Tag: Department for Education

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 15 January 2025.

Key provisions from the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 will be brought into force, whilst burdensome provisions will be scrapped.

The Education Secretary has confirmed that key provisions of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 will be brought into force, defending the free speech rights of students, academics and speakers.

The Office for Students will have the power to investigate complaints over breaches of free speech from academics, external speakers and members of universities, as well as issuing fines.

The Act will require all universities to have robust codes of practice to ensure the protection of free speech, which will be enforced by the Office for Students (OfS).

The new workable, robust complaints system will uphold academic freedom without exposing universities to potentially disproportionate and crippling costs that could have forced them to divert cash away from students.

Universities who flout the rules will be publicly held to account and could end up paying compensation, risk facing fines and the suspension of their registration, in the most extreme circumstances.

There will be a complete ban on the use of non-disclosure agreements to silence victims of bullying, harassment or sexual misconduct on campus, which will be upheld by the Office for Students.

Arif Ahmed will remain in post as Director for Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom at the OfS, to ensure that these measures are rigorously upheld.

Unnecessary elements of the Act which risk leaving universities vulnerable to disproportionate costs for legal disputes will be scrapped, including the statutory tort.

This would have exposed already struggling providers to large costly legal fees, driven by potentially unnecessary complaints, that would have forced money intended for students to be diverted.

The threat of legal action and the financial fallout for universities breaching their duties under the Act might push some providers to overly defend hateful or degrading speech instead of looking out for students who feel intimidated, out of fear of the consequences.

The Act was initially placed on pause due to widespread concerns about the negative impact it would have on vulnerable groups. There were fears that the legislation would encourage providers to overlook the safety and wellbeing of minority groups, including Jewish students, and instead protect those who use hateful or degrading speech on campus.

The move to pause implementation of the Act reflected widespread concern that the legislation was disproportionate, burdensome and damaging to the welfare of students while not addressing hate speech on campuses.

Groups representing Jewish students also expressed concerns that sanctions could lead to providers overlooking the safety and well-being of minority groups.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said:

Academic freedom and free speech are fundamental to our world-leading universities and this government is committed to protecting them.

These changes protect free speech but avoid implementing excessive and burdensome provisions which could have exposed struggling universities to disproportionate costs, diverting money away from students to pay lawyers.

The decisions we are making about the Act demonstrate that we were right to pause commencement and to review its impact before making decisions on its future.

The Government will bring into force strengthened duties on providers to take steps to secure freedom of speech and establish a code of practice, as well as a new duty to promote the importance of freedom of speech and academic freedom.

As part of the Act, Higher Education providers must establish a set of policies and values that provide a space for robust discussion and all academic freedoms.

The Office for Students will have the power to investigate complaints over breaches of free speech from staff, external speakers and members of universities, as well as issuing fines and penalties.

All higher education students will be able to make similar complaints to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA).

As part of changes to make the Act fair and proportionate, the government has decided to remove the overly burdensome duties placed directly on students’ unions.

The Act, as it stands, makes demands which would require students’ unions to take on complex legal responsibilities, which would leave the majority student-led organisations to be overwhelmed with additional costs and administrative burdens, distracting from work to support students.

The Department for Education aims to ensure that any protections introduced to increase transparency around foreign funding and influence, do not impose unnecessary burdens on providers and regulators, such as the Office for Students.

The Government is also working at pace on the implementation of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, which will apply to universities across the UK, and will encourage transparency and deter harmful covert activity from foreign states.

To ensure careful consideration of this important issue, the overseas transparency provisions in the Act will be kept under review, while assessment of the existing approaches to managing foreign interference are reviewed and as we implement the Foreign Interference Registration scheme.

The Office for Students already has powers to request information when concerns arise about free speech or academic freedom, including issues related to suspected foreign interference and funding, and the Department will consider whether these powers require strengthening as part of our review.

The Department for Education is closely monitoring these measures and working with the sector to assess current strategies for managing these risks. This ensures a targeted and proportionate approach to increasing transparency.

In making changes to the future of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023, the Government will ensure that the right to academic freedom is rigorously defended, without compromising the safety of students and staff, or taking away vital resources from an already stretched sector.

During the review of the Act which began in July 2024, Ministers and officials met with a range of providers, academics, unions and minority groups to discuss their views on the future of the Act and what would work best for the sector, while maintaining a space for healthy debate and exposure to new ideas for students and staff.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 8 January 2025.

