Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support schools in managing reputational issues from (a) repeated and (b) unsubstantiated complaints in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is working closely with the Improving Education Together group to improve the complaints system. We are exploring how to reset the relationship between schools and parents through encouraging informal resolution, reducing duplication, and clarifying roles and responsibilities. Where schools cannot resolve complaints, they should be passed quickly to the right body. We expect to provide more detail in the Schools White Paper.
The department has published best practice guidance for maintained schools and academies, including model complaints policies, and this can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-complaints-procedures and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/setting-up-an-academies-complaints-procedure/best-practice-guidance-for-academies-complaints-procedures.
Complaints can be escalated to the department once a school’s process has been exhausted, unless the complainant has been obstructed. Once received, officials check whether the school’s complaints policy complies with relevant guidance and regulations.
The department values the dedication and expertise of the school workforce and is committed to working with them to re-establish teaching as an attractive, expert profession.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will take steps to recognise the (a) work and (b) contributions of staff in special educational needs schools in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is working closely with the Improving Education Together group to improve the complaints system. We are exploring how to reset the relationship between schools and parents through encouraging informal resolution, reducing duplication, and clarifying roles and responsibilities. Where schools cannot resolve complaints, they should be passed quickly to the right body. We expect to provide more detail in the Schools White Paper.
The department has published best practice guidance for maintained schools and academies, including model complaints policies, and this can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-complaints-procedures and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/setting-up-an-academies-complaints-procedure/best-practice-guidance-for-academies-complaints-procedures.
Complaints can be escalated to the department once a school’s process has been exhausted, unless the complainant has been obstructed. Once received, officials check whether the school’s complaints policy complies with relevant guidance and regulations.
The department values the dedication and expertise of the school workforce and is committed to working with them to re-establish teaching as an attractive, expert profession.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of workload reduction measures on teacher retention rates.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The best recruitment strategy is a strong retention strategy, and this government has provided a near 10% pay award for teachers to ensure teaching is once again a respected and attractive profession.
The department is undertaking a range of initiatives to help teachers manage workload and improve retention. Our ‘Improve workload and wellbeing for school staff’ service, developed alongside school leaders, contains a range of supportive resources for schools to reduce workload. Our education staff wellbeing charter, now with over 4,200 signatories, sets out commitments from government, schools, and colleges to improve staff wellbeing, including commitments to help reduce teacher workload.
The department is seeing signs of improvement. 2024/25 saw one of the lowest leaver rates since 2010, with 1,300 fewer teachers leaving the state-funded sector, and the workforce has grown by 2,346 FTE from the previous year in secondary and special schools, the schools where teachers are needed most.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of standardising complaint procedures for (a) schools and (b) trusts to ensure that (i) parents and (ii) guardians have the same opportunity to access those procedures.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is working closely with the Improving Education Together group to improve the complaints system. We are exploring how to reset the relationship between schools and parents through encouraging informal resolution, reducing duplication, and clarifying roles and responsibilities. Where schools cannot resolve complaints, they should be passed quickly to the right body. We expect to provide more detail in the Schools White Paper.
The department has published best practice guidance for maintained schools and academies, including model complaints policies, and this can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-complaints-procedures and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/setting-up-an-academies-complaints-procedure/best-practice-guidance-for-academies-complaints-procedures.
Complaints can be escalated to the department once a school’s process has been exhausted, unless the complainant has been obstructed. Once received, officials check whether the school’s complaints policy complies with relevant guidance and regulations.
The department values the dedication and expertise of the school workforce and is committed to working with them to re-establish teaching as an attractive, expert profession.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of assessing (a) schools' and (b) trusts' complaint procedures to ensure that the complaint process is adequately (i) accessible and (ii) understandable.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department is working closely with the Improving Education Together group to improve the complaints system. We are exploring how to reset the relationship between schools and parents through encouraging informal resolution, reducing duplication, and clarifying roles and responsibilities. Where schools cannot resolve complaints, they should be passed quickly to the right body. We expect to provide more detail in the Schools White Paper.
The department has published best practice guidance for maintained schools and academies, including model complaints policies, and this can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-complaints-procedures and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/setting-up-an-academies-complaints-procedure/best-practice-guidance-for-academies-complaints-procedures.
Complaints can be escalated to the department once a school’s process has been exhausted, unless the complainant has been obstructed. Once received, officials check whether the school’s complaints policy complies with relevant guidance and regulations.
The department values the dedication and expertise of the school workforce and is committed to working with them to re-establish teaching as an attractive, expert profession.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of increased SEND responsibilities on (a) teacher and (b) headteacher retention in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
For 2025/26, we announced a Targeted Retention Incentive (TRI) worth up to £6,000 after tax for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who work in disadvantaged schools. Three schools in Surrey Heath constituency are eligible for the TRI.
