Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken to increase the attainment of children and young people who identify as (a) Gypsy, Roma or Travellers and (b) being from other ethnic minority backgrounds.

The Department for Education’s reforms, including those aimed at improving teaching; encouraging good attendance and behaviour; and strengthening the curriculum and examination system, are designed to increase opportunity and support higher standards for all pupils, regardless of their ethnic background. These reforms are underpinned by new school accountability measures, which will encourage schools to focus more closely on the attainment of all their pupils. The pupil premium is providing schools with an additional £2.5 billion this year to support their disadvantaged pupils, including those from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT), and other minority ethnic groups.

The Department funded two local authorities to trial a virtual headteacher for GRT pupils, with responsibility for supporting schools to promote better pupil outcomes. The effective practice identified has been disseminated to every local authority.

In addition, the Department hosts a GRT education stakeholder group, chaired by Baroness Whitaker, which seeks to promote higher educational attainment for this group of pupils.