Major reforms to protect thousands of vulnerable children hidden from sight will take another crucial step forward today.

Major reforms to protect thousands of vulnerable children hidden from sight will take another crucial step forward today, as the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill is debated in Parliament (8 January 2025).

Children not in school registers, stronger powers for councils to make sure children are getting the right education, and a unique identifying number for every child are part of major reforms to help tackle the tragedy of children vanishing from education and protect young people from exploitation, grooming and abuse.

The recent Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel Annual Report 2024 highlighted that children experiencing harm outside the home, including exploitation, were likely to be not enrolled in school, missing education or have poor school attendance, and that’s why the bill will also strengthen multi-agency safeguarding arrangements to quickly identify significant harm. This comes as the government announced action this week on three key recommendations from the Professor Alexis Jay review to address significant failings to keep children safe.

According to the latest government data, around 111,000 children and young people are home educated, up from an estimated 55,000 before the pandemic. This is alongside the 150,000 children missing education all together at some point during the last year. The bill will bring in unprecedented safeguards for home educated children, ratchet up powers for councils and compel local authorities to establish dedicated, multi-agency safeguarding teams to keep track of children.

Measures will also put more cash back in working parents’ pockets by capping the number of branded items schools can require as part of their uniform. This could save some families over £50 per child during the back-to-school shop, ensuring parents have as much flexibility as possible to shop around and save money. It will also give every parent of a primary school child a legal entitlement to a breakfast club, saving them as much as £450 per year.

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, that will bring these measures into law, has its second reading in Parliament today, helping make child-centred government a reality and deliver on the government’s Plan for Change.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said:

Keeping children safe will always be my first duty as education secretary, but we can only truly do that if we know where our children are. The sad reality is that at the moment there are thousands of children hidden from sight.

This government will make no apologies for doing whatever is necessary to keep children out of harm’s way, and I will not stand by while some young people fall through the cracks, left without a good education and vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.

This landmark bill is a crucial step forward in our mission to protect all children, while also supporting parents by putting more money in their pockets as we deliver our Plan for Change and give all children the best start in life.

Measures to reform children’s social care and help reduce the number of children missing education that are being introduced in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill include:

• all councils will be required to hold a register of children who are not in school. Councils will be able to require parents and providers of out of school education to share information like name, address and the nature of the education children are being provided
• a unique number for every child – in the same way every adult has their own national insurance number – to join up systems and make sure no child falls through the cracks. A consistent identifier will allow those responsible for the safeguarding and welfare of children to better join relevant data and identify children who will benefit from additional support
• the removal of the automatic right for parents to educate children at home if their child is subject to a child protection investigation or under a child protection plan. Schools will need to check with the local authority where a parent asks to remove a child from school to home educate, to establish whether the local authority’s consent should be obtained.
• if any child’s home environment is assessed as unsuitable or unsafe, local authorities will have the power to intervene and require school attendance
• making sure every council operates best practice ‘multi-agency’ safeguarding panels, that bring together all the professionals that can best make sure children are kept safe both inside and outside the home

Wider measures in the bill include capping the number of branded items schools can require as part of their uniform. Primary schools will be able to require a maximum of 3 branded items, and secondary schools will have the option to include an additional item if one of those is a tie.

Data shows 24% of primary and 70% of secondary schools still require 5 or more branded items, with some parents saying they were asked to provide 10 or more.

Limiting the number of branded items having to be bought from designated suppliers could save some parents over £50 per child during the back-to-school shop from September 2026 – thanks to greater flexibility to buy from a range of retailers.

Primary school children will also benefit from the option to attend a free breakfast club, which could save parents up to £450 a year. Clubs will launch from April 2025 at schools taking part in the early adopter scheme.

Mark Russell, CEO at The Children’s Society, said:

The high cost of school uniforms has put an unnecessary financial strain on families for far too long. This is a pivotal moment on an issue we’ve campaigned on for years, and it’s very encouraging to see this progress towards a fairer and more affordable approach.

Schools will play a key role in ensuring these changes deliver for families, and so the new measures should be both practical and effective. Every child deserves to feel equal and included, regardless of their family’s income, and removing the pressure of costly branded uniforms is an essential step in making that a reality.

