The Office for National Statistics data shows that in 2016/17 – the last year on record – there were 95 student deaths by suicide in England and Wales. Further information can be found here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/estimatingsuicideamonghighereducationstudentsenglandandwalesexperimentalstatistics/2018-06-25#:~:text=The%20rate%20of%20suicide%20in,it%20difficult%20to%20identify%20statistically.
The incoming President of UUK, Professor Steve West, and I will jointly chair a new roundtable on suicide prevention in June. Through this we will develop and support the adoption of the Suicide Safer Universities framework and promote good practice in the sector, helping to make sure students are well supported during their time at university, including when undertaking placements as part of their studies.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of schools providing in-school counselling support as part of a whole school approach to mental health.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The department recognises that counselling can play a particularly effective role as part of a whole-school or college approach, and that many schools already provide their pupils access to counselling support.
To support the provision of counselling support in schools, the department published a blueprint for school counselling services. This provides schools with practical, evidence-based advice, informed by schools and counselling experts, on how to deliver high quality school-based counselling. It also offers information on how to ensure that vulnerable children, including children with special educational needs and disabilities, looked after children and those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, who have a higher prevalence to mental illness, can access counselling provision. Further guidance on counselling in schools can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/counselling-in-schools.
However, the department has not made the provision of access to counselling in schools and colleges mandatory, as it is important for schools to have the freedom to decide what support to offer their pupils, based on their particular needs, and drawing on an evidence base of effective practice. This support can come from a number of sources, including counselling.
The government has invested £8 million in the new Wellbeing for Education Return programme which funded expert advisers who offered training and support to schools and colleges and made links to local support available, including, potentially, counselling. Alongside this, the department launched a £95,000 pilot led by the Education Support charity to provide online peer-support and telephone counselling from experts to around 250 school leaders. The pilot ended in March 2021. The outcome of the pilot will inform any future wellbeing and mental health interventions for staff.
To increase support further in the long term, we remain committed to our joint green paper delivery programme with the Department of Health and Social care and NHS England, including introducing new mental health support teams linked to schools and colleges, providing training for senior mental health leads in schools and colleges, and testing approaches to faster access to NHS specialist support.
We have recently announced a £79 million boost to children and young people’s mental health support, accelerating introduction of Mental Health Support Teams. The support teams, which provide early intervention on mental health and emotional wellbeing issues in schools and colleges, will grow from the 59 set up by last March to around 400 by April 2023, supporting nearly 3 million children. This increase means that millions of children and young people will have access to significantly expanded mental health services.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to make additional wellbeing and mental health support available in schools and colleges to support children and young people dealing with the effect of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The support schools provide to their pupils as they return to face-to-face education should include time devoted to supporting mental health and wellbeing, which will play a fundamental part in supporting children and young people’s recovery. The £700 million package includes a new one-off Recovery Premium for state primary, secondary and special schools to use as they see best to support disadvantaged students. This will help schools to provide their disadvantaged pupils with a one-off boost to the support, both academic and pastoral, that has been proved most effective in helping them recover from the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and can be used for mental health and wellbeing support.
This funding follows our £1 billion COVID-19 “catch-up” package which includes £650 million shared across early years, schools and 16-19 providers over the 2020/21 academic year to support education settings to put the right catch-up and pastoral support in place. This is already being used by schools to put in place additional mental health and wellbeing support.
We have recently announced a £79 million boost to children and young people’s mental health support, including through Mental Health Support Teams. The support teams, which provide early intervention on mental health and emotional wellbeing issues in schools and colleges, will grow from the 59 set up by last March to around 400 by April 2023, supporting nearly 3 million children. This increase means that millions of children and young people will have access to significantly expanded mental health services.
The department has convened its Mental Health in Education Action Group, to look at the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the mental health and wellbeing of children, young people and staff in nurseries, schools, colleges, and universities. It is bringing together partners to take additional action to support mental wellbeing of children and young people with the return to education settings and with transitions between education settings in September 2021. This will include looking at what more we can do to help schools to make the most effective use of recovery premium to support mental health and wellbeing.
We also remain committed to our joint green paper delivery programme with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England, including introducing new mental health support teams for all schools and colleges, providing training for senior mental health leads in schools and colleges, and testing approaches to faster access to NHS specialist support.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of the recently announced £700 million of funding to help students catch-up on lost learning will be made available for the provision of mental health and wellbeing support in schools and colleges.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The support schools provide to their pupils as they return to face-to-face education should include time devoted to supporting mental health and wellbeing, which will play a fundamental part in supporting children and young people’s recovery. The £700 million package includes a new one-off Recovery Premium for state primary, secondary and special schools to use as they see best to support disadvantaged students. This will help schools to provide their disadvantaged pupils with a one-off boost to the support, both academic and pastoral, that has been proved most effective in helping them recover from the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and can be used for mental health and wellbeing support.
