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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on what grounds she decided that the recently approved annexe to the Weald of Kent grammar school is in an area that is easily accessible to the community that the school serves.

Edward Timpson

The Weald of Kent School has set out its plans in expansion proposals. Pupils at the Sevenoaks annexe will attend the Tonbridge site at least once a week to attend a whole school assembly and additional lessons. The school will also operate a house system across the expanded school, regularly bringing students together on a range of curriculum projects. The length of the school day is a matter for the academy trust.

The newly expanded school will better meet the needs of parents in the community that the school currently serves. Over 41% of pupils at the Tonbridge site already travel from the Sevenoaks area. The travel arrangements between the sites will use existing bus companies to transport pupils who live in Sevenoaks to the Tonbridge site. The proposal indicates that the journey time is approximately 17 minutes and no additional funding is being provided to the academy to cover the costs.

The decision issued on 15 October 2015 was in respect of a proposal received on 14 September 2015. The Department can comment on the costs of external legal advice once we have the final costs bill.

The school would not have the required capital funding to expand on this scale at the existing site.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with how many headteachers who would like to recruit teachers through its STEM international recruitment programme her Department is discussing that programme.

Nick Gibb

Schools have always been able to recruit teachers from overseas. Outstanding mathematics and physics teachers are in demand across the globe, and where schools wish to recruit from overseas we want to ensure they are able to do so and from those countries whose education standards are as high as our own.

The Department for Education is committed to ensuring that schools are able to recruit appropriately to fill their teacher vacancies. We are working to grow a strong pipeline of teachers from within the UK and have a package of measures in place to support both recruitment of trainees and retention of existing teachers.

The Department for Education recently embarked on an additional £67 million package of measures to target recruitment of 2,500 additional specialist maths and physics teachers and up-skill 15,000 existing non specialist teachers in these subjects. The vast majority of these additional 2,500 teachers will come from within the UK, but the government recognises the valuable contribution made by overseas trained teachers particularly for certain shortage subjects. Therefore a small part of the package is focused on supporting schools to recruit internationally for qualified maths and physics teachers where necessary.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the target countries are of her Department’s STEM international recruitment programme; and how many teachers have been recruited from each target country.

Nick Gibb

Schools have always been able to recruit teachers from overseas. Outstanding mathematics and physics teachers are in demand across the globe, and where schools wish to recruit from overseas we want to ensure they are able to do so and from those countries whose education standards are as high as our own.

The Department for Education is committed to ensuring that schools are able to recruit appropriately to fill their teacher vacancies. We are working to grow a strong pipeline of teachers from within the UK and have a package of measures in place to support both recruitment of trainees and retention of existing teachers.

The Department for Education recently embarked on an additional £67 million package of measures to target recruitment of 2,500 additional specialist maths and physics teachers and up-skill 15,000 existing non specialist teachers in these subjects. The vast majority of these additional 2,500 teachers will come from within the UK, but the government recognises the valuable contribution made by overseas trained teachers particularly for certain shortage subjects. Therefore a small part of the package is focused on supporting schools to recruit internationally for qualified maths and physics teachers where necessary.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers her Department has recruited through its STEM international recruitment programme.

Nick Gibb

Schools have always been able to recruit teachers from overseas. Outstanding mathematics and physics teachers are in demand across the globe, and where schools wish to recruit from overseas we want to ensure they are able to do so and from those countries whose education standards are as high as our own.

The Department for Education is committed to ensuring that schools are able to recruit appropriately to fill their teacher vacancies. We are working to grow a strong pipeline of teachers from within the UK and have a package of measures in place to support both recruitment of trainees and retention of existing teachers.

The Department for Education recently embarked on an additional £67 million package of measures to target recruitment of 2,500 additional specialist maths and physics teachers and up-skill 15,000 existing non specialist teachers in these subjects. The vast majority of these additional 2,500 teachers will come from within the UK, but the government recognises the valuable contribution made by overseas trained teachers particularly for certain shortage subjects. Therefore a small part of the package is focused on supporting schools to recruit internationally for qualified maths and physics teachers where necessary.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the budget is of her Department’s STEM international recruitment programme.

Nick Gibb

Schools have always been able to recruit teachers from overseas. Outstanding mathematics and physics teachers are in demand across the globe, and where schools wish to recruit from overseas we want to ensure they are able to do so and from those countries whose education standards are as high as our own.

The Department for Education is committed to ensuring that schools are able to recruit appropriately to fill their teacher vacancies. We are working to grow a strong pipeline of teachers from within the UK and have a package of measures in place to support both recruitment of trainees and retention of existing teachers.

The Department for Education recently embarked on an additional £67 million package of measures to target recruitment of 2,500 additional specialist maths and physics teachers and up-skill 15,000 existing non specialist teachers in these subjects. The vast majority of these additional 2,500 teachers will come from within the UK, but the government recognises the valuable contribution made by overseas trained teachers particularly for certain shortage subjects. Therefore a small part of the package is focused on supporting schools to recruit internationally for qualified maths and physics teachers where necessary.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lucy Powell on 2015-10-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with how many headteachers currently recruiting teachers internationally her Department is discussing its STEM international recruitment programme.

Nick Gibb

Schools have always been able to recruit teachers from overseas. Outstanding mathematics and physics teachers are in demand across the globe, and where schools wish to recruit from overseas we want to ensure they are able to do so and from those countries whose education standards are as high as our own.

The Department for Education is committed to ensuring that schools are able to recruit appropriately to fill their teacher vacancies. We are working to grow a strong pipeline of teachers from within the UK and have a package of measures in place to support both recruitment of trainees and retention of existing teachers.

The Department for Education recently embarked on an additional £67 million package of measures to target recruitment of 2,500 additional specialist maths and physics teachers and up-skill 15,000 existing non specialist teachers in these subjects. The vast majority of these additional 2,500 teachers will come from within the UK, but the government recognises the valuable contribution made by overseas trained teachers particularly for certain shortage subjects. Therefore a small part of the package is focused on supporting schools to recruit internationally for qualified maths and physics teachers where necessary.