Tag: Department for Education

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 10 January 2024.

Family hubs now open in local authorities across half the country as new Little Moments Together campaign launches.

Parents across England can now access free help and support at local family hubs, with all 75 local authorities involved in the government scheme now offering access to a centre.

The hubs centralise a range of vital services in one location and act as a ‘one stop shop’ for parents and children. Trained staff provide practical help including early language and communication development, mental health support for parents and carers, and programmes for improving children’s home development.

This milestone comes as the government launches the new national Start for Life Little Moments Together campaign, providing free resources and advice to help parents make the most of every moment – even waiting for a bus or shopping together – to further their child’s development.

The government is investing around £300 million to embed the family hub approach and enhance Start for Life services across the country for families with children aged 0-19 years, and 0-25 years for children with SEND.

On top of this, eligible working parents of 2-year-olds are currently able to register to access 15 hours free childcare per week from April 2024. This is the first step in the rollout of the largest investment in childcare in England’s history, expanding 30 free hours of childcare for working parents, from nine months old up to when their child starts school by September 2025. This is set to save parents using the full 30 hours up to £6,500 per year.

On Monday 8 January, Education Secretary Gillian visited a family hub in Halton to meet with families benefitting from the services on offer.

Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan said:

Family hubs act as one-stop-shops and provide a universal offer to parents and families to provide them with extra support when they need it.

This support is on hand for parents and carers from conception through to those teenage years. I’ve seen first-hand how important it is that families are able to build confidence and aren’t made to jump through hoops, explaining their situation to professionals over and over.

That’s why through family hubs, along with our reforms to childcare and children’s social care, we’re making sure that the right support is available for families in the way that works best for them.

Minister for Public Health, Start for Life and Primary Care, Dame Andrea Leadsom said:

It is fantastic to see so many of these vital hubs within easy reach of families up and down the country.

We’re committed to ensuring all parents get better access to help and support to improve their child’s learning and development, including learning at home.

The free resources now available through the Little Moments Together campaign will provide vital tools to help parents ensure their baby is getting the best possible start in life.

Across all 75 local authorities, parents will now have access to a key contact who can support parents with their home learning. Hubs will support parents to improve their children’s language and communication skills and ultimately increase levels of school readiness.

New findings have revealed that 83% of parents are unaware that their child’s brain is 90% grown by the age of five, shedding light on a critical gap in parents’ understanding of the impact they can have in these crucial early years.

The research uncovered that parents prioritise activities like reading bedtime stories (65%) and playing with toys (61%) for their child’s language and communication skills. Yet, everyday moments are often overlooked, which is why the campaign focuses on the importance of day-to-day activities such as the daily routine around the house.

This is just one element of government’s support for families. Family hubs go hand in hand with the government’s Supporting Families programme, which aims to build the resilience of vulnerable families and drive change across the country, so that every area has strong local services which are able to identify families in need and provide the right support at the right time.

The government’s plan to transform children’s social care also set out how it will reform the children’s social care system, to focus on meaningful early support for families, reducing the need for intervention at a later stage. This includes the Families First for Children pathfinder programme, which simplifies early help services and brings them together into one single system.

Together this support will help improve families’ lives.

Further information on family hubs and early language development support can be found here: https://familyhubs.campaign.gov.uk/

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 8 January 2024.

Attendance hubs to more than double to support 1,000 more schools and £15 million investment to expand the attendance mentor pilot programme.

Driving up attendance and tackling persistent absence is at the centre of new stronger measures launched today as pupils return to school.

More than one million children and young people will be supported into regular education as part of a major expansion of the attendance hubs, which provide a range of tailored support to families and pupils to boost time in school.

There will be 18 new attendance hubs across six regions, bringing the total to 32 and will see nearly 2,000 schools helped to tackle persistent absence.

Hubs are run by schools with excellent attendance that share practical ideas with other primary, secondary, alternative provision and special schools in England who need help to boost their attendance.

From direct pupil engagement initiatives like breakfast clubs and extracurricular activities, to improving their processes and analysis of attendance data, lead hub schools provide a range of support to schools that they can tailor to their pupils and families.

The government is also increasing the direct support offered to children and their families with the expansion of the attendance mentor pilot programme.

With an investment of up to £15million, over three years, this programme will provide direct intensive support to more than 10,000 persistent and severely absent pupils and their families.

The programme will see trained attendance mentors working in 10 further areas from September 2024. These areas are in addition to the existing pilot programme with Barnardo’s which is already operating in Middlesbrough, Doncaster, Knowsley, Salford, and Stoke on Trent.

The programme provides intensive one-to-one support to pupils who are persistently absent working with them and their families to find out why the child is skipping school. This can lead to extra support, more intensive work with teachers or in some cases bridge-building between school and family.

Being in school has never been more valuable with standards continuing to rise. 89% of schools are now rated good or outstanding, up from 68% in 2010. We are constantly seeing the success of our reforms rising up the rankings in maths, reading and science. Just this month, England was ranked 11th in the world for maths, up from 27th in 2009, and in May, England was named ‘best in the west’ for primary reading.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said:

The benefits of our success in raising education standards can only be when all children are in school.

Tackling attendance is my number one priority. We want all our children to have the best start in life because we know that attending school is vital to a child’s wellbeing, development, and attainment as well as impact future career success.

I am hugely grateful to all our brilliant teachers, heads, and everyone whose worked with us to make the progress we’ve already made with 380,000 fewer children persistently absent.