We’ll continue to push for reforms that put children and families first, so no child feels left out or disadvantaged because of the cost of their uniform.

Sir David Holmes CBE, Chief Executive of Family Action said:

It is great to see the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill continuing its passage through Parliament.  Second Reading stage provides a crucial opportunity for Parliamentarians and for everyone else who is interested in children’s wellbeing to scrutinise further this new and important draft legislation.

We particularly welcome the proposals to introduce a unique identifier number for children across services, registers to identify children who are not in school and of course the provisions which will introduce universal free breakfast clubs in state-funded primary schools.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 17 December 2024.

Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill introduced to Parliament today, putting children’s interests at the heart of government policy.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 16 December 2024.

Education Secretary and Business Secretary host call with business leaders from a range of key sectors to outline how the Plan for Change will deliver for them.

The government will enlist the help of business to help it develop skills opportunities to meet the government’s mission to kickstart economic growth under the Plan for Change, the Education Secretary has said today (16 December 2024).

In a conference call with leaders from over 80 businesses including Mace, Siemens and Disney, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson and Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds outlined the importance of engaging with employers to drive growth and put the economy on firm foundations.

Both ministers set out their priorities to reform the fragmented post-16 skills system and to establish Skills England to support key sectors driving growth in local areas.

It follows the Department for Education’s announcement that the government has unlocked £140 million of funding from industry, including £100m from the National House Building Council (NHBC), to set up 32 Homebuilding Skills Hubs. This will make more than 5,000 apprenticeship places available per year in key construction roles.

The conference was attended by three major construction firms: Balfour Beatty, Berkley Group and Mace. Their engagement coupled with these pioneering Homebuilding Skills Hubs will help the government to meet its ambitious target to build 1.5 million new homes in this parliament.

Employers will be at the heart of the government’s skills reforms such as our new levy-funded growth and skills offer. This will introduce greater flexibility to employers and learners in England, creating routes into good, skilled jobs in growing industries, aligned with the government’s Industrial Strategy.

It will also support the pipeline of new talent that employers will need, by rebalancing opportunities towards young people.

The Education Secretary also set out how businesses can help the government to achieve its mission to break down the barriers to opportunity, through offering high-quality apprenticeships or industry placements to ensure everyone has the chance to succeed no matter who they are, where they’re from, or how much their parents earn.

Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, said:

If we are to deliver on our Plan for Change and achieve our number one mission to grow the economy, we must develop the skills this country needs.

To do that, we need to take skills seriously again as a country, rebuilding our fragmented and broken system into one that’s rigorous, responsive and puts employers at its centre.

That’s why we are establishing Skills England to help identify the skills we need to drive economic growth. We will create a clear and coordinated strategy for post-16 education and skills, making sure it works with employers to meet the needs of the future.

Today’s call gave me the chance to reiterate this government’s commitment to giving businesses the stability and confidence to enable them to invest in developing skills.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said:

British workers are some of the most skilled and talented in the world but far too many people are not getting the opportunities they deserve, while businesses are failing to get the staff they need because the system isn’t working.

Through listening to the needs of business and aligning Skills England with our Industrial Strategy, we’re helping employers overcome barriers to invest in skills that will help deliver this government’s Plan for Change and improve living standards.

Bridget Phillipson urged employers to drive up their investment in training, working with government to counter the downward trend since 2011.

The call comes after the Department for Education recently announced that qualifications that will be key to the government’s growth mission in key subjects like manufacturing and engineering that were previously scheduled for defunding will remain until replacements become more established, putting learners first and supporting the transition to T Levels as the large technical qualification of choice.

The government will also introduce more flexibility for industry placements, ensuring even more students can take advantage of the opportunities available from high-quality T Level qualifications.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 12 December 2024.

Courses key to government growth mission will stay, with 70% of the remaining qualifications due for defunding to be saved.

The government has today (12 December 2024) laid out the future of post-16 qualifications, protecting learner choice whilst cutting red tape to streamline the system.

The move follows the rapid review into vocational qualifications that were due to be defunded by the previous government.

Qualifications that will be key to the government’s growth mission in key subjects like manufacturing and engineering that were previously scheduled for defunding will remain until replacements become more established.

This will ensure learners will continue to have a broad range of options available to help them get a foot on the career ladder.

