Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress his Department has made on giving summer-born and premature children the right to start reception at the age of five.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is giving careful consideration to how these changes may be made in a way that avoids unintended consequences elsewhere in the system. Any changes to the Admissions Code will require a statutory process, including consultation and parliamentary scrutiny. The Department will consider the appropriate time for consulting on these changes in the context of competing pressures on the parliamentary timetable.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of giving summer-born and premature children the right to start reception at the age of five.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The costs of this change would depend on the level of take up, which is difficult to predict. We are gathering evidence to help us better estimate the likely take up and costs. If large numbers of parents choose to delay their summer born child’s entry to reception, the costs could be significant.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will consider setting a lower interest rate for student loans.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The student funding system is fair and progressive. It removes financial barriers for anyone hoping to study and is backed by the taxpayer, with outstanding debt written off after 30 years. Monthly student loan repayments are linked to income, not to interest rates or the amount borrowed. Borrowers earning less than the repayment threshold (£21,000) repay nothing at all.
Once borrowers leave study, those earning less than £21,000 are charged an interest rate of RPI only. Post-study interest rates are variable based on income, tapering up from RPI for those earning less than £21,000 to RPI+3% for borrowers earning £41,000 and above. The system of variable interest rates based on income makes the system more progressive, as higher earners contribute more to the sustainability of the higher education system.
We have a world class student finance system that is working well, and that has led to record numbers of disadvantaged students benefiting from higher education. As ever, we will keep the detailed features of the system under review to ensure it remains fair and effective.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on changing the schools admissions code to give summer-born and premature children the right to start reception at compulsory school age.
Answered by Nick Gibb
We are concerned that some summer born children, whose parents elect to defer their entry to school, may be missing the reception year where the essential teaching of early reading and arithmetic takes place. We are giving careful consideration to how we might make any changes. Further information will be available in due course.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will estimate the costs of establishing a pilot initiative based across two or more locally authority areas make provision for children who were born prematurely in the summer months to provide flexibility around timing of school entry to summer-born children in order to gather evidence to inform implementation of the School Admissions Code policy changes.
Answered by Nick Gibb
We are currently undertaking evidence gathering and analysis to estimate the potential costs of providing more flexibility for summer born children. This is complex and it is important that we take the time to consider how to implement any possible changes and what new arrangements we might put in place. Any changes we do make will be subject to a full statutory process.
Asked by: Stephen Hammond (Conservative - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress the Minister of State for School Standards has made on assessing the potential costs of changing the Schools Admissions Code to provide more flexibility for summer-born children.
Answered by Nick Gibb
We are currently undertaking evidence gathering and analysis to estimate the potential costs of providing more flexibility for summer born children. However, it is complex and will depend on how we implement any changes, the level of parental take up and whether those children take up free early education.