Children’s Commissioner Rachel De Souza said:

As Children’s Commissioner, I have made school attendance one of my top priorities because children tell me how much they value their education and want to be in school. Every day counts: when children miss school, it’s not just about missing lessons, it’s also about losing valuable moments spent with their friends and teachers.

I very much welcome the government’s announcements today which include the recommendations made last year in my report on school attendance.

I am hopeful that these measures will arm local authorities and schools with real-time information about school absence rates and provide vital support for children who face barriers to attending school.

Chief Executive of Barnardo’s, Lynn Perry MBE, said:

Our Attendance Mentoring pilot scheme shows that one of the best ways to improve attendance is working individually with children, building trust and listening to their concerns. Our mentors encourage children to talk openly about issues such as family finances, bullying, or mental health worries – anything they feel may be preventing them from going to school.

In Middlesbrough, 82% of the children we have worked with improved their attendance through one-on-one support from an attendance mentor, with almost two-thirds of the children saying their mental health also improved.

Rob Tarn CBE, Chief Executive of Northern Education Trust said:

We are delighted that the hard work around attendance at North Shore Academy has led to significant impact for our students and their outcomes.

The fact that this work was recognised as a best practice model meant we felt compelled to share what we are doing with other schools and academies in similar contexts and help where we could. This was, in essence, the beginning of the attendance hub programme. Seeing this work extended, with more hubs supporting more schools, is a source of great pride for the trust.

A national communications campaign on the importance of attendance is also launching today targeting parents and carers. Under the strapline ‘Moments Matter, Attendance Counts’ it outlines the importance of attendance for attainment, wellbeing, and development as well as signposting to advice for further support.

Key advice includes a recent letter from the Chief Medical Officer that outlines best practice when it comes to attendance and illness. The intention is to ensure that parents have the guidance they need when it comes to making decisions when deciding to send their child to school or when to keep them home.

The government has also committed to further legislation in the coming months that will mean all schools will be required to share their daily school registers. This, together with reforming pupil registration practice, will modernise how schools record and share data on attendance and support them to understand what is driving absence in their school and provide early support and intervention where pupils are displaying worrying trends of absence.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 3 January 2024.

New research shows government’s flagship scheme for overseas study strengthened partnerships all over the world – not just those in Europe.

Disadvantaged young people make up the a large proportion of international study placements, new research published today (3 January) shows. The government’s flagship Turing Scheme, which enables students to work and study abroad has proved a success, providing tens of thousands of young people across the UK with transformational opportunities.

The Turing Scheme was introduced in 2021 to widen access to global opportunities in education and training following the UK’s departure from the European Union. It builds on the government’s ambition to level up and drive social mobility in parts of the UK where, historically, there have been fewer opportunities to study and work abroad.

The new research shows that in its first year alone the scheme has strengthened partnerships across the globe, beyond Europe. Now in its third year the scheme has gone from strength to strength with the latest figures showing that more than 40,000 students are set to benefit in 23/24 academic year, 60% of which are from disadvantaged background or underrepresented groups. This includes around 1,800 additional students from disadvantaged backgrounds in the further education sector alone compared to last year.

The report also highlights how the scheme has supported universities, colleges and schools across the country to strengthen existing partnerships and develop links with a wider range of countries such as the USA, Japan and Canada, not just EU countries. Students reported benefits including a significant improvement in both skills and academic knowledge, and the opportunity to experience different cultures, fostering a richer international outlook that goes beyond traditional classroom learning.

Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education Robert Halfon said:

The Turing Scheme is a real game-changer for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, empowering them with transformative opportunities abroad, a chance to experience other cultures and learn vital skills for life and work.

It showcases our positive ambition post-Brexit, fostering a global outlook for more students who deserve every chance to thrive.

Young people benefit from inspirational placements around the world, not just Europe, building the confidence and skills they need for their future, whilst bolstering the government’s drive for a Global Britain.

Students can study and work in a wide range of areas including healthcare, the environment and construction at over 160 countries including Canada, Japan and the United States – alongside popular European destinations like Spain and France.

Students from Bellahouston Academy in Glasgow got a better understanding of the environmental concerns highlighted by the United Nations’ COP26 summit by visiting the forested outskirts of Reykjavik, whilst student nurses at the University of Bradford gained an entirely fresh perspective on healthcare after undertaking work placements across Africa.

A group of T Level students comprising of nursing, construction and IT students from Somerset also gained valuable knowledge and skills during a two-week Turing Scheme placement in Mississippi.

Jon Harding, International and Education Projects Manager at the college, said:

Some of these students are on support funding on their courses and there were probably 5 or 6 who had never had a passport, hadn’t travelled out of Somerset and it was their first time on a plane.

That impact for us was huge. We are in an area that, demographically, has a high level of families with low incomes and it was a big win for us that we could integrate students that probably wouldn’t have undertaken this, or similar trips, if the Turing Scheme funding wasn’t there. They wouldn’t have been able to afford to go.

Year 5 pupils from Lanchester EP Primary School in Durham took a trip to India in January 2023 in the second year of the Turing Scheme. For many of the pupils, this was the first time they had left the UK.

Kate, a pupil from Lanchester EP Primary School said of the experience:

During the week we did lots of fun stuff. We went to two different schools and learnt about children’s rights and what the children at the schools needed and wanted.

Going on this trip has really changed my view of the world and it makes me want to travel more to learn about different cultures.

Catering students from Southeastern Regional College in Northern Ireland got the chance to hone their skills with a trip to Tennessee. This trip was the first experience outside of Europe for all the participating students.

