Tag: Department for Education

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.

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

Over 500 respondents contributed to the Department for Education’s call for evidence on generative AI.

Education professionals, Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology specialists, and ed-tech experts are embracing the opportunities offered by AI in the education sector, according to the results of the government’s first ever Call for Evidence on Artificial Intelligence in Education, published today.

Results show that many respondents recognise the benefits of AI and some are already using AI tools to streamline administrative tasks, create subject-specific resources and provide personalised support for learners with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Other opportunities cited include the creation of more interactive lessons, and additional support for learners for whom English is an additional language.

The respondents range from educators in schools, colleges and universities, to research bodies including The Alan Turing Institute and Jisc.

The report will provide a base to inform future policy on AI, and the government is already supporting the sector to realise the potential of AI in education.

In October, the government announced an additional investment of up to £2 million in Oak National Academy to create new teaching tools using AI, followed by a two-day hackathon hosted by the Department for Education in collaboration with Faculty AI, the National Institute of Teaching, which brought together teachers, leaders, students and technology experts to experiment with AI.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said:

Artificial intelligence is here to stay and it’s already changing the way we work and learn. To take advantage of this transformative technology, it’s crucial we get our approach to it right.

It’s heartening that many education professionals are already seeing the tangible benefits of AI – something I witnessed myself at our AI hackathon earlier this month – while remaining alert to its risks.

The results of the call for evidence give us a crucial evidence base to inform our future work on AI, helping us make the right decisions to get the best out of generative AI in a safe and secure way.

Michael Webb, Director of Technology and Analytics at Jisc, said:

It’s encouraging to see from this report how many institutions are already embracing AI, and how staff are using it in creative ways to improve education.

The findings also help us understand the types of support and guidance staff need in order to make the best use of the technology going forward. This will enable us to ensure that the right skills training is in place, along with guidelines around safe, ethical use of AI.

The Technology in Schools Survey, also published today, sets out how technology is used in schools and where they need support to use technology effectively. To improve access to technology, the Department for Education is investing up to £200 million to upgrade schools that fall below Wi-Fi connectivity standards in 55 Education Investment Areas, and working with commercial providers to enable all schools to have access to a high-speed connection by 2025.

Morgan Briggs, Policy Research and Strategy Manager at The Alan Turing Institute, said:

The use of generative AI in the education sector is a critically important area that deserves significant attention, and we welcome the Department for Education’s continued focus on it.

There are multiple ways in which generative AI could benefit the sector – but simultaneously, there are concerns and risks that must be addressed. These include dependency on commercial generative AI, the possible infringement of rights, the spread of bias and misinformation, and plagiarism.

To realise the full potential of these tools, it will be crucial to engage children and young people in the development and deployment of generative AI in education.

Sir Antony Seldon, founder of AI in Education and Headmaster of Epsom College, said:

It is great that the Department for Education is being proactive in its approach to artificial intelligence.

It’s crucial that the government is alive to the risks and opportunities AI offers to the education sector, and this Call for Evidence, which we were pleased to contribute to, will form an essential part of that.

While respondents are broadly optimistic about the benefits AI could bring, they also recognise risks around harmful content, intellectual property protection and concerns about accuracy.

The Government’s AI Regulation White Paper set out the first steps towards establishing a regulatory framework for AI, including working with UK regulators on how they might need to regulate the technology given its cross-cutting nature and impact on various sectors, including education.

The government committed to evaluate and adapt the UK’s regulatory approach as AI evolves, and the insights from this call for evidence will continue to shape policy in this emerging area.

Earlier this year, the UK also convened the world’s first AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park, which brought together world leaders, businesses, and civil society to build consensus on international action to ensure safety at the frontier of AI.

This drive to harness the potential of AI comes as new analysis is published by the government on the impact of AI on Jobs and Training.

The report illustrates how the education system and employers will need to adapt to ensure the workforce has the skills necessary to benefit from this emerging technology, which the Department for Education is supporting through a number of training opportunities, including skills bootcamps, apprenticeships and the Lifelong Learning Entitlement.

The Department for Education has also today published research trialling the use of AI to explore how it could be used to support the civil service by providing summaries and analysis. AI was used to analyse the 38 Local Skills Improvements Plans as part of a pilot project with Faculty AI.

