Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help tackle educational underachievement.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

All children and young people should have every opportunity to succeed, but too many face barriers holding them back, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The government’s Plan for Change sets our intention to give every child the best start in life, setting a milestone of a record proportion of children starting school ready to learn, backed by investment close to £1.5 billion over the next three years, subject to the spending review.

High and rising standards are the key to strengthening outcomes for every child. The department is driving standards in every school through regional improvement for standards and excellence teams, a refreshed high quality curriculum and assessment system, and recruiting an additional 6,500 additional teachers.

The Schools White Paper will build on our existing work to drive school standards and improve outcomes for all children.

This is alongside wider work to improve outcomes for all children, including tackling child poverty and our Post-16 Education and Skills Strategy.