Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of schools have taught classes in portacabin units in each year since 2019.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Nothing is more important than the safety of children and staff. It has always been the case that where we are made aware of a building that may pose an immediate risk, the Department takes immediate action. This Government has taken more proactive action on RAAC than any other in the UK.
The Department will fund emergency mitigation work needed to make buildings safe, including installing alternative classroom space where necessary. Where schools and colleges need additional help with revenue costs, like transport to locations or temporarily renting a local hall or office, the Department will provide that support for all reasonable requests. Longer-term refurbishment projects, or rebuilding projects will also be funded where these are needed, to rectify the RAAC issue in the long term.
It is the responsibility of those who run schools – academy trusts, Local Authorities, and voluntary aided school bodies – who work with their schools on a day to day basis, to manage the maintenance of their schools. These responsible bodies may deploy temporary buildings for a wide range of reasons, not all of which will relate to building or refurbishment works. In addition, most building and refurbishment works within education settings do not involve RAAC and will not require the involvement of the Department. The Department does not therefore hold information on the number of schools using temporary classrooms.
Where schools need to vacate buildings due to RAAC, they use a range of different types of accommodation including accommodation on and off site. On site accommodation can include semi rigid structures and temporary classrooms. Where temporary units and structures are required as a result of buildings having been vacated due to the confirmed presence of RAAC, the Department has increased the supply of these, working with three contractors to accelerate the installation of temporary units in particular. The Department has not, therefore, produced central estimates of the number of temporary classrooms required, however, we can confirm that we have secured significant capacity to meet current needs, and can increase this if necessary. Our focus is on working closely with individual settings to make sure they have workable plans for their individual circumstances and context. Based on the experience where RAAC assessed as critical was found, the Department expects the vast majority will be able to continue to provide face to face teaching without any disruption.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to provide additional funding to schools affected by the use of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) for the cost of (a) hiring and (b) fitting temporary accommodation that is not on a school site.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Nothing is more important than the safety of children and staff. It has always been the case that where we are made aware of a building that may pose an immediate risk, the Department takes immediate action. This Government has taken more proactive action on RAAC than any other in the UK.
The Department will fund emergency mitigation work needed to make buildings safe, including installing alternative classroom space where necessary. Where schools and colleges need additional help with revenue costs, like transport to locations or temporarily renting a local hall or office, the Department will provide that support for all reasonable requests. Longer-term refurbishment projects, or rebuilding projects will also be funded where these are needed, to rectify the RAAC issue in the long term.
It is the responsibility of those who run schools – academy trusts, Local Authorities, and voluntary aided school bodies – who work with their schools on a day to day basis, to manage the maintenance of their schools. These responsible bodies may deploy temporary buildings for a wide range of reasons, not all of which will relate to building or refurbishment works. In addition, most building and refurbishment works within education settings do not involve RAAC and will not require the involvement of the Department. The Department does not therefore hold information on the number of schools using temporary classrooms.
Where schools need to vacate buildings due to RAAC, they use a range of different types of accommodation including accommodation on and off site. On site accommodation can include semi rigid structures and temporary classrooms. Where temporary units and structures are required as a result of buildings having been vacated due to the confirmed presence of RAAC, the Department has increased the supply of these, working with three contractors to accelerate the installation of temporary units in particular. The Department has not, therefore, produced central estimates of the number of temporary classrooms required, however, we can confirm that we have secured significant capacity to meet current needs, and can increase this if necessary. Our focus is on working closely with individual settings to make sure they have workable plans for their individual circumstances and context. Based on the experience where RAAC assessed as critical was found, the Department expects the vast majority will be able to continue to provide face to face teaching without any disruption.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number and proportion of schools that will teach classes in portacabin units in the 2023-24 academic year.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Nothing is more important than the safety of children and staff. It has always been the case that where we are made aware of a building that may pose an immediate risk, the Department takes immediate action. This Government has taken more proactive action on RAAC than any other in the UK.
The Department will fund emergency mitigation work needed to make buildings safe, including installing alternative classroom space where necessary. Where schools and colleges need additional help with revenue costs, like transport to locations or temporarily renting a local hall or office, the Department will provide that support for all reasonable requests. Longer-term refurbishment projects, or rebuilding projects will also be funded where these are needed, to rectify the RAAC issue in the long term.
It is the responsibility of those who run schools – academy trusts, Local Authorities, and voluntary aided school bodies – who work with their schools on a day to day basis, to manage the maintenance of their schools. These responsible bodies may deploy temporary buildings for a wide range of reasons, not all of which will relate to building or refurbishment works. In addition, most building and refurbishment works within education settings do not involve RAAC and will not require the involvement of the Department. The Department does not therefore hold information on the number of schools using temporary classrooms.