Retaining these courses will preserve a pipeline of talent into key sectors under the government’s Plan for Change – including the NHS.

Around 70% of the remaining qualifications that were slated for defunding under the previous government will no longer be defunded as planned following the review.

The government is taking a pragmatic approach to fix the foundations and deliver change. We are cutting red tape to allow learners to combine qualifications in the way that suits them, putting learners first and helping them to develop the skills this country needs in order to grow the economy.

Qualifications that overlap with T Levels will be able to coexist where we continue to develop and improve qualifications so that they provide for the needs of learners, providers and employers, supporting the transition to T Levels as the large technical qualification of choice.

Key courses that will stay include those that were scheduled for defunding in important sectors such as agriculture, environmental and animal care, engineering, manufacturing, health and social care, legal, finance and accounting, business and administration, and creative and design.

All of these sectors will be at the forefront of the government’s ambitious plans to fix the foundations of the economy and deliver growth.

Instead of blanket restrictions, the new approach is informed by more than 250 individual contributions from employers, colleges and awarding organisations.

Minister for Skills, Jacqui Smith, said:

Vocational and technical qualifications are crucial to our Plan for Change and our number one mission to grow the economy.

This government is committed to the long-term delivery of T Levels as the best quality technical education option for young people.

Qualifications are not one-size-fits-all, and we recognise we must take a pragmatic approach. Our ambitious programme must meet the needs of employers and our public services if we are to see our economy flourish.

We took decisive action as soon as we came into government to ensure the best outcomes for learners and I am thankful to all those who contributed to the pause and review.

In an oral statement today, the minister confirmed that over 200 qualifications that had either no or below 100 enrolments per year over the last 3 years will have their funding withdrawn from 1 August 2025.

The minister also confirmed that a new T Level in Marketing will be available from 2025, as the government continues the rollout of the programme following the recent introduction of T Levels in Animal Care and Management; Craft and Design; and Media, Broadcasting and Production.

This includes the recent announcement that more flexibility will be introduced for industry placements, ensuring even more students can take advantage of the opportunities available from this high-quality qualification.

The Onsite Construction T Level is helping students progress into positive destinations, but will have no further enrolments, due to a lack of overall demand for large qualifications at level 3. Learners already enrolled can still complete their courses. We recently announced £140 million from industry to create Homebuilding Skills Hubs, which will enable thousands more apprenticeships in construction to be started every year. This will ensure these vital skills are rapidly developed in the areas that need them most, helping to meet the government’s milestone of 1.5 million homes being built in the next parliament.

Notes to editors

• After appeals, there were 539 qualifications in scope of the review. 216 qualifications have been defunded due to low or no enrolments for the past 3 years.
• 52 qualifications had already fallen out of funding in 2024 to 2025; 6 had an operational end date on or before 31 July 2025; and 42 qualifications had direct replacements approved as part of the previous government’s reforms.
• 157 of the 223 remaining qualifications, or around 70%, have been retained, with 66 qualifications removed through sector-by-sector analysis undertaken by the department.
• Review of level 3 qualifications reform: provisional outcomes
• Review of level 3 qualifications reform: equality impact assessment

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 27 November 2024.

Applications open for 750 schools to join ‘early adopter’ rollout and support local children to start the school day ready to learn.

Families will soon be able to access 30 minutes of quality childcare ahead of the start of the school day as the government pushes ahead with free breakfast clubs across the country.

From today, schools can apply to become one of 750 early adopters in the government’s free breakfast club roll out, with clubs to launch from April 2025.

Breakfast clubs in every primary school will make a huge difference to children, families, and schools – removing barriers to opportunity by helping children learn, making sure no child starts school hungry, and helping families with the cost of childcare around the school day, to help keep money in people’s pockets.

More than 2 in 5 non-working mothers say that they would prefer to work if they could arrange good quality, convenient, reliable and affordable childcare, and over half of parents say they have problems finding formal childcare for their child that is flexible enough to fit their needs.

The breakfast clubs form part of the government’s mission to break the unfair link between background and opportunity. Delivering change that can be felt by working people, early adopters will offer all children at their school access to a free breakfast and at least 30 minutes of free before school childcare, every day.

