Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department spent on (a) teacher training and (b) educational resources on international development in the 2022-23 financial year.

The Government is committed to providing a world class education system for all pupils and has funded significantly in education to achieve that.

The Department does not specifically fund Initial Teacher Training on international development.

Schools receive core funding, to cover all the core running costs of a school. Overall, funding for both mainstream schools and high needs increased by £4 billion in 2022/23 compared to the previous year. Total funding for mainstream schools was £53.8 billion in the 2022/23 financial year.

All schools and academies have the freedom to choose how to spend their core funding according to their own unique circumstances and priorities, providing that all expenditure ultimately benefits their pupils. The Department does not allocate specific budgets for each subject. It is for schools to decide the allocation of resources at an individual school level.

Geography is part of the statutory National Curriculum for maintained schools at Key Stages 1, 2 and 3. Within geography, the National Curriculum and subject content for GCSE does set out requirements for teaching human geography, including economic, global, and international development.

Citizenship is also part of the statutory National Curriculum at Key Stages 3 and 4. As part of Citizenship, pupils will learn about Parliament, the importance of voting and elections, the role of police, courts and justice, free press, human rights and international law and the governments of other countries, both democratic and non-democratic. They are also taught the actions citizens can take in democratic and electoral processes to influence decisions locally, nationally and beyond.