Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) their relationship with Oak National Academy, and (2) the ways in which students are taught about (a) society, and (b) history, through the National Curriculum.

As set out in Oak National Academy’s Framework Agreement, Oak will be operationally independent from the department. The department will not prescribe or approve the content of curriculum packages or educational resources. Oak’s resources will be created independently, will be free to access and non-compulsory for schools to use, and evidence based. In creating curriculum packages and educational resources, Oak will ensure alignment with the national curriculum, and have due regard to the department’s non-statutory curriculum guidance.

Citizenship forms a core part of the statutory national curriculum at Key Stages 3 and 4 and primary schools can choose to teach citizenship at Key Stages 1 and 2, following the non-statutory framework for citizenship. The citizenship curriculum provides a rigorous framework for pupils to explore complex concepts and issues facing society.

History is also part of the national curriculum from Key Stages 1 to 3 and is included in the English Baccalaureate suite of GCSE subjects for Key Stage 4. The department is developing a Model History Curriculum which is a non-statutory guidance document to support the national curriculum and the teaching of a high quality, knowledge rich and diverse history curriculum. The guidance will be published in 2024.

The department does not prescribe how these subjects should be taught but we expect schools to develop a curriculum that meets the need of their pupils.

The department made £4.84 million available for Oak both for the summer term of the academic year 2019/20, and then for the 2020/21 academic year, to provide video lessons in a broad range of subjects for Reception up to Year 11. In the 2022/23 financial year, a total of £9.8 million has been budgeted for Oak. Part of this £9.8 million of funding was allocated through the Grant Funding Agreement, which enabled Oak National Academy to maintain its activity prior to becoming an Arm’s Length Body (ALB). The government has set aside up to £43 million over the next three years to support Oak National Academy, a significant proportion of which is expected to be provided directly to schools, publishers, and other organisations for the creation of resources.

As an integral part of the process to set up Oak as an ALB, with close regard to Cabinet Office guidance, the department produced a business case that included an assessment of potential market impact. This business case was published on GOV.UK on 1 November at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/oak-national-academy-business-case. Monitoring market impact will be a priority throughout Oak National Academy’s lifetime and will be factored into the body’s ongoing evaluation and two-year review.