This action to kick-start the programme comes fast after the Budget, which tripled investment in breakfast clubs to over £33 million for 2025-26, supporting the early adopter scheme as well as the continuation of the National School Breakfast Club Programme next year, so no child faces a cliff edge on current provision.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said:

“This is a landmark opportunity for schools to be in the vanguard of change, as we build back the foundations of an education system that breaks the link between children’s background, and the opportunities they have in life.

“From helping with flexible working for families, to improving behaviour and attendance, the supportive start to the day that breakfast clubs provide will help drive high and rising standards for every child. This government is delivering change that will make a real difference to families up and down the country.”

Sir David Holmes CBE, Chief Executive of Family Action said:

“Family Action is delighted to see this further investment by the government in breakfast clubs. We know from our long experience of delivering breakfast provision ourselves the difference that a nutritious breakfast offered in a supportive and enriching environment can make to children’s readiness to learn.

“We will do all we can to share our experience with Early Adopter schools in this crucial test and learn phase so that they can maximise the impact of this significant new offer to children and families at the start of the school day and inform its rollout to many more schools in the future.”

Abigail Oldfield, Headteacher, Willow Bank Primary School, says:

“Our breakfast club has made a massive difference to supporting children and families from the very start of the school day.

“We’ve seen a big impact on attendance and punctuality of children, as many of our most vulnerable families now have breakfast every day with us. By offering a healthy breakfast and childcare, it ensures children are in school on time and have energy to learn.”

Schools that become early adopters will have the unique opportunity to shape the future of the national breakfast club policy, contributing directly to its implementation.

Further details on the national roll out of the breakfast clubs programme will follow in due course.

The wider paid-for wraparound childcare offer – for all primary children to be able to access childcare between 8am-6pm – continues to roll out across the country.

The government is also developing an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty and give children the best start in life, which will be published in spring. The Taskforce led by the Work and Pensions Secretary and Education Secretary are looking at all available levers across government to drive forward short-term and long-term actions to reduce child poverty.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 18 November 2024.

New powers handed to Ofsted to crack down on exploitative children’s care providers and transparency to be increased around their finances.

The government will today embark on major reform to end years of neglect of the children’s social care support system – breaking the cycle of late intervention and helping keep families together wherever possible so every child has the opportunity to thrive.

A wide range of new reform measures will be set out in Parliament to deliver better outcomes and a more secure life for children across the country. The government will empower social workers, and all those that work with children, to take action against children’s placements providers that deliver subpar standards of care at sky-high costs to councils and focus the system on early intervention.

It comes as local government spending on looked after children has ballooned from £3.1 billion in 2009/10 to £7 billion in 2022/23, with social workers all too often burdened by heavy caseloads, struggling to deliver the help that children and families need before problems escalate.

Bridget Phillipson, Education Secretary, said:

Our care system has suffered from years of drift and neglect. It’s bankrupting councils, letting families down, and above all, leaving too many children feeling forgotten, powerless and invisible.

We want to break down the barriers to opportunity and end the cycle of crisis through ambitious reforms to give vulnerable children the best life chances – because none of us thrive until all of us do.

We will crack down on care providers making excessive profit, tackle unregistered and unsafe provision and ensure earlier intervention to keep families together and help children to thrive.

One of the most entrenched challenges facing children and social workers is some private providers, that are siphoning off money that should be going towards vulnerable children, making excessive profits or running unregistered homes that don’t meet the right standards of care.

According to analysis by the Local Government Association, there are now over 1,500 children in placements each costing the equivalent of over £0.5 million every year, while the largest 15 private providers make an average of 23 per cent profit.

New rules will require key placements providers – those that provide homes for the most children – to share their finances with the government, allowing profiteering to be challenged. Increasing financial transparency will ensure the providers that have the biggest impact on the market don’t unexpectedly go under and leave children without a home.

There will also be a “backstop” law to put a limit on the profit providers can make, that the government will introduce if providers do not voluntarily put an end to profiteering.

Not-for-profit providers and those backed by social investment are being called on to come forward to set up homes to strengthen the system.

To protect quality and safety in children’s homes, Ofsted will also be given new powers to issue civil fines to providers, working more quickly to deter unscrupulous behaviour than with existing criminal powers.

More widely, the government is beginning the process of rebalancing the whole children’s social care system in favour of early intervention, giving every family the legal right to be involved in decisions made about children entering the care system.

Further plans for funding for children’s social care including investment in preventative services, are set to be laid out in the coming weeks in the upcoming Local Government Finance Settlement.