Student Ellie Hamilton, from Bangor, said:

Learning about new foods and styles of cooking and how the line kitchen works – where the cook supervises a specific area of the kitchen and reports to the head chef – was very interesting.

The trip has made me more culturally aware and more confident in my own skills and abilities.

Entrepreneurial students from Nottingham Trent University boosted their business acumen and employability skills with a visit to Mexico.

Psychology student, Esi Cynthia Jacqueline Obiri, said:

It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I would do over and over again if possible. It made me more confident and independent, and I gained valuable knowledge that I will apply to my future career.

The government announced its plans for the Turing Scheme in December 2020, which would provide funding for international opportunities across the world. Erasmus+ only provided travel support to participants who travelled to partner countries, which was around only 3% of UK participants. The Turing Scheme provides funding for travel costs for disadvantaged higher education students and funding for visas, passports and related travel insurance.

Details for the Turing Scheme’s fourth year will be announced shortly.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 21 December 2023.

The new GCSE will provide pupils with the opportunity to learn how to effectively communicate using British Sign Language.

Pupils across the country will soon be able to take the British Sign Language (BSL) GCSE as the subject content has today (Thursday 21 December) been published, providing pupils with an important life skill and advancing inclusivity within education.

Parents, teachers and organisations from the deaf and hearing communities have provided overwhelmingly positive support for the introduction of the BSL GCSE, following a 12-week public consultation.

The responses have helped ensure the content is knowledge-rich, diverse in its teaching and challenging. Students who take this GCSE will learn to communicate effectively with other signers in work, social and academic settings and possess valuable life skills.

With the aim to have exam board syllabuses approved from September 2025, the BSL GCSE will teach students to effectively communicate using BSL and provide an understanding of the history of BSL in the UK.

Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan said:

“It’s fantastic to see such an overwhelming amount of support across both the education sector and the deaf and hearing communities for this new GCSE.

“Studying British Sign Language can open so many doors for young people, giving pupils an understanding of how thousands of people communicate and ultimately even expanding job prospects.

“This new qualification will not only break down barriers and give young people valuable new skills, but also celebrate the history and rich culture of British Sign Language.”

Deputy Chief Regulator of Ofqual, Michael Hanton said:

“We’re grateful to those who engaged with our consultation, which was a crucial step forward for this new and important qualification.

“We will now begin the detailed regulatory work to ensure that the new GCSE in British Sign Language will be high quality and fair for students.”

Influencer and activist for the deaf community, Tasha Ghouri said:

“It’s so important to have inclusivity in schools.

“Accessibility is something I massively stand for and it’s amazing that BSL is now a GCSE course and students will soon have the opportunity to learn the foundations of BSL, the history and how it was formed.

“It’s such a beautiful language to learn. Thank you to everyone who has supported this step in the right direction!”

Chief Executive of the National Deaf Children’s Society, Susan Daniels OBE said:

“After more than a decade of campaigning for a GCSE in British Sign Language (BSL) we’re delighted we now have the finalised course content published.

“A GCSE in BSL is vital as it will break down barriers and celebrate the rich culture and history of British Sign Language. An incredible amount of work has been undertaken to get to this point, not least from young deaf campaigner Daniel Jillings who fought so hard for the right to study a GCSE in BSL.”

In line with all qualifications, the GCSE is open to all pupils and will be recognised and accepted in school and college performance tables.

An internationally recognised qualification, pupils who study this will develop ways of expressing and negotiating meaning through visual spatial language, communication and visual memory skills that will be an advantage to them for the rest of their lives.

As well as learning how to sign effectively, the GCSE will also give students an understanding of the history of sign language in the UK. This will provide a solid foundation for students’ understanding of how the language reached its current form.

The introduction of this high standard, knowledge rich subject follows on from GCSE and A level reforms brought in since 2010 to ensure improvement to qualifications, ensuring they reflect the knowledge and skills pupils need.

Expanding on this, in October, the Prime Minister set out a bold new plan to introduce a new baccalaureate style qualification. The Advanced British Standard (ABS) will be built on A levels and T Levels, retaining their rigour and focus on building knowledge. At the heart of these proposals are an increase in teaching time of around 200 hours over the course of the qualification, greater breadth and choice for young people, and a core focus on vital maths and English. The ABS will widen students’ career options whilst bringing England in line with major economies such as France, Germany, Japan and the USA.

The recently published special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and alternative provision (AP) improvement plan set out how all children and young people, including those who are deaf or have a hearing impairment, will get the support they need to succeed in their education.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 19 December 2023.

Funding for mainstream schools and high needs is increasing to the highest ever in real terms per pupil.

Schools in England are set to benefit from a cash injection as education funding reaches almost £60 billion in 2024/25 – its highest ever level in real terms.

This includes additional funding for both disadvantaged pupils and children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), with pupil premium and high needs budgets both going up alongside mainstream investment.

An extra £440 million investment to support pupils with SEND is being allocated to local authorities and used to fund special schools and provide mainstream schools with additional resources to meet the needs of pupils with complex SEND.

Funding for those with complex needs is also rising to £10.5 billion in 2024-25 – an increase of more than 60% in just five years.

Pupil premium funding rates will increase to £1,480 for primary pupils and £1,050 for secondary pupils in 2024-25, an increase of 10% since 2021-22 bringing total funding to more than £2.9 billion overall, supporting schools in disadvantaged areas to raise educational outcomes for the pupils who need it most.