In spring, the Department for Education will publish the results of the hackathon, further supporting the department’s work to understand how AI could safely transform the education sector.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 23 November 2023.

29% of children scored full marks in their Multiplication Table Check in 2023, up from 27% in 2022.

Standards in schools continue to rise as more primary aged children are learning their times tables and boosting their future maths skills, new data reveals today (Thursday 23 November).

These results build on this Government’s success in driving up standards in schools. In its second year, the times table national data has shown that more children scored full marks in the check than last year with 29% of eligible pupils in 2023 up from 27% in 2022. Overall attainment rose among all eligible children with an average score of 20 out of 25 marks for those who took the check.

Disadvantaged children also scored higher this year getting on average 18 out of 25 marks, up by +0.4 points on 2022. Both boys and girls scored higher than last year.

The success in this year’s scores follows on from a culmination of reforms introduced since 2010 to drive up standards including changes to the mathematics curriculum, reflecting international best practice from countries such as Singapore and China, and the introduction of a network of Maths Hubs to boost the quality of teaching in schools across the country.

Schools Minister, Damian Hinds said:

“Every stage of school is an opportunity to set children up to succeed and ensure they are learning the skills they need for life.

“Mastering times tables by age 9 will make sure children can tackle more complex maths later on in life as well as help them with everyday adult activities.

“That is why it’s so exciting that these checks show more children are learning their times tables in primary schools alongside our phonics screening check which has seen an increase in results since last year. Together our reforms are driving up standards in our schools hand in hand with the hard work of teachers.”

The multiplication tables check was made compulsory in primary schools from 2022 to help ensure children aged 8 to 9 know their times tables up to 12 off by heart. Pupils knowing their times tables will make more complex mathematics in the future like algebra and long division simpler to process and give children the platform they need to move on to more advanced mental arithmetic.

The multiplication table checks results show:

• Of pupils who took the check, the average attainment score was 20.2
• 25 (full marks) was the most common score (29% of eligible pupils achieved this score)
• London was the highest performing region, with an average score of 21.1
• South West was the lowest performing region, with an average score of 19.7
• Over 620,000 students took the check in the summer

The results from the data published today will provide teachers with standardised information to help to identify pupils who have not yet mastered their times tables, so that additional support can be provided.

The government is driving improvements in maths across the education sector from primary school up to post-18. In 2019, primary pupils achieved their highest ever score in the TIMSS international test, and 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.

Last month, the Prime Minister made a huge announcement about the future of post-16 education in England. In an overhaul of the system, the launch of the Advanced British Standard will give young people the skills they need for the future and revolutionise how maths is taught in our schools. Under the new plans, every student will for the first time be required to study some form of maths and English to age 18. This will help reverse the long-term trend whereby too many students – particularly the most disadvantaged – leave school without achieving the minimum standard in literacy and numeracy.

More broadly, standards of education have risen sharply since this government entered office in 2010, with 89% of school rated good or outstanding by Ofsted, up from just 68% in 2010. The results published today are another small example of how this government’s long-term reforms are delivering a brighter future for the next generations.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 16 November 2023.

The Department has asked Ofqual to make arrangements to continue providing formulae and equation sheets for GCSE exams in 2024.

Students set to sit their GCSE exams in 2024 could receive additional support materials, as the Department for Education (DfE) asks Ofqual to make arrangements to continue providing formulae and equation sheets for one more year.

Following a consultation, the proposal would see students provided with enhanced formulae and equation sheets to support them in mathematics, physics, and combined science GCSEs, as was the case for 2023 exams. This means students will not have to memorise formulae, as they need to in a normal year.

These proposed arrangements recognise the disruption this cohort of students experienced during their secondary education due to national school closures during the pandemic while these pupils were in year 7 and 8.

Ofqual is launching a consultation on this today (Thursday 16 November) to get insight from the sector on introducing this expectation, and it will run for two weeks, ending on 30 November 2023 at 11:45pm.

Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan said:

“Young people taking GCSEs next year will be the last who experienced two years of national closures during secondary school and it’s right that we recognise that with some additional support.