Cllr Arooj Shah, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, said:

It is positive to see the Government building on recent progress following the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, and pursuing an approach rooted in what we know works for children and their families.

We are particularly pleased to see an ongoing focus on early help and family networks, and a strong commitment to tackling profiteering and other problems in the market for children’s social care placements.

Moving forward, progress will be limited by the significant funding and workforce challenges within children’s social care, councils and amongst partners more widely.

It is vital that the Government uses the forthcoming Spending Review to ensure that all those working to keep children safe and to help them thrive have the resources they need to do that well.

Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said:

Every child deserves to grow up safe, happy, healthy and engaged in their communities and in their education. With this Bill we have an opportunity to repair how we treat childhood in this country.

Children are paying the price of a broken social care system that allows profits over protection. They are enduring things no child should ever have to: living in isolation in illegal children’s homes, often at enormous cost, deprived of their liberty without due process, often surrounded by security guards instead of receiving love and care.

Children in the social care system today are living week to week in limbo. They need action without delay, not plans or strategies, so I welcome the urgency with which this government is setting out plans to tackle some of the most entrenched challenges. There must be no limits on our ambition for these children and I will look forward to working closely with ministers to push for radical reform.

Sir Martyn Oliver, Ofsted’s Chief Inspector said:

These new powers will allow Ofsted to do more to make sure all children’s homes are safe and nurturing places, and to combat illegal and poor-quality homes quickly and effectively. We welcome these reforms and stand ready to deliver the Government’s new asks as soon as possible.

Sarah Cardell, CEO of the CMA, said:

We are pleased to see the government taking this next step towards reforming the children’s social care market, in line with our recommendations. Our market study found multiple concerns – including a shortage of appropriate places – which need to be tackled to ensure vulnerable children and young people are getting the homes they need. We will continue to work with the government to make sure the plan delivers longstanding improvements.

Other key measures set to be announced today include:

New powers for Ofsted to investigate multiple homes being run by the same company, acting on the recommendations made in response to the vile abuse uncovered at the Hesley group of children’s homes.

Delivery of the manifesto commitment to introduce a consistent child identifier, making sure information can be shared between professionals so they can intervene before issues escalate.

The requirement for every council to have ‘multi-agency’ child safeguarding teams, involving children’s schools and teachers, stopping children from falling through the cracks.

The requirement for all local authorities to offer the Staying Close programme – a package of support which enables care leavers to find and keep accommodation, alongside access to practical and emotional help, up to the age of 21, ending the cliff-edge of support many experience at 18.
A new duty on parents where if their child is subject to a child protection enquiry, or on a child protection plan, they will need local authority consent to home educate that child.
The government will continue to work closely with the sector and local authorities as these changes are introduced to ensure the best possible outcomes for all children and young people, and their families.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 7 October 2024.

Education Secretary announces resumption of procurement for Tackling Antisemitism in Education.

The Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson has announced that the government is resuming the procurement of £7 million worth of funding to tackle antisemitism in schools, colleges and universities.

The commitment comes after the number of incidents of antisemitic abuse nationwide more than doubled in the first five months of 2024, compared to the same period a year earlier. On university campuses, the number of incidents grew by 465%.

The funding will aim to educate people about antisemitism and better equip schools, colleges and universities to stamp out antisemitic abuse.

To mark the anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in Israel’s history, the Education Secretary is visiting a Jewish school in North London to meet with students and staff and demonstrate her support for the Jewish community.

£500,000 of the £7 million funding has been awarded to the University Jewish Chaplaincy for welfare support for Jewish students in universities.

Writing for the Daily Telegraph, the Education Secretary said the government was “resolutely committed” to tackling antisemitic abuse.

She said: “It is completely unacceptable for Jewish students to feel they cannot fully participate in university life out of fear for their safety. All students, regardless of race or religion, should be free to focus on their studies rather than worry about their safety.”

Some of the funds will go towards funding a project to upskill teachers and university staff in tackling antisemitism. It will also pay for an innovation fund to tackle antisemitism in Education, with a slightly broader focus on settings building resilience to mis-information.

The Education Secretary said it was “vitally important that staff in our education system have the confidence and skills to act quickly to root out antisemitism as soon as it emerges.”