The increases builds on the brilliant work going on in schools up and down the country, with standards continuing to rise. Currently, 89% of schools rated good or outstanding, up from 68% in 2010.

Thanks to the Government’s widespread reforms, England continues to rise up the global rankings in maths, reading and science. Just this month, England was ranked 11th in the world for maths, up from 27th in 2009, and in May, England was named ‘best in the west’ for primary reading.

Overall, school funding for mainstream schools and high needs is increasing by more than £1.8 billion in 2024-25 compared to 2023-24, taking the total funding to over £59.6 billion – the highest level in history, in real terms.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said:

Our schools and our teachers are better than ever – and it’s so important that as standards continue to rise, so does our support for schools.

That’s why boosting school funding was the first thing I did as Education Secretary, and why I will continue to make sure our brilliant schools and teachers have the tools they need to make sure every child receives a world class education.

I know costs for schools continue to be high, but ensuring schools are funded at their highest level in history in real terms will give parents and schools the confidence that education continues to be the top for this Government.

Today’s funding allocations include an additional £2 billion for 24/25, announced at the Autumn Statement last year, to recognise the higher costs faced by schools. That also builds on the significant extra investment provided to schools as part of this year’s teacher pay offer.

The vast majority of this funding is allocated through the Dedicated Schools Grant, which is calculated using the National Funding Formula (NFF).  The majority of the schools NFF is allocated on a per-pupil basis, and disadvantaged pupils attract additional funding to their school. The allocations also factor in differences in wage costs between areas.

The recently announced funding for teachers’ pay is on top of this, which will total £900 million in 2024-25.

Schools will also receive further funding to support with increases to employer contribution rates to the Teachers’ Pensions Scheme from April. This is over and above the funding they will receive via the NFF from within today’s DSG allocations.

The Department will announce further details on this funding for pensions, including funding rates and allocations, in due course.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 19 December 2023.

Schools and colleges told that parents should be involved in decisions affecting their children.

Today (19 December) the Department for Education has published comprehensive guidance for teachers on how best to support pupils questioning their gender in schools.

This includes requests from pupils for ‘social transition’ which can include requests to change pronouns, names, and uniform.

In response to the complex phenomenon of the increasing number of children questioning their gender, the government has taken the time to carefully and robustly address the challenges and issues involved.

The guidance will assist teachers in ensuring that they are acting in the best interests of children.

Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan said:

This guidance puts the best interests of all children first, removing any confusion about the protections that must be in place for biological sex and single-sex spaces, and making clear that safety and safeguarding for all children must always be schools’ primary concern.

Parents’ views must also be at the heart of all decisions made about their children – and nowhere is that more important than with decisions that can have significant effects on a child’s life for years to come.

Minister for Women and Equalities, Kemi Badenoch said:

This guidance is intended to give teachers and school leaders greater confidence when dealing with an issue that has been hijacked by activists misrepresenting the law.

It makes clear that schools do not have to accept a child’s request to socially transition, and that teachers or pupils should not be pressured into using different pronouns.

We are also clear how vital it is that parents are informed and involved in the decisions that impact their children’s lives.

Ofsted Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman

I have long called for clear guidance for schools who face difficult choices around how to help pupils who are gender-questioning.

This guidance is therefore welcome and will help schools do their best both for gender-questioning pupils and for all other pupils in their schools.

Guiding principles

This guidance has been developed with the expert clinical view and interim conclusions from the Cass Review in mind. That review set out that social transition is not a neutral act, and that better information is needed about the outcomes for children who undertake degrees of social transition. It also set out that it could have significant psychological effects on a young person.

In recognition of this, proper use of this guidance means social transition, in practice, should be extremely rare when the appropriate safeguards are put in place and the child’s best interest taken into account.

Importantly, the guidance places beyond doubt the fundamental principle that parents should be involved in decisions about their children’s lives, and that significant decisions affecting a child’s future should not be taken without parents being involved.

In regard to single-sex spaces and sports, the government sets out the principle that biological sex is fundamentally important when it comes to protecting safety and ensuring fairness in competitive sports.

Requests for social transition

The draft guidance clarifies that schools and colleges do not have to, and should not, accept all requests for social transition. Where a school considers a request, they should take a very cautious approach, including watchful waiting periods, and ensuring parents are fully consulted before any decision is taken.

From the outset, schools and colleges should also consider the context and seriousness of the request including whether social influence is involved.

In exceptional cases where a request to social transition is agreed, children, teachers or staff at a school should not be required to adopt the use of preferred pronouns and there must be no sanction, verbal or otherwise. Where a teacher or child does not adopt the new pronouns, they should use the child’s preferred name. Schools should ensure that bullying is never tolerated.

Single-sex spaces, admissions and sports

Where safety is a consideration – for example in physical sport or single-sex spaces – the guidance is categoric that it must never be compromised by allowing a child of the opposite sex to participate in those activities or use those facilities. Schools should also make sure competitive sport is fair, which will almost always mean separate sports for boys and girls especially in older cohorts.

The guidance also reaffirms that single-sex schools can refuse to admit pupils of the opposite sex, regardless of whether they are questioning their gender.

Engagement

Parents, teachers, and school leaders are encouraged to respond to the 12-week consultation.

Notes to editors

The guidance provides clarity on how to approach a range of issues when it comes to supporting gender questioning children and responding to requests for changes known as ‘social transition’.

