Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve educational outcomes for children in deindustrialised areas.

‘Every child achieving and thriving’ establishes the department’s plan to deliver improved outcomes for all children, regardless of their background or where they live. Our ambition is for all children to achieve higher standards and for the disadvantage gap to be halved.

We will recruit 6,500 additional expert teachers, expand access to high-quality enrichment opportunities, and Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence teams are helping all schools navigate a pathway to improvement. We are also launching two place-focused missions to drive improvement in areas where outcomes remain stubbornly low.

The department is transforming technical education from age 14, placing technical and academic pathways on an equal footing and ensuring every young person has access to high-quality routes into skilled employment and further study. We will work with Mayoral Strategic Authorities to design locally tailored vocational pathways for students from age 14 in every region.