Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the impact of supported apprenticeships on (a) improving the confidence and (b) the future employability of SEND pupils.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Apprenticeships are jobs and are available for all people of all backgrounds, including people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), to start an exciting career in a variety of industries.
In recent years, the department has seen an improved representation of learners who have declared SEND starting apprenticeships, and we want this to continue. The department has improved its ‘find an apprenticeship’ service to allow people to identify Disability Confident employers offering opportunities and ensuring apprenticeships are available to all.
In partnership with the Disability Rights UK, the department has launched a Disabled Apprentice Network to provide valuable insight and evidence on how to attract and retain disabled people into apprenticeships. Disability Rights UK published a report during National Apprenticeship Week 2022 to support employers to improve the diversity of their apprenticeship programmes, whilst highlighting the barriers people may face when undertaking an apprenticeship. In this report, the apprentices identified the opportunity to build confidence, skills, and networks with people with different experiences and gain paid work experience as the key points which influenced them towards undertaking an apprenticeship.
To ensure that more people who declare learning difficulty or disability (LDD) feel confident to undertake apprenticeships, the department has lowered the English and maths requirements to apprenticeships for a defined group of individuals with LDD. We have also introduced British Sign Language (BSL) as an alternative to English Functional Skills for those who have BSL as their first language.
Furthermore, the department makes £1,000 payments to employers and providers for taking on 16 to 18 year olds, or those aged 19 to 24 with an education, health and care (EHC) plan. We also offer £150 per month to help providers make reasonable adjustments for eligible apprentices with special educational needs. Providers can claim additional funding if the cost of support exceeds this rate.
More widely, the department is investing up to £18 million over the next three years to build capacity in the supported internships programme, providing extra support to people with EHC plans to build the necessary skills they need to secure and sustain paid employment or transition into an apprenticeship if they wish to do so.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the impact on pupils' learning of inclusive learning teams in each further education college.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The government is committed to ensuring that all learners, including learners with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), have access to a world-class education that sets them up for life and supports them to achieve positive outcomes.
Whilst it is for individual colleges to decide how best to support learners with SEND, they must have regard to the SEND code of practice and use their best endeavours to secure the special educational provision called for by the student’s special educational needs.
Ofsted is the body responsible for assessing the quality of further education colleges, rather than my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education. The quality of provision for learners with special educational needs and/or SEND is always considered by Ofsted on inspection.
As of 31 August 2021, 80% of colleges inspected by Ofsted are rated Good or Outstanding.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential impact on primary school education in Ipswich of the priority education investment area status.
Answered by Robin Walker
The department was pleased to announce Ipswich as a Priority Education Investment Area (EIA) as part of the recent Schools White Paper, Opportunity for all: strong schools with great teachers for your child.
The White Paper set out the department's vision for a school system that helps every child to fulfil their potential founded on achieving word-class standards of literacy and numeracy and confirmed the headline ambitions. At primary, this is for 90% of children to achieve the expected standards in reading, writing and maths by the end of Key Stage 2, and for performance in the worst performing areas to have improved by over a third – by 2030.
In Priority EIAs, the department will offer intensive investment in addition to the significant support available to all EIAs, so that they can drive improvement further and faster. This has the potential to transform pupils’ outcomes at primary and secondary, by overcoming entrenched barriers to improvement and strengthening the school’s system in these areas. In existing opportunity areas, like Ipswich, the department will refine the focus on their Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4 headline ambitions and build on the good work that is already underway.
In all 55 EIAs, the department will be taking steps to support underperforming schools to make the necessary improvements, build trust capacity, support improved digital connectivity in the schools that need this most and offer the Levelling Up premium, worth up to £3,000 tax free, to eligible teachers. The department’s additional support to Priority EIAs includes a share of around £40 million of funding to address local needs, such as those acting as a barrier to improvement at primary and priority access to a number of other Department for Education programmes.
My hon Friend, the Minister for the School System, and I will be writing to all MPs with Priority EIAs in their constituencies to update them on our next steps for the programme, following the briefing session we held on 27 April.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the impact on children’s wellbeing of receiving an early diagnosis of dyslexia.
Answered by Will Quince
Early identification of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including dyslexia, is crucial in supporting the wellbeing of children and young people. It can ensure they receive the support they need to flourish in their education, and as they move into adult life.
Under the Children and Families Act 2014, every mainstream school is required to identify and address the SEND of the pupils they support. They also must endeavour to make sure that every child or young person gets the support they need to succeed in their education.
The department’s SEND code of practice is clear that meeting the needs of a child with dyslexia is not dependent on a diagnostic label or test. Instead, the department expects teachers to monitor the progress of all pupils and put support in place where needed.