In 2024, the department began delivery of the mandatory National Professional Qualification for Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators. Participants will develop the essential skills needed to set the strategic direction and conditions to support pupils with SEND to thrive.
To ensure that there are sufficient, high quality teachers and headteachers, the department has increased the core schools budget by £3.7 billion in 2025/26, totalling £65.3 billion. This is alongside the near 10% pay award for teachers over the last two years to ensure teaching is once again a respected and attractive profession.
The department is already seeing positive signs that the investment is delivering. The workforce has grown by 2,346 teachers full-time equivalent between 2023/24 and 2024/25 in secondary and special schools, the schools where they are needed most. This year also has one of the lowest leaver rates since 2010, with 1,300 fewer teachers leaving the state-funded sector.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support her Department provides to help maintain staffing levels in small rural schools in Fylde constituency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
To ensure we have sufficient, high quality teachers, the department has increased the core schools budget by £3.7 billion in 2025/26, totalling £65.3 billion. This is alongside the near 10% pay award for teachers over the last two years to ensure teaching is once again a respected and attractive profession.
In addition to improved teacher pay, the department is also providing additional financial support for trainees and teachers. For 2025/26, we announced trainee teacher bursaries worth up to £29,000 and scholarships worth up to £31,000 tax-free. We are also offering a targeted retention incentive (TRI) worth up to £6,000 after tax for teachers of key subjects in the first five years of their careers who work in disadvantaged schools, including rural areas. Three schools in Fylde constituency are eligible for the TRI.
Our interventions are having impact with 2,346 more teachers across secondary and special schools in 2024/25. In Fylde, there were 14 more teachers in secondary and special schools. We are also helping schools recruit and retain support staff, with support staff numbers increasing by 42 to 668 in Fylde in 2024/25.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her Department's definition is of expert teachers.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
Recruiting and retaining high quality teachers is critical to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and boost the life chances for every child. This is why the government’s Plan for Change has committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers in secondary and special schools, and in our colleges, over the course of this Parliament.
The term ‘expert teacher’ focuses on the qualities and expertise it requires to be a high quality teacher and ensuring that teaching remains a valued profession. Quality teaching is essential to reduce the attainment gap and is the most significant in-school and college determinant of pupil outcomes.
This is why the department has put in place initiatives to ensure teachers are better qualified and better trained. We are introducing legislation to ensure new teachers have or are working towards qualified teacher status, and to help further improve teacher quality from September 2025, we will also introduce the new initial teacher training and early career framework, replacing the current initial teacher training core content framework and the early career framework. We are also reviewing national professional qualification courses to align with the latest evidence and best practice.
Asked by: Chris Ward (Labour - Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to make SEND training mandatory for (a) Initial Teacher Training and (b) continual learning for qualified teachers.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
Supporting pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is a mandatory part of initial teacher training and training for early career teachers, creating a strong foundation for those joining the profession. The new initial teacher training and early career framework comes into effect from September 2025 and sets out the minimum entitlement for teacher training and must cover adaptive teaching and SEND. The department tested this approach with SEND educational experts with consensus that the approach of ‘quality-first teaching’ would be the best way to improve outcomes for all children.
We also recognise that continuous improvement is essential and have recently committed to a full review of the early career teacher entitlement in 2027 to ensure it continues to provide the best possible basis for initial teacher training and early career teacher support.
To further support teachers, in autumn 2024 the department began delivery of the national professional qualification for special educational needs co-ordinators (SENCOs). This is now the mandatory qualification for SENCOs. Participants will develop the essential knowledge and skills needed to set the strategic direction of SEND policy in a school and the conditions in which pupils with SEND can thrive.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of proposed reductions in staff numbers in schools in Newbury on academic outcomes for children.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
Recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers is critical to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and boost the life chances for every child. This is why the government’s Plan for Change has committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers in secondary and special schools, and in our colleges, over the course of this Parliament.
To support this key pledge, we recently announced a 4% pay award for teachers and leaders in maintained schools from September 2025. This builds on the 5.5% pay award for 2024/25, resulting in a near 10% pay award since this government came to power, to ensure teaching is once again a valued and attractive profession. This is on top of the £700 million invested across schools and further education this year, which included bursaries for trainees and increasing targeted retention incentives for early career teachers, in key subjects. We also provided resources to improve teachers’ workload and wellbeing and now allow more flexibility for teachers, such as undertaking planning, preparation assessment from home.
Our investment is starting to deliver. The workforce has grown by 2,346 full-time equivalent (FTE), between 2023/24 and 2024/25, in secondary and special schools. Overall teacher numbers have also increased in Newbury constituency under this government, with 842.2 FTE teachers in November 2024, as reported in the latest Schools Workforce Census.