Where schools need to vacate buildings due to RAAC, they use a range of different types of accommodation including accommodation on and off site. On site accommodation can include semi rigid structures and temporary classrooms. Where temporary units and structures are required as a result of buildings having been vacated due to the confirmed presence of RAAC, the Department has increased the supply of these, working with three contractors to accelerate the installation of temporary units in particular. The Department has not, therefore, produced central estimates of the number of temporary classrooms required, however, we can confirm that we have secured significant capacity to meet current needs, and can increase this if necessary. Our focus is on working closely with individual settings to make sure they have workable plans for their individual circumstances and context. Based on the experience where RAAC assessed as critical was found, the Department expects the vast majority will be able to continue to provide face to face teaching without any disruption.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the uptake of National Professional Qualifications.
Answered by Nick Gibb
National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) provide teachers and head teachers with access to high quality professional development
A total of 63,454 teachers and head teachers have started a fully funded NPQ since the reformed suite of NPQs was introduced in autumn 2021. This equates to around 11% of the school workforce having started an NPQ in two academic years.
NPQ take up increased by 20% from the 2021/22 academic year to the 2022/23 academic year, significantly increasing the number of teachers and head teachers engaging in high quality evidence based continuing professional development. The latest publication on NPQ take up is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/teacher-and-leader-development-ecf-and-npqs-2022.
Emerging findings, reported by current NPQ participants, suggest the courses are having a positive effect on classroom practice and school wide strategies. The emerging findings are available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1131108/Emerging_findings_from_the_evaluation_of_National_Professional_Qualifications_Interim_report_1.pdf.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many days teachers have been absent from school in each year since 2019.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Information on the school workforce in England, including teacher absences due to sickness, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
The Department collects information on teacher absences from state funded schools via the School Workforce Census. The number of working days lost due to absence are collected for sickness absence and pregnancy related absences only.
More information on teacher absences is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, accessible here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/f5ba72da-be42-4d81-d365-08db81e98ab0. Further granularity, such as the type of sickness absence, is not centrally collected. The requested figures for absences by subject taught are not available.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the most common reasons were for teachers' absence from school in each year since 2019.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Information on the school workforce in England, including teacher absences due to sickness, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
The Department collects information on teacher absences from state funded schools via the School Workforce Census. The number of working days lost due to absence are collected for sickness absence and pregnancy related absences only.
More information on teacher absences is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, accessible here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/f5ba72da-be42-4d81-d365-08db81e98ab0. Further granularity, such as the type of sickness absence, is not centrally collected. The requested figures for absences by subject taught are not available.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many days teachers of each subject have been absent from school in each year since 2019.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Information on the school workforce in England, including teacher absences due to sickness, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
The Department collects information on teacher absences from state funded schools via the School Workforce Census. The number of working days lost due to absence are collected for sickness absence and pregnancy related absences only.
More information on teacher absences is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, accessible here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/f5ba72da-be42-4d81-d365-08db81e98ab0. Further granularity, such as the type of sickness absence, is not centrally collected. The requested figures for absences by subject taught are not available.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of schools recorded a sewage leak in each year since 2019.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Schools and their Responsible Bodies are not obliged to report leaks causing operational issues or temporary closure to the Department. Therefore, the Department does not hold the information requested.
These issues are often dealt with locally and, where applicable, using insurance providers.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what percentage of pupils taking A-Levels received the grades A* to E and U in each subject by each region of England in each academic year since 2019.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The data in the attached table provided covers A levels entered by pupils aged 16 to 18 in state funded schools and colleges in England for each academic year since 2018/19. Figures are broken down by each Government Office Region and by subject. The proportion achieving grades A* to E and U within each is shown.
The number of A level awards and grades, and the proportion awarded at grade A* to E is published in the ‘A level and other 16 to 18 results’ statistical release. The proportion awarded grade U in each subject was calculated by dividing those numbers by the total number of A level entries in that subject.
Due to the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, the summer examination series was cancelled in both 2020 and 2021. Alternative processes were set up to award grades. A level examinations returned in 2022 and adaptations were made, such as providing advance information. The approach to grading for 2022 examinations broadly reflected a midpoint between results in 2019 and 2021.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to encourage the use of artificial intelligence in schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department recognises that technology, when used appropriately, including artificial intelligence (AI), has the potential to reduce workload. The Department wants to capitalise on the opportunities it presents for education as well as addressing the risks and challenges.
On 29 March 2023, the Department published a position statement on the use of generative AI in education following open access to tools such as ChatGPT, Google Bard and others, recognising that these tools are already being used in education. The Department ran a call for evidence to gather the experiences and expertise across education, to support continued evidence generation and identify where further work is required. The call for evidence closed on 23 August 2023 and the findings will be published in November 2023.
The Department is commissioning a project to better understand and test possible uses for generative AI in education, based on responses to the call for evidence to explore, for example, whether it can be used for marking and feedback. This project will help us to build a robust evidence base to inform future policy and to further explore the opportunities this technology presents. It will involve AI experts and educators. The Department intends to publish the findings of this project in Spring 2024.