“GCSEs are young people’s passport to their next stage of education and we must ensure students have the opportunity to show what they know and can do, and ultimately meet their potential.”

An Ofqual spokesperson said:

“In response to the Department for Education’s announcement that students taking exams in 2024 will not need to memorise the usual formulae and equations for GCSE maths, physics and combined science, Ofqual is now seeking views on the use of formulae and equation sheets for these exams in 2024.

“Students, teachers, school and college leaders, unions, exams officers, exam boards, employers and further education institutions are encouraged to take part in the consultation.”

2024 will be the final year where enhanced formulae and equation sheets will be available, returning to normal exam arrangements in 2025.

The department’s decision on arrangements for 2025 reflect that those pupils will have had the opportunity to benefit from more time in secondary school with support from teachers and interventions such as the national tutoring programme, compared to students from the previous two cohorts.

In September, Ofqual confirmed its two-year transition to pre-pandemic grading is now complete. Normal grading arrangements will continue for GCSEs, AS, A levels and Vocational and Technical Qualifications (such as Pearson’s BTEC Nationals and OCR’s Cambridge Technicals) in 2024.

The government has invested nearly £5 billion to support students’ recovery from the impact of the pandemic, including £1.5 billion for tutoring programmes and almost £2 billion in direct funding, largely targeted at those that need help most.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 10 November 2023.

People across the country set to benefit from more skills training, with £200 million to help them launch careers in key industries.

People seeking careers in growing sectors such as green energy, digital and construction will be able to access improved skills training, helping them secure good jobs closer to home.

More than £200 million has been announced today, 10th November, to support colleges and universities to offer more training opportunities in key industries, such as the growing green sector. Investment is being targeted to address the specific skills needs of each region, which local businesses and employers have identified as priority sectors in their local skills improvement plans (LSIPs), giving them access to the skilled workforce they need to grow.

Demand for green skills is set to rise as the government works to create energy security and the UK heads towards net zero. The government’s net zero growth plan predicts that the transition to a green and sustainable future will support hundreds of thousands of exciting green job opportunities in areas such as heat pump installation and solar panel maintenance, electric vehicle manufacturing and environmental consultancy.

During green careers week (6 -11 November), the government is investing in a range of projects so communities can equip people with the green – as well as digital, construction and manufacturing – skills they need to futureproof the workforce.

The funding will also make sure more people can access higher technical qualifications – that sit between A level, T levels and degrees – to gain in demand skills including digital, health care and engineering as an alternative to a traditional three-year degree. HTQs are designed in close collaboration with employers, so they equip students with the skills they need to go onto further study or straight into a good job.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said:

This investment is about boosting local industries, building people’s skills and ultimately futureproofing our economy and the career prospects of the next generation.

Our local skills projects will bring together regional organisations, businesses and education providers to respond to the specific needs of employers, building an increasingly skilled workforce and growing local economies.

Whether it is green skills, construction, engineering or digital, thousands more people can now gain the skills they need to secure good jobs closer to home. These are long-term plans that will ensure every area can have a brighter future.

MidKent College in Kent has been awarded funding to build a new training facility to provide hands-on experience in retrofit energy efficiency measures, renewable and sustainable energy solutions. The new courses will cover a range of areas including thermal imaging, aerial survey and mapping and will utilise virtual reality capabilities to develop simulated engineering challenges, construction processes and techniques, supporting people to gain the skills needed to launch green careers.

Simon Cook, Principal and CEO at MidKent College said:

We’re thrilled that construction and building services businesses across Kent & Medway will benefit from this investment in retrofit technology and training. We know from our conversations with employers that growing skills for sustainable construction practices and improving the energy efficiency of existing housing stock are priorities for the sector here in the Southeast.

We’re incredibly proud that this new facility will work seamlessly with our Home Energy Centre and Sustainable Construction Skills Factory at the heart of our Maidstone campus, and alongside our own efforts to make the campus carbon neutral by 2030.

Minister of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Graham Stuart said:

The UK’s world-leading climate ambitions and our net zero target demand a workforce to match.

Whether it’s manufacturing electric vehicles, installing heat pumps, or building wind turbines, this funding will help train the tens of thousands of skilled workers needed to power our green industrial revolution and grow the economy.