This includes:

• Registration of name and sex – every school must record the name and biological sex of every pupil in the admissions register. It is not accurate to record a male child as female or a female child as male, or to record a male child as a girl or a female child as a boy.
• Safeguarding – in all cases – apart from where the law says schools must do something, for example providing single-sex toilet facilities for children 8 years and older – schools and colleges must consider whether there is a safeguarding or welfare reason to make an exception to the approach outlined for individual issues below.
• Changing names – pupils may be allowed to informally change their names if it is in the best interests of the child and parents have been fully consulted. The new name should be communicated to relevant members of the school.
• Changing pronouns – schools can decline a request to change a child’s pronouns and primary school aged children should not have different pronouns to their sex-based pronouns. Schools and colleges should not compel teachers or pupils to use new pronouns, except where necessary to safeguard and all other options have been exhausted, such as addressing the child by their first name.
• Single-sex spaces – schools must provide sex-separated toilets for pupils aged 8 or over, and suitable changing accommodation and showers for pupils who are aged 11 years or over at the start of the school year. If a child does not want to use the toilet, changing room or showers designated for their biological sex, schools and colleges may wish to consider alternative toilet, changing room or shower facilities for the child, however schools and colleges cannot allow a child to use a space solely designated for use by the opposite sex.
• Boarding and residential accommodation – sleeping arrangements like dormitories, tents and shared rooms should be sex separated. In the event that a child questioning their gender requests alternative arrangements, these should be considered but should not compromise the safety, comfort, privacy or dignity of the child, or other pupils.
• Uniforms and clothing – in general, a gender questioning child should be held to the same uniform standard as other children of their sex. When making a decision relating to a child’s request to change a uniform, schools may agree changes or exceptions to the standard school uniform for most items, but not for swimwear. Many schools already operate a uniform with some flexibility.
• Physical education and sport – schools and colleges should prioritise the safety and wellbeing of all children when implementing policies. This means for sports, allowing a gender questioning child to participate in sport with the opposite sex will not be appropriate if it risks safety or fairness.
• Single-sex schools – under the Equality Act, single sex schools can refuse to admit pupils of the other biological sex, regardless of whether the child is questioning their gender. A school cannot, however, refuse to admit a child of the same biological sex on the basis that they are questioning their gender.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 15 December 2023.

Backed by £20 million, strategy shines spotlight on the incredible extended family members keeping children out of care.

Thousands of kinship carers are set to be better supported as the government today (15 December) launches the first ever national kinship care strategy, ‘Championing Kinship Care’.

The strategy shines a spotlight on the incredible kinship carers – grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings and wider family networks – that provide loving homes to children who cannot live with their parents, and who will now receive greater financial stability and support from local authorities and schools.

Backed by £20 million to deliver the strategy, the government has confirmed it will provide an allowance to many kinship carers to match that received by foster carers – currently between £154 and £270 per week, per child. This is being trialled in up to 8 areas of the country and will help ensure that people do not have to choose between becoming a carer and being able to afford to support their families.

It will also expand the role of virtual school heads – education champions within local authorities – to cover kinship care. They will ensure that the education of children in kinship care is prioritised so they go on to have bright futures.

Foster care has also been bolstered today with an additional £8.5 million. This takes the total government investment across this parliament to £36 million, which is the largest ever investment in fostering in England. The funding will ensure there are more foster carers available to step up and look after children by extending recruitment campaigns, simplifying recruitment processes, and providing better support for existing foster carers to even more local authorities.

The new kinship strategy and extra foster care funding are part of a suite of initiatives launched today, which meet commitments set out in the ambitious children’s social care strategy, ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’, published earlier this year.

Children and Families Minister, David Johnston, said:

Kinship carers do incredible work to support and nurture children who might otherwise go into care and I am very proud that the Government has published the first ever strategy for kinship care today.

I have met kinship carers from so many different backgrounds and with different experiences, but in telling their stories they always stress that they were never expecting to look after a child but they did so out of love.

Kinship carers are often hidden in plain sight and today’s strategy paves the way for them to be given the practical and financial support they deserve for the pivotal role they play in children’s lives.

We are committed to reforming the whole children’s social care system to support families – right from the point they face challenges and need support, all the way to transforming the experience children have when in care.

Minister for Social Mobility, Youth and Progression Mims Davies MP, said:

No one should suffer because of their start in life, and the amazing people who open up their homes and their hearts to vulnerable children deserve all the support they need to ensure no child gets left behind.

I’m thrilled this new strategy will give Kinship Carers the recognition and financial support they need, while ensuring as many children as possible can get on and get ahead in life and be able to take the opportunities to have a future they deserve.

Dr Lucy Peake, CEO of leading kinship care charity, Kinship, said:

The publication of the first ever National Kinship Care Strategy is significant recognition of the monumental role kinship carers play in transforming the experiences of hundreds of thousands of children, which has been overlooked and undervalued for too long.

We celebrate that there will now be more support for kinship families than ever before. This is testament to all the kinship carers who have demonstrated, for decades, the value of raising children within their family network. At Kinship, we are proud to have campaigned alongside so many of them as they have battled for long overdue change.

More than 130,000 children live in kinship care arrangements in England and kinship carers make up over a fifth of all foster carers. There are also a range of other formal and informal routes for extended family members to provide additional support to children in kinship care arrangements, including special guardianship.

The strategy sets out a wide range of additional support for kinship carers, from new training and information so they have a better understanding of their rights, to high-quality peer support within local communities.

A key commitment of the government’s wider children’s social care strategy is to improve partnership working across all relevant agencies, including the police, health and education.