This funding follows our £1 billion COVID-19 “catch-up” package which includes £650 million shared across early years, schools and 16-19 providers over the 2020/21 academic year to support education settings to put the right catch-up and pastoral support in place. This is already being used by schools to put in place additional mental health and wellbeing support.
We have recently announced a £79 million boost to children and young people’s mental health support, including through Mental Health Support Teams. The support teams, which provide early intervention on mental health and emotional wellbeing issues in schools and colleges, will grow from the 59 set up by last March to around 400 by April 2023, supporting nearly 3 million children. This increase means that millions of children and young people will have access to significantly expanded mental health services.
The department has convened its Mental Health in Education Action Group, to look at the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the mental health and wellbeing of children, young people and staff in nurseries, schools, colleges, and universities. It is bringing together partners to take additional action to support mental wellbeing of children and young people with the return to education settings and with transitions between education settings in September 2021. This will include looking at what more we can do to help schools to make the most effective use of recovery premium to support mental health and wellbeing.
We also remain committed to our joint green paper delivery programme with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England, including introducing new mental health support teams for all schools and colleges, providing training for senior mental health leads in schools and colleges, and testing approaches to faster access to NHS specialist support.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much his Department has spent to date on the delivery of the proposals in the Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health green paper.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The Department for Education has spent £9.2 million to date on the delivery of our specific commitments outlined in the government’s 2018 response to ‘Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health: A Green Paper’. This includes £2.6 million for supporting the roll-out of new mental health support teams, the national roll-out (and adaptation during the COVID-19 outbreak) of the Link Programme, improving joint working between local health and education partners, and developing a training offer for senior mental health leads in schools and colleges.
In response to the pressures of the COVID-19 outbreak, the government prioritised bespoke training and support to meet the immediate challenges that schools and colleges were facing in supporting children and young people. The department has therefore also spent £6.6 million contributing to the Wellbeing for Education Return programme alongside the Department for Health and Social Care, providing training and support to schools and colleges with their immediate approach to wellbeing and mental health during the COVID-19 outbreak.
The £8 million Wellbeing for Education Return programme has funded local experts to provide training, advice and resources for schools and further education (FE) providers to help support the wellbeing, resilience and recovery of pupils and students, parents and carers and staff in light of the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown.
Over 90% of local authority areas in England have reported that they are delivering additional training and support into local schools and FE providers because of the Wellbeing for Education Return funding, and have been continuing to do so remotely. Nationally, information indicates that more than 15,000 education settings are being offered additional training and support. We remain committed to our joint green paper delivery programme with DHSC and NHS England, including introducing new mental health support teams for all schools and colleges, providing training for senior mental health leads in schools and colleges and testing approaches to faster access to NHS specialist support.
The support that schools and FE providers provide to their pupils as they return to face-to-face education should include time devoted to supporting mental health and wellbeing, which will play a fundamental part in supporting children and young people’s recovery. The £700 million package includes a new one-off Recovery Premium for state primary, secondary and special schools to use as they see best to support disadvantaged students. This will help schools and FE providers to provide their disadvantaged pupils with a one-off boost to the academic and pastoral support that has been proved most effective in helping them recover from the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. It can be used for mental health and wellbeing support. The expectations for schools in this regard are set out clearly in the department’s guidance to schools, which also signposts further support: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak.
This funding follows our £1 billion COVID-19 catch-up package, which includes £650 million shared across early years, schools and 16-19 providers over the 2020/21 academic year to support education settings to put the right catch-up and pastoral support in place. This is already being used by schools to put in place additional mental health and wellbeing and other support.
We have also recently announced a £79 million boost to children and young people’s mental health support, including through mental health support teams. The support teams provide early intervention on mental health and emotional wellbeing issues in schools and colleges, supporting them with their wider approach and liaison with health services. The teams will grow from the 59 set up by last spring to around 400 by April 2023, supporting nearly 3 million children. This increase means that millions of children and young people will have access to significantly expanded mental health services.
As well as providing additional COVID-19 specific mental health advice and support, our relationships education, relationships and sex education and health education curriculum includes mental health and wellbeing. We have online training materials and implementation guides, as well as case studies, which gives inclusive advice to schools and staff on how best to support pupils’ mental health: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/teaching-about-mental-wellbeing.
The department has convened its Mental Health in Education Action Group to look at the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the mental health and wellbeing of children, young people and staff in nurseries, schools, colleges, and universities. It is bringing together partners to take additional action to support mental wellbeing of children and young people with the return to education settings and with transitions between education settings in September 2021. This will include looking at what more we can do to help schools to make the most effective use of the recovery premium to support mental health and wellbeing.