To support this, the Department for Education also plans to launch an innovation fund that will offer opportunities to support work at all levels of education on tackling antisemitic misinformation on social media alongside the Curriculum and Assessment Review.

The Education Secretary also voiced her outrage at the “shocking” acts of violence and Islamophobia seen after the Southport attacks earlier this year, with anti-Muslim incidents more than trebling in the months after October 7.

She said: “With a foundation of knowledge about history and the world, critical thinking, logical reasoning and empathy, we can build children’s resilience not just to antisemitic hate, but all other forms of hate too. A child who is equipped to dismantle antisemitic conspiracy theories is ready to reject Islamophobic ones as well.”

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 25 September 2024.

The first stage of the government’s plan to deliver 3,000 nurseries by upgrading spare spaces in primary schools will begin next month, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson announced today.

From next month, schools will be invited to bid for a share of £15 million capital funding, with capacity in the programme to deliver up to 300 new or expanded nurseries in this first round.

Schools will need to demonstrate how their proposals will respond to need in their local area, supporting the 2025 expansion of government-funded hours of childcare and early education for working parents to 30 hours a week.

Funding will be allocated to successful schools in Spring 2025 to support delivery for the first cohort of places.

This is the first step to delivering the government’s ambition for 3,000 new nurseries in primary schools, and long-term plan to make early years education and childcare more widely available, accessible, and high quality.

Currently, availability of early years provision is not evenly distributed across the country, with the most disadvantaged areas often experiencing the lowest access to provision.

To ensure the programme is delivered in a way that will benefit all parents and children, the department will use the first phase to take learnings for future years and better understand how we can best support underserved and poorer areas.

Schools will be able to express interest for future phases of the programme to help assess demand in different parts of the country, and the department will engage with the sector on the most appropriate model to extend the programme across the country in its second phase.

The government has urged schools interested in bidding for the first round to start discussing with their local authorities, governing organisations and wider stakeholders to consider pupil place planning, local childcare sufficiency and next steps for setting up and running new or expanded nurseries.

Guidance to support schools will be issued at the date of launch.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 25 September 2024.

Professor Becky Francis has launched a call for evidence seeking views on the current curriculum and assessment system to help shape the future of education.

Young people, parents, employers and education staff, leaders and experts are being invited to take part in a ‘national conversation’ about how the curriculum and assessment system can better prepare young people for life and work, as a call for evidence is launched today (25 September).

The 8-week consultation aims to bring everyone into the conversation about what’s working well and what could work better in the curriculum and marks the next step in the government’s independent review.

Responses will be invaluable in shaping the direction of the review and pivotal to the recommendations Professor Becky Francis and her expert panel put forward in 2025.

Today’s call for evidence covers a range of specific areas, including how best to provide an excellent foundation in English and maths, support for children from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, and access to a broad and balanced curriculum.

The review will also take written and oral evidence from key stakeholders, alongside a series of regional engagement events from mid-October to meet and take input from young people and staff on the frontline.

Spanning from key stages 1 to 4 and 16 to 19 education, the review will look closely at the key challenges to attainment for young people, and the barriers which hold children back from the opportunities and life chances they deserve – in particular those who are socio-economically disadvantaged, or with special educational needs or disability (SEND).

Professor Becky Francis said:

The curriculum belongs to the nation. And especially, it must work for the young people who follow it, and the teachers and lecturers that communicate it.

As such, it’s imperative that we hear perspectives and evidence from as wide a range of people as possible including children, young people, parents, education professionals and other stakeholders.

The launch of our call for evidence today enables that. And we have sought to keep questions broad and wide-ranging, to enable people to have their say.

There is much that is working in the present curriculum, but this is a chance to refresh, to address areas which aren’t working well, and to ensure excellence for all. I hope as many as possible will respond and I look forward to reading the responses.

The review will look at ensuring all young people aged 16 to 19 have access to rigorous and high-value qualifications and training that will give them the skills they need to seize opportunity, as well as ensuring they are ready for the changing workplace.

It will also look at whether the current assessment system can be improved for both young people and staff, while protecting the important role of examinations.    Following the review, all state schools – including academies which currently do not have to follow the national curriculum – will be required by law to teach the national curriculum up to age 16, giving parents certainty over their children’s education.

The Improving the curriculum and assessment call for evidence runs from 25 September to 22 November 2024.