That’s why the government has also today updated the guidance, ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’. This guidance clarifies the roles and responsibilities of safeguarding partners such as local authorities and the police, embeds new child protection standards and sets out the importance of having a multi-agency response to protect children from harm.

The government has published a children’s social care national framework setting out the core principles and goals of children’s social care. This will ensure all the relevant organisations have a joint understanding of what children’s social care should deliver for the families and children it supports.

The data collected about children and families and the information recorded about their lives and interactions with children’s social care is sensitive and needs to be treated with care. It’s also held in many places which can create challenges. That’s why the government is also embarking on ambitious data transformation across children’s social care. The data strategy published today sets this out, and also commits to improving existing data services and testing innovative and sensitive practice in this area.

Today’s updates are another step towards wide-reaching reform – providing families with the right help, and ensuring children are safe and supported. This is all part of the government’s continued work to reform children’s social care, as set out in, ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love,’ published earlier this year. It set out how the government will help families overcome challenges, keep children safe, and make sure children in care have stable loving homes, long-term loving relationships, and opportunities for a good life.

In another step towards delivering the strategy, the government has also started recruiting young people with experience of care, including those with disabilities and special educational needs, to a new youth advisory board to advise the government on the ongoing reforms.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 14 December 2023.

Consultation launched to shape the development of the new Advanced British Standard as part of the Prime Minister’s priority to deliver a world class education.

Teachers, parents, young people and employers are all being invited to have their say on the development of the government’s revolutionary new Advanced British Standard.

A consultation has been launched today (14 December) seeking views on the design of the Advanced British Standard.

The new baccalaureate style qualification is part of the Prime Minister’s pledge to provide every child with a world-class education and ensure all young people have the skills they need to get good jobs that will help grow the economy.

It will build on the success the government has made since 2010 to drive up standards in schools. Last week, the global PISA study showed that pupils in England have risen up the international rankings for maths, placing as one of the top performing countries in the western world.

At the heart of the proposals for the Advanced British Standard are an increase in teaching time of around 200 hours over the course of the qualification, greater breadth and choice for young people and a core focus on vital maths and English.

The Advanced British Standard will mean most students choose a minimum of five subjects from a menu of options to give more breadth and flexibility.

These subjects will be built on A levels and T Levels, retaining their rigour and focus on building knowledge. By increasing teaching time and the breadth of what students can study, including maths and English, the Advanced British Standard will widen students’ career options and bring England in line with major economies such as France, Germany, Japan and the USA.

The Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, said:

Education is the closest thing we have to a silver bullet to transform life chances.

That is why I am proud of our record as a government since 2010, with 89% of schools now rated good or outstanding and confirmation last week that we have risen up the international league tables for education, with England now among the highest performing western nations.

I want to build on these successes and take the long-term decisions required to grow our economy, including delivering a world-class education system.

Today’s announcement brings us one step closer to introducing the new Advanced British Standard, which will put academic and technical education on an equal footing, ensure our education system is fit for the future and give all young people the skills they need to fulfil their potential.

Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan, said:

The Advanced British Standard will end the artificial divide between academic and technical education, giving young people both the knowledge to move on to further study and the skills to compete for the best jobs in the world.

Education is one of the great success stories of the past 13 years, with school standards and children’s prospects transformed, and a revolution in technical training but now is not the time to stand still. We must make sure the next generation of workers are equipped for the jobs of tomorrow, from green skills to advanced manufacturing.

I encourage everyone to have their say on the development of the Advanced British Standard and help us get these transformational reforms right for business, right for education and, most importantly, right for young people.

John Laramy CBE, Principal and Chief Executive, Exeter College:

I welcome the overarching ambition of the Advanced British Standard and am reassured by the planned extensive consultation and the sensible, pragmatic timescale.

There are three areas in particular that I feel will make a real difference to young people and ultimately to UK Plc. The increased teaching time, bringing us in line with other high performing nations; the wider curriculum to broaden horizons, thus giving more flexibility for future careers and finally, the increased focus on high quality staff, which starts in earnest next year.

The focus on staff has the potential to be a game changer, as we all know that no education system can be better than the quality of its people.

Sir Martyn Oliver, CEO of Outward Grange Academies Trust said:

I encourage all groups to take part in this important and wide-ranging consultation which sets out how all stakeholders can help create a world-class 16-19 offer.

The ambitions to allow for more time studying, a broader, more rigorous curriculum, which has both breadth and flexibility, in the last stage of compulsory education is crucial to ensuring that all children, especially the most vulnerable, can benefit from an education which unlocks their potential, in whatever route they choose to pursue.

Professor Chris Day CBE, Vice Chancellor of Newcastle University and Chair of the Russell Group said:

We welcome the opportunity to work with the Government to help ensure the new Advanced British Standard is a success. Universities have an important role to play in its development – both through teacher training and the implications for university admissions. As the new qualification is developed, it is vital that the depth and rigour of subjects studied is maintained so students are set up for success in whatever they choose to do next.

The introduction of the ABS will need to be supported by clear, comprehensive advice and guidance so young people can make informed choices about their futures and ensure there are clear and effective pathways available to them. Guidance for grading and admissions will also be essential for universities to ensure parity in admissions. As noted in the consultation, it will also be important for Government to focus closely on avoiding any negative impacts on the most disadvantaged students to ensure the new qualification works for all.

David Hughes, Chief Executive of Association of Colleges said:

This consultation brings a welcome focus on how we can help improve the life chances of every young person through investing in a stronger education system at age 16 to 19; a pivotal time in many peoples’ lives.