Jane Gratton, Deputy Director of Public Policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, said:

Businesses are crying out for more people with technical skills to fill the great jobs we have today and new ones in the developing green economy.

It’s vital that everyone can access the training they need locally to grasp these opportunities.

Business-led LSIPs are setting out the skills needs and opportunities, and this new funding will ensure the right training solutions are put in place.

As part of the government’s work to support more people to gain the skills they need to secure rewarding careers, the British Chambers of Commerce and other employer representative organisations were commissioned to lead work to develop local skills improvement plans, published in the summer, so the training on offer better meets the current and future skills needs of local areas.

The investment in local areas announced today is just one way the government is boosting skills, alongside a huge range of other high-quality programmes including T levels, free courses for jobs and Skills Bootcamps.

Last year, the government delivered over 40,000 Skills Bootcamp starts, exceeding its ambitious target. Skills Bootcamps are free courses lasting up to 16 weeks, with an offer of a job interview on completion.

They are available across the country in a wide range of in demand subjects, including heat pump engineering and electric vehicle maintenance, and are another example of how the government is helping get more people into green careers.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 30 October 2023.

£2 million investment in Oak National Academy to improve and expand Artificial Intelligence tools for teachers.

Every teacher in England is set to benefit from new resources powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI), supporting them to plan lessons and build classroom quizzes, and helping to reduce workloads.

The Government is investing up to £2 million in Oak National Academy, which was established to support teachers with high-quality curriculum resources online, to create new teaching tools using AI – marking the first step towards providing every teacher with a personalised AI lesson-planning assistant.

This follows a pilot of an AI-powered quiz builder and lesson planner. Thousands of teachers have already signed up to use these tools, helping them to create individualised content that is tailored to teaching their pupils and based on Oak’s high-quality curriculum content.

This new cash boost will help Oak to improve these tools further before making them available to teachers across England for free.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:

AI has extraordinary potential to reform our education system for the better, with considerable value for both teachers and students.

Oak National Academy’s work to harness AI to free up the workload for teachers is a perfect example of the revolutionary benefits this technology can bring.

This investment will play a defining role in giving our children and the next generation of students a better education and a brighter future.

Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan, said:

Throughout my career, I have seen the positive impact that technology can have, which is why it is great we’re harnessing the potential of AI and supporting Oak National Academy to develop new resources for teachers.

Whether it’s drafting lesson plans or producing high-quality teaching resources, I am confident that by tapping into the benefits of AI we will be able to reduce teachers’ workloads so that they can focus on what they do best – teaching and supporting their pupils.

Teachers have provided positive feedback from the initial testing, noting the tools’ ability to help them to speed up planning and refine existing materials.

One Year 4 teacher from Berkshire, who used the Quiz Designer stated: “Oak’s AI tool has massively improved the quality and variety of quizzes I can create. And it’s much faster than making them myself from scratch.”

A secondary school teacher in Devon stated: “Oak’s AI lesson planner offers a really helpful starting point if stuck or low on inspiration and I was particularly impressed at how good it is at highlighting common misconceptions.”

With 30,000 teachers already using Oak every week, the resources will support teachers to save valuable time on planning.

Building on Oak’s commitment to make resources available on Open Government Licence, the project will also provide access to Oak’s curriculum resources for edtech companies experimenting with AI to build from this high-quality content. This means that any school, publisher or AI developer can be confident that any content produced through these tools will be accurate, safe, and high-quality.

Oak National Academy Co-Founder and Chief Executive, Matt Hood OBE, said:

Teachers spend hours each week searching for resources and planning their lessons. Oak National Academy is already helping cut workload with our free, high-quality teaching resources, but we believe we can supercharge this by harnessing safe AI – giving teachers even more scope to adapt their resources and freeing them up to spend more time directly with their pupils.

We’re excited to build on our initial work and start to develop improved AI lesson planning tools, bringing the benefits to even more schools, and to help other organisations to innovate and create their own AI products, built off our safe, high-quality educational materials.

Today’s (30 October) announcement coincides with the start of a two-day AI hackathon hosted by the Department for Education, in collaboration with Faculty AI, the National Institute of Teaching, and the AI in Schools Initiative. The event will bring together teachers and leaders from schools and trusts across England to experiment with AI.

