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  • Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Justin Tomlinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to incentivise universities to attract more students to take courses in areas which are identified as having a skills shortage.

    Joseph Johnson

    We want everyone with the potential to benefit from higher education to be able to do so. We will provide student finance for those studying part-time for a second degree in any Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subject. We also announced in the Autumn Statement of 2015 that we are introducing new part-time maintenance loans from the academic year 2018/19, in order to support the cost of living while studying on part-time courses.

    To promote retraining and prepare people for the future labour market, we are also reviewing any further gaps in support for lifetime learning, including for flexible and part-time study. We are also supporting growth in degree apprenticeships and have made a £10m Development Fund available to help universities and partners, including further education colleges, to help higher education providers to meet employer demand.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that private higher education providers that have attained degree powers and university status provide an education of a sufficient quality.

    Joseph Johnson

    Private higher education providers can obtain Degree Awarding Powers (DAPs) and University Title (UT) if they meet the criteria. The criteria are set out in departmental guidance, and are the same for publicly-funded and private providers. For DAPs they include criteria around Governance and Academic Management, and Academic Standards and Quality Assurance. For UT they include good governance criteria such as quality assurance and academic standards, and criteria on student numbers.

    Higher education providers that are publicly funded can obtain DAPs on an indefinite basis. All other organisations, including private providers, can be granted DAPs for a fixed term period of six years. The decision to renew degree-awarding powers after each term rests with the Privy Council and is subject to the organisation meeting the criteria for the renewals set out in our guidance. All holders of DAPs are expected to subscribe to the Quality Assurance Agency and the Office of the Independent Adjudicator.

    A change in control at the provider may trigger a review to check that the provider in question continues to meet the criteria for UT, and remains the same cohesive academic community that was granted DAPs.

    The current departmental guidance is available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/higher-education-market-entry-guidance

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of changes to tuition fees on the breadth of course provision offered by universities.

    Joseph Johnson

    The breadth of a higher education institution’s course offering is a decision for the institution itself, rather than Government, though it will inevitably be constrained by the need to cover the cost of that provision. The cap on student tuition fees has been frozen since 2012, which has meant that the maximum fee providers can charge has fallen in real terms, from £9,000 to £8,500.

    The Teaching Excellence Framework will mean that those providers who can demonstrate a suitably high standard of teaching quality will be able to maintain their fees in line with inflation.

    This is expected to be worth over £1 billion per year to the sector, ensuring the sector can continue to provide a world leading and diverse higher education system that promotes social mobility and the country’s economic success.

  • Rob Marris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Rob Marris – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rob Marris on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Wolverhampton South West of 30 August 2016 on the Kingston Centre (Primary PRU), our case reference ZA5075.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the School System sent a reply to the Hon. Member’s letter on 24 October 2016.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent representations she has received from the National Union of Teachers on the effect of children’s centre closures.

    Caroline Dinenage

    We have no record of having recently received representations from the National Union of Teachers on the effect of children’s centre closures.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when her Department plans to roll out the fairer funding formula in schools.

    Nick Gibb

    We will introduce a national funding formula for schools from April 2018. We are considering the options carefully, taking into account the need to give schools and local authorities’ stability, and the importance of ensuring these historic reforms are right. We will put forward our detailed proposals later in the autumn, including our proposals for the transition to the formula. Following a full consultation, we will make final decisions and confirm arrangements in the new year.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate her Department has made of the proportion of children entering secondary education who are unable to read.

    Nick Gibb

    The Key Stage 2 National Curriculum tests provide information about the proportion of pupils entering secondary education who have reached the national expected standard in reading. The latest Key Stage 2 results are published in table N2 of the the “National curriculum assessments at key stage 2 in England, 2016 (provisional)” statistical first release (SFR)[1].

    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-curriculum-assessments-key-stage-2-2016-provisional (Table N2)

  • Jeff Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jeff Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeff Smith on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students have studied at least one arts subject at A-level in Manchester, Withington constituency in each of the last five years.

    Nick Gibb

    The number of A level examination entries (including arts[1] subjects) by local authority and state funded schools are published in the A level and equivalent results statistical first releases (SFR)[2],[3],[4],[5],[6].

    The information requested by parliamentary constituency is not available.

    [1] Arts subjects are included under the categories Art and Design, Media, Film and Television Studies and Music.

    [2] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/revised-a-level-and-equivalent-examination-results-in-england-academic-year-2011-to-2012 (Table 12a)

    [3] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/a-level-and-other-level-3-results-england-2012-to-2013-revised (Table 13a)

    [4] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/a-level-and-other-level-3-results-2013-to-2014-revised (Table 13a)

    [5] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/a-level-and-other-level-3-results-2014-to-2015-revised (Table 13a)

    [6] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/a-level-and-other-level-3-results-2015-to-2016-provisional (Table 10)

  • Jeff Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jeff Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeff Smith on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students have studied at least two arts subjects at GCSE level in Manchester, Withington constituency in each of the last five years.

    Nick Gibb

    The requested information is given in the table below:

    Number of pupils at the end of KS4 entering at least two arts[1] subjects at GCSE (incl. equivalents) in Manchester LA

    Year[2]

    Pupils entering at least two arts subjects at GCSE

    2011/12

    323

    2012/13

    304

    2013/14

    312

    2014/15

    532

    2015/16

    355

    Source: KS4 Performance Tables

    The information required by parliamentary constituency is not available.

    [1] Includes: Applied Art & Design, Art & Design, Drama, Performing Arts, Media/Film/TV Studies, Music and Dance. Does not include History of Art and Creative Writing.

    [2] Data is provisional for 2016, all other years are final.

  • Jeff Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Jeff Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jeff Smith on 2016-10-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many GCSE entries for arts subjects there have been from students in Manchester, Withington constituency in each of the last five years.

    Nick Gibb

    The requested information is given in the table below:

    Number of entries in arts1 subject GCSEs (incl. equivalents) from pupils at the end of KS4 in Manchester LA

    Year2

    Number of entries in GCSE Arts subjects

    2011/12

    1,953

    2012/13

    1,954

    2013/14

    2,260

    2014/15

    2,968

    2015/16

    2,515

    Source: KS4 Performance Tables Notes:

    1. Includes: Applied Art & Design, Art & Design, Drama, Performing Arts, Media/Film/TV Studies, Music and Dance. Does not include History of Art and Creative Writing.
    2. Data is provisional for 2016, all other years are final.

    The information required by parliamentary constituency is not available.