Colleges do so much good work to support the transition to adulthood, but as this consultation recognises, they will be able to do even better with investment in more contact hours and a workforce to match. We support the ambition to open up a full menu of options for all at age 16 to help improve achievement at age 19 and progression into good jobs, further and higher education, and apprenticeships.

Oli de Botton, CEO, Careers and Enterprise Company said:

A broad curriculum that supports all young people to succeed from the start is essential, and it is encouraging to see employability and enrichment as part of this consultation.

High quality careers education – with employers at the heart – is important for any curriculum reform. And as the consultation points out, there is progress to build on. Employers who use education outreach to promote pathways to work like apprenticeships are receiving more applications from young people and are better able to attract talent that meets their needs.  The employer voice will have a role to play in these proposals.

Shelagh Legrave CBE DL, Further Education Commissioner said:

The Advanced British Standard offers huge benefits to future students to extend the breadth of subjects studied at Level three as well as continuing with English and maths. This brings England into line with a broader curriculum offered in comparable economies.   Equally the investment for those students at Level 2 is also incredibly welcome and will enable them to be better prepared for progression into level 3 or employment.

A levels, T Levels as well as other high-quality qualifications will still be available to study until the Advanced British Standard is introduced.

Over the past decade the government has transformed skills training and there has been a sharp improvement in school standards. This includes 89% of schools being rated good or outstanding by Ofsted, up from just 68% in 2010, and England being ranked 11th in the world for maths and ‘best in the west’ for primary age reading out of a comparable 47 countries.

To lay the groundwork for delivering the Advanced British Standard, £600 million will be invested over the next two years to support schools and colleges. This includes £100 million a year to attract and retain teachers in key STEM and technical shortage subjects, extending these payments to eligible FE teachers for the first time.  Eligible teachers will get up to £30,000 over 5 years after tax on top of their pay in the first five years of their career.

Over the next two years, £60 million will also be invested to turbo-charge maths teaching, as well as £300 million to support more young people to achieve an English or maths qualification by the time they leave school.

Under the Advance British Standard young people who may not be quite ready to study at Level 3 (A level or T Level equivalent) will also benefit from the same number of teaching hours, high quality qualifications and will study English and maths until 18. This will ensure all students can progress into work or further study and are provided with the solid foundation they need to thrive.

Plans for the Advanced British Standard were first announced by the Prime Minister in October. The launch of the consultation today kick starts these transformative reforms, which are expected to take around 10 years to complete.

Consultation responses will help inform the development of the Advanced British Standard. More detailed proposals and plans for delivery are expected to be set out in a White Paper next year.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 5 December 2023.

England is among the highest performing European and western countries in global education study.

Pupils in England have risen up the international rankings for maths, placing England as one of the top performing countries in the western world.

A worldwide education study published today (5 December 2023) shows England has significantly outperformed the international average and risen from 17th for maths in 2018 to 11th, and from 27th in 2009.

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international assessment of 15-year-olds’ mathematics, reading and science ability. Conducted by the OECD, it is widely accepted as the international benchmark for academic attainment for secondary school pupils.

These strong results demonstrate that the government has made real progress in driving up standards. We are determined to build on this success and take the long-term decisions necessary to improve attainment for generations to come.

This is why in October, the Prime Minister set out a bold new plan to introduce a new baccalaureate style qualification – the advanced British standard (ABS) – that we will see every student in England study some form of maths and English to age 18, giving them the skills they need to succeed. As part of this, the government has already announced an investment of £60 million over two years to further improve maths education and help lay the groundwork for the introduction of the ABS.

Today’s results also show that England has ranked 13th for both reading and science, having been placed at 14th and 13th respectively in 2018 and 25th and 16th in 2009.

They build on England’s significantly improved position for 9- to 10-year-olds reading ability in a separate international study earlier this year, PIRLS, in which English children were ranked fourth out of 43 comparable countries – making them the best in the West.

Education standards have risen sharply since 2010, with 89% of schools now rated good or outstanding by Ofsted, up from just 68% 13 years ago.

Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan, said:

“These results are a testament to our incredible teachers, the hard work of students and to the government’s unrelenting drive to raise school standards over the past 13 years.

“Taken together with our children being named ‘Best in the West’ for reading earlier this year, England is now firmly cemented as one of the top performing countries for education in the western world.

“Our teachers, head teachers and support staff should be incredibly proud of their role, day in and day out, transforming education standards in this country and giving our children the platform to build successful careers and compete for the best jobs in world.”

Aside from attainment, the report has also highlighted other positives findings, including that England’s education system is more equitable that most– meaning that all children all have access to a brilliant education and a chance of success, no matter their background.

Additionally, the report found that pupils in England were generally more positive about the quality of their maths lessons and the support given by their teachers, than the OECD average.

The government has enjoyed considerable success for maths over the years, with England achieving our highest ever score in primary school maths in TIMSS 2019. Over £100 million has been invested in the Maths Hubs programme, whose flagship Teaching for Mastery offer will have reached 65% of secondary schools by 2025. To help boost maths attainment further, the Government also announced the creation of a new National Professional Qualification in April to help embed best practice in their schools.

The report does highlight the challenge of the pandemic. In England, pupils have been supported to catch up with almost £5 billion available for education recovery measures, including more than £1 billion for the National Tutoring Programme alone, which has revolutionised the way targeted support is provided for the children and young people who need it most.

The report also found that the majority of pupils in England reported feeling safe in their schools.

