Found: If apprenticeships are to be introduced in the future around the profession as well, clearly that will

Found: fast as we are able to recruit new midwives through that pipeline and other initiatives— such as apprenticeships

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the educational attainment gap for blind and visually impaired students at (1) Key Stage 2, (2) GCSE, and (3) A Level; by what date, if any, they aim to eradicate that gap; and what additional research have they undertaken, or do they intend to undertake, to support work in this area.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Data is collected on pupils receiving either special educational needs support or have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan and their primary category of need. The links below provide the attainment of pupils assessed as having a primary need of ‘visual impairment’ and how this compares to other pupils:

• Key stage 2: data for the 2022/23 year is in the table atttached.
• Key stage 4: data for the 2022/23 year is in the table attached.
• A level: data for the 2022/23 year is in the table attached.

The department wants all children and young people to be able to reach their full potential and to receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. The department is creating a new single national special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and alternative provision system for how needs are identified and met across EHC. This new single national system will set standards on what support should be made available in mainstream settings, including for children with visual impairments.

The department is committed to ensuring a steady supply of teachers of children with sensory impairments in both specialist and mainstream settings. To teach a class of pupils with sensory impairments, a teacher is required to hold the relevant mandatory qualification (MQSI). There are currently six providers of the MQSI, with a seventh available from September 2024. In addition, the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education is developing a new occupational standard for teachers of sensory impairment, which is expected to launch in 2025.

The national curriculum tests are designed and modified to ensure they are accessible to visually impaired pupils. Access arrangements can be agreed with exam boards before an assessment for candidates with specific needs, including SEND, to help them access assessments to show what they know and can do without changing the demands of the assessment. The intention behind an access arrangement is to meet the needs of an individual candidate without affecting the integrity of the assessment.

Children and young people with SEND have more access to assistive technology (AT) following investment in remote education and accessibility features which can reduce or remove barriers to learning. Following the promising results of a pilot training programme in 2022 to increase mainstream school staff confidence using assistive technology, the government extended training to capture more detailed data on the impact on teachers and learners. The independent evaluation will be published in May 2024. The department is also now researching the AT skills required by staff at special schools, including those working with blind and visually impaired students.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the percentage of areas where there is a shortage of childcare facilities and providers to provide their commitment of free childcare hours.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

There were 15,100 more childcare places in 2023 than the previous year, with 12,900 paid staff added to the same period according to the department’s latest Childcare and early years provider survey (2023).

To support providers to expand their provision further, the department is investing over £400 million of additional funding to uplift the hourly rate for the entitlements next year. This investment consists of £67 million in new funding to reflect the latest National Living Wage increase, an additional £57 million to support providers in respect of teachers’ pay and pensions, and the £288 million for the existing entitlements in 2024/25 announced in the Spring Budget in March 2023. It also builds on the £204 million of additional investment to increase funding rates this year. To further support the sector delivering the expansion of childcare support, the government is confirming that the hourly rate providers are paid to deliver the free hours offers will increase in line with the metric used at Spring Budget 2023 for the next two years. This reflects that workforce costs are the most significant costs for childcare providers and represents an estimated additional £500 million of investment over two years. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of children aged 3 and 4 are registered for a 30-hour place, saving eligible working parents up to £6,900 per child per year, helping even more working parents and making a real difference to the lives of those families.

Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare, including supporting them through our childcare delivery support contract where appropriate.

The government has allocated £100 million in capital funding to local authorities to support the expansion of childcare places and the supply of wraparound care. The funding is anticipated to deliver thousands of new places across the country.

On top of the department’s funding reforms, it is also providing significant support for local authorities to deliver the early years expansion from April, such as:

• Appointing a delivery support contractor (Childcare Works) to provide local authorities with support, advice, guidance and best practice sharing to help them deliver the expansion and deliver enough childcare places for residents. Coram are part of the Childcare Works consortium, and the department is delighted to be working with them to support local authorities to deliver.
• Providing £12 million of delivery support funding to local authorities in financial year 2023/24, to help them meet the costs associated with the rollout.
• In February 2024, the department launched a new national recruitment campaign for the early years and childcare sector, ‘Do something Big, Work with small children’, and a financial incentives pilot. Eligible joiners and returners will receive a tax-free payment of up to £1,000. This followed the introduction of workforce flexibilities to the Early Years Foundation Stage in January 2024.
• The department has also introduced Skills Bootcamps for Early Years which will create a pathway to accelerated Level 3 Early Years Apprenticeships.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what additional support they are providing to enable local authorities and childcare providers to meet demand arising from their commitment to provide free childcare hours.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

There were 15,100 more childcare places in 2023 than the previous year, with 12,900 paid staff added to the same period according to the department’s latest Childcare and early years provider survey (2023).