Over the coming months, the Government will continue to work with teachers, and experts on the Workload Taskforce to develop solutions to minimise the time teachers spend working beyond their teaching hours. This will support its ambition to reduce working hours for teachers and leaders by five hours per week.

Next month, the Department for Education will also publish the results of its AI call for evidence. Launched to gather views from educational professionals on the risks, ethical considerations, and possibilities of AI in education, the results will support the government’s work to identify AI’s potential and ensure it advances in a safe, reasonable, and fair way.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 27 October 2023.

More nursery and early years places and spaces to be delivered, with an online childcare eligibility checker to give information about new support.

Parents up and down the country can see for the first time from today (27 October 2023) exactly what additional childcare support they will be entitled to over the coming months and years thanks to the government’s largest ever investment in childcare.

The updated eligibility checker on childcarechoices.gov.uk is now live, and allows parents to access personalised information on the support available to them, including which of the new transformational childcare offers they will be eligible for depending on the age of their child and earnings.

The website will also give parents the opportunity to sign up for regular updates letting them know when they should take action to make sure they are getting the support they are entitled to. This includes when the new 15 free hours for two-year-olds shortly becomes available for sign-ups, with the offer beginning in April 2024.

This comes as the government rolls out the next stage of delivery of its childcare plan which is set to save working parents using 30 hours of childcare, up to £6,500 per year.

£100 million is being made available for local areas to support childcare settings in their areas to increase their physical space, anticipated to add thousands of new places across the country.

Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan, said:

No one should have to choose between having a career and having a family, so I’m determined that every parent who wants it should have access to the childcare they need.

Flexibility is at the heart of our plans to transform childcare for families, whether it’s offering quality childcare out of school hours or making sure there are more early years places where they’re needed most.

This is the largest investment in childcare in our history, so I encourage people with young children or those thinking about starting a family to visit the Childcare Choices website to find out what they’re eligible for.

Local authorities are also today receiving details of their allocation from the £289 million wraparound childcare fund, to make sure families of primary school children can access childcare between 8am and 6pm.

Funding is being distributed to all local authorities on the basis of anticipated need, plugging gaps in the existing market.

It will help deliver the government’s aim that by 2026, no matter where parents live, they should be able to access wraparound childcare for primary-age children in their local area.

This measure comes as the Department for Work and Pensions recently announced an increase to the money parents receiving Universal Credit can claim per month for childcare, which is now up to £951 for one child or £1,630 for 2 or more children.

Work and Pensions Secretary, Mel Stride, said:

Boosting employment is key to growing our economy, and the extra money provided for parents on Universal Credit will give them the flexibility and security they need to find a job, support their children and reap the benefits of work.

I encourage every parent to access this resource to see what help is available and to talk to one of the thousands of work coaches in our jobcentres who are there to help them find work or enhance their skills.

The childminder start-up grant scheme has also been confirmed to open for applications by Thursday 30 November 2023. This grant of £600 for those who choose to register with Ofsted and £1,200 for those who choose to register with a childminder agency will help to boost the numbers of childminders working to offer parents more flexible childcare.

As well as this investment, the Department for Education has also today published the response to the recent early years foundation stage (EYFS) consultation. The majority of proposed changes will go ahead, to boost the early years workforce and encourage more people to consider childcare as a rewarding career by removing unnecessary regulatory burdens.

For example, the government will now allow managers to decide whether students and apprentices can count in ratios where appropriate. This will empower managers and allow trainees to build more valuable experience so they can flourish in their early years career.

A small number of proposed changes that consultation responses suggested would not help achieve the government’s aim of removing unnecessary burdens will not proceed, with no changes to staff:child ratio requirements outside of core hours.

Combined, this work demonstrates the government’s continued commitment to delivering the record investment in childcare in a way that makes sure childcare is high-quality, affordable and fits around parents’ working lives.

This commitment and the government’s overall approach to childcare will be discussed at this year’s early years British Irish council. Minister Johnston will host the annual meeting which will see delegates discuss the topic of childcare and solutions to the challenges being faced across member administrations. The meeting will be attended by representatives from the UK government, Irish government, devolved governments and crown dependencies.