Notes to editors:

• The department is extremely grateful to all schools, pupils, teachers and leaders who took part in PISA 2022.
• Attracting talented teachers is crucial to ensuring the best education for our children.
• Teacher recruitment will see a huge boost this academic year with £196 million to attract more teachers across key subjects. This will fund scholarships, bursaries and salary grants to help thousands of candidates through their initial teacher training (ITT).  scholarships for those training to teach mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing will now be brought up to £30,000 tax-free, in order to attract more talented teachers in order to attract more talented teachers in these key subjects to support the delivery of the advanced British standard (ABS), which was announced by the Prime Minister in October.
• Driving up standards in literacy has been the government’s long-term priority, and our focus over the past decade has been on improving the teaching of reading through the tried and tested approach of phonics.
• In 2021, we introduced the phonics screening check. At the time, only 58% met the expected standard. In 2023, show 79% of five- and six-year-olds met the expected standard.
• We have invested £60million in our English hubs programme which is designed to develop expertise in teaching reading in schools.
• Our network of 40 maths hubs is supporting schools across the country to improve maths teaching based on mastery teaching approaches used by some of the highest performing parts of the world.
• In November, the Prime Minister set out a new vision to make maths to 18 compulsory, through the advanced British standard. This government has made significant improvement in boosting maths standards.
• Over £100 million has been invested in the maths hubs programme, whose flagship teaching for mastery offer will have reached 65% of secondary schools by 2025
• Last year, we made the multiplication tables check compulsory in primary schools last year to help ensure children aged 8 to 9 know their times tables better.
• In 2019 primary pupils achieved their highest ever score in the TIMSS international test
• Ofsted recently found a ‘resounding, positive shift in [primary] mathematics education.’
• The maths hub’s flagship teaching for mastery offer was expanded to 75% of primary schools by 2025, in line with the Government’s wider strategy on maths. The mastering number programme, which aims to support children in early primary school master the basics of arithmetic, is also expanding to 8,000 primary schools by 2024.
• In its international reporting, the OECD will highlight the countries which did not meet the PISA sampling standards. This includes England. As a precaution, this should be taken into account when interpreting the findings for these countries, including England, as this may have had a positive impact on both their scores and rankings. The department provides more detail on this in our national report (attached), in particular our non-response bias analysis, which looks at the impact of response rates on the representativeness of our data.
• In England, in response to the pandemic pupils have been supported to catch up with almost £5 billion available for education recovery measures, including more than £1 billion for the national tutoring programme alone, which has revolutionised the way targeted support is provided for the children and young people who need it most.
• The OECD class countries which perform above the OECD average and in which the effect of socio-economic status on attainment is less strong than the OECD average as “highly equitable”.
• It should be noted that changes in rankings over time are particularly sensitive to factors such as the number of participating countries and changes in other countries’ scores, as well as the caution required due to countries not meeting the PISA sampling standards. The report also highlights the impact of the pandemic which means, while England’s ranking has increased relative to other countries, some individual scores are lower than the previous PISA study. This reflects a similar pattern to other countries. Further detail on England’s performance can be found in the 2022 PISA national report for England.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 28 November 2023.

Proposals will put in place protections for children’s education and provide certainty for parents. Minimum service levels to be in place by next academic year.

Today the government has launched a consultation to introduce new protections for children and young people’s education during any future strike action. The planned measures will provide greater reassurance and certainty for children and parents.

Minimum service levels will ensure that in the event of any future strike action, children and young people can continue to receive education and do not miss out on any vital learning. The legislation brings us in line with countries like France, Italy, Spain where public services reliably continue in times of industrial action.

This year’s school strikes were part of the biggest outbreak of industrial action in a generation, with far reaching consequences across the education system. Cumulatively over 25 million school days have been lost over 10 strike days in schools alone.

This strike action also came at a time when schools and colleges were doing their best to recover from the impact of Covid on children and young people’s education. Setting regulations for minimum service levels will help us safeguard children’s time in education from further disruption caused by industrial action.

The consultation invites views on a number of proposals. These include priority attendance for vulnerable children and young people, exam groups, children of critical workers and primary school pupils, as well as the use of rotas for strikes lasting five days or more.

Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan said:

Keeping children in school is my number one priority. Last year’s school strikes were some of the most disruptive on record for children and parents with 25 million cumulative days lost, alongside the strike action that badly affected students in colleges and universities.

We cannot afford a repeat of that disruption – particularly as young people continue to catch up from the pandemic.

Whilst I know many schools and colleges worked really hard to keep children and young people in face-to-face education during strikes, we must make sure that approach is applied in every school, in every area of country.

This decision follows on from recent discussions between Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan, and education trade unions to explore voluntary agreements in schools and colleges.

While talks with the education unions were constructive, not enough progress was made to ensure protections for children and young people would be in place for the next academic year.

The government has therefore taken the step to open the nine-week consultation to hear the views of parents, young people and the education sector on how best to ensure minimum service levels in schools, colleges as well higher education institutions.

Many school and college leaders worked hard to keep classrooms open and prioritise places for pupils and students sitting external exams, vulnerable children and children of critical workers.

The government’s proposals set out minimum service levels which would ensure the groups who need face-to-face education the most can continue to access education on strike days.

The government is also seeking evidence of the impact of strike action in higher education to determine if a minimum service level could mitigate the impact of any future strike action.

Earlier this month the Prime Minister announced that minimum service levels legislation for rail, ambulance and border force workers will be passed to mitigate disruption to the public if strikes are called.