To support providers to expand their provision further, the department is investing over £400 million of additional funding to uplift the hourly rate for the entitlements next year. This investment consists of £67 million in new funding to reflect the latest National Living Wage increase, an additional £57 million to support providers in respect of teachers’ pay and pensions, and the £288 million for the existing entitlements in 2024/25 announced in the Spring Budget in March 2023. It also builds on the £204 million of additional investment to increase funding rates this year. To further support the sector delivering the expansion of childcare support, the government is confirming that the hourly rate providers are paid to deliver the free hours offers will increase in line with the metric used at Spring Budget 2023 for the next two years. This reflects that workforce costs are the most significant costs for childcare providers and represents an estimated additional £500 million of investment over two years. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of children aged 3 and 4 are registered for a 30-hour place, saving eligible working parents up to £6,900 per child per year, helping even more working parents and making a real difference to the lives of those families.

Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare, including supporting them through our childcare delivery support contract where appropriate.

The government has allocated £100 million in capital funding to local authorities to support the expansion of childcare places and the supply of wraparound care. The funding is anticipated to deliver thousands of new places across the country.

On top of the department’s funding reforms, it is also providing significant support for local authorities to deliver the early years expansion from April, such as:

• Appointing a delivery support contractor (Childcare Works) to provide local authorities with support, advice, guidance and best practice sharing to help them deliver the expansion and deliver enough childcare places for residents. Coram are part of the Childcare Works consortium, and the department is delighted to be working with them to support local authorities to deliver.
• Providing £12 million of delivery support funding to local authorities in financial year 2023/24, to help them meet the costs associated with the rollout.
• In February 2024, the department launched a new national recruitment campaign for the early years and childcare sector, ‘Do something Big, Work with small children’, and a financial incentives pilot. Eligible joiners and returners will receive a tax-free payment of up to £1,000. This followed the introduction of workforce flexibilities to the Early Years Foundation Stage in January 2024.
• The department has also introduced Skills Bootcamps for Early Years which will create a pathway to accelerated Level 3 Early Years Apprenticeships.

Remove student discounts and replace with a student wage. This would enable students who haven’t chosen to go down the apprenticeship route to still be financially independent and have enough money to progress to higher education such as University.

Found: Students who take apprenticeships can be earning from day but Post-16 students can find it difficult

Found: The measures include specific training initiatives, for example related to apprenticeships and bootcamps

Found: The measures include specific training initiatives, for example related to apprenticeships and bootcamps

Found: The measures include specific training initiatives, for example related to apprenticeships and bootcamps

Found: Apprenticeships: April 2024

Found: beneficiaries to breakeven Birmingham Reducing number of NEET young people £4,920 84 Birmingham Take up of apprenticeships

Found: Output Number of weeks of apprenticeships delivered by the OC suppliers Secondary OC Monitoring data

Found: Apprenticeships: May 2024

Found: Apprenticeships in England by industry characteristics, 2021 to 2022

Found: From upskilling, interview support and finding apprenticeships, whether you’re looking for a new career

Found: This is a result of the skills and apprenticeships delivered through Games programmes, alongside community

Found: get ahead through our £2.5 billion Back to Work Plan, while our network of Jobcentres are providing apprenticeships

Found: This guidance is for providers affected when funding agreements, contracts or provider agreements for apprenticeships

Found: our approach to supporting internal talent through effective initiatives and opportunities around apprenticeships

Found: our approach to supporting internal talent through effective initiatives and opportunities around apprenticeships

Found: Letter dated 28/03/2024 from Jennifer Coupland Chief Executive Officer, Institute for Apprenticeships

Found: An example of this would be reporting on completion of apprenticeships.

Found: responsibility to nurture talent and help individuals fulfil their potential • a strong commitment to Modern Apprenticeships