Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's joint press release entitled Government invests in young people with more opportunities close to home, published on 28 July 2026, what recent assessment her Department has made of whether the geographical distribution of the proposed additional places reflects areas of greatest unmet demand for post-16 education and training.

The bidding round for the £287 million Post-16 and Construction Skills Capacity Fund in non-devolved areas was a competitive process, with project need the most weighted element. The successful projects were those that could best evidence a need for additional places.

For devolved areas, the department has already allocated £283 million capital funding to strategic authorities to support the creation of additional education and training places in areas where they are most needed.