Tag: Department for Education

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 24 January 2024.

Gillian Keegan sets out importance of evidence and innovation in approach to AI at Bett 2024.

Speaking at the Bett show in London today (Wednesday 24 January), the Education Secretary encouraged the sector to innovate and explore the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to transform teaching and learning.

The Education Secretary argued that, alongside robust regulation and an evidence-based approach, international collaboration is key if we are to take advantage of the opportunities offered by this emerging technology.

She told the conference, which was attended by thousands of teachers, tech experts and educators:

Since I stood on this stage in March last year, we’ve seen generative AI continue to develop at pace and spark conversations all over the globe. Those conversations have highlighted some of the opportunities and the challenges that AI might bring.

…Today we’re publishing our latest research on AI in education, having brought together views from our world-leading experts and educators… I want to encourage countries to continue sharing evidence as it’s generated, so we can all better harness the opportunities to make a real difference in classrooms across the world.

She continued:

This country’s EdTech sector contains a wealth of innovators and leaders who are looking to the future.

Alongside them are the brilliant educators, hundreds of whom responded to our recent call for evidence which told us how generative AI is saving hours of planning time and helping to reduce workloads.

Caroline Wright, Director General of the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) said:

It is good to see the Education Secretary supporting the UK’s EdTech sector at Bett. Bett is the world’s largest international EdTech exhibition and underlines the UK’s importance in leading global EdTech innovation and implementation.

Collaboration is key to successful EdTech adoption, and given the Education Secretary’s commitment to improving access and use of technology in education, it is timely that she will officially open Bett 2024 and welcome the 30,000 educators attending to learn, network and be inspired by ground-breaking technology solutions and services.

The Prime Minister’s AI summit at Bletchley Park last year positioned the UK as a world leader in this area, and the government is building a strong evidence base to inform its work on AI, including in education.

The speech coincides with the publication of the Educator and expert views report from the Department for Education, which contains insights from interviews with teachers, educators and academic experts, reaffirming the view that Generative AI could have a transformative impact on education.

For example, one teacher found that AI tools have helped her to personalise lessons and tailor resources for pupils. She said:

Embracing AI in teaching not only significantly lightens my workload but also enhances my creative expression, allowing me to design more innovative and engaging learning experiences for my students.

The report is supportive of the results of the Call for Evidence on Artificial Intelligence in education, published in November, which found that educational professionals are already embracing the opportunities offered by AI. The results of a two-day hackathon, held in October in conjunction with Faculty AI and the National Institute of Teaching, will be published in spring, further strengthening the department’s evidence base.

Respondents felt that successful use of Generative AI within their education settings relied on having a strong digital infrastructure. To help achieve this, last week, the Department published new digital and technology standards on laptops, desktops and tablets, leadership and governance, and accessibility.  The digital and technology standards support school staff to understand their roles and responsibilities to make sure that technology is accessible for all.

The report also reveals that academic misconduct is a top concern for educators and experts alike. To tackle this, the department is working closely with its regulators and the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT), to ensure the responsible use of AI in education, informed by the AI Regulation White Paper, Published last March.

Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology, Michelle Donelan, said:

The transformative benefits of AI are already being felt across society. I know that harnessing its potential to help our young minds learn and our brilliant educators teach is something we can all get behind.

By tapping into AI we can deliver personalised support for learners to help them in their studies, and free teachers from a range of administrative tasks to give them more time in front of the whiteboard. This will ensure we can deliver a world-leading education system in every classroom in the country.

At Bett, the Education Secretary also highlighted how the government is creating a forward-looking skills sector that is equipped to deal with AI. Last year, over 22,000 people started a digital apprenticeship, while digital Higher Technical Qualifications (HTQs) and Skills Bootcamps are helping both young and adult learners to develop their skillset and grasp the opportunities associated with AI.

Building a future-proofed skills landscape alongside a strong evidence base is helping the sector to take advantage of AI safely, allowing for innovation that could transform education for the better.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 22 January 2024.

A £6 million donation to build a first-class science, technology, engineering, art and maths (STEAM) centre in Wiltshire has received the green light from Education Secretary Gillian Keegan.

Ministers at the Department for education approved the expansion of Malmesbury Primary School in Wiltshire for the new centre which was a condition of the donation from the Dyson Foundation.

This demonstrates the government’s ongoing commitment to ensuring pupils at all levels have access to high quality STEM education.

The expansion would see purpose-built rooms equipped for design, technology, art, science, and mathematics-based activities as well as additional classrooms. If planning permission is approved by Wiltshire Council, it is expected to be open to pupils from September 2027.

The Prime Minister has, separately, announced his ambitious 10-year plan to drive up young people’s skills through the Advanced British Standard, requiring all pupils in England to study some form of maths to the age of 18. This will help embed essential numeracy skills and give young people a platform to develop STEM expertise, supporting the government’s plan to create a world-class education system by growing the economy and investing in the skills that industry needs.

Our reforms are already improving maths education and driving up standards, with the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study finding that England outperformed the international average in maths, rising to 11th in international league tables in 2022.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said:

I welcome this generous donation from the Dyson Foundation which will support cutting edge education for local pupils, helping to develop the scientists and engineers of the future.

This new centre will provide world-class facilities for pupils in Malmesbury and the surrounding areas to inspire them and develop the skills we need to compete on the world stage.

The £6 million donation builds on the work we have been doing to boost the uptake of STEM subjects in schools and through apprenticeships and further education, boosting growth and opportunity in these vital sectors.

To support growth and develop STEM skills, the department runs programmes such as the Stimulating Physics Network, and has a network of maths hubsand scholarships worth £30,000 to encourage more teachers to nurture future talent by teaching STEM subjects.

Additionally, design and technology trainee teachers will now receive tax free bursaries of £25,000 to train to teach, up from £20,000 in the academic year 2023 to 2024.

New T Level qualifications are also being rolled out, including in engineering and manufacturing, whilst a network of 21 Institutes of Technology is being established to work closely with industry and pioneer higher-level STEM training.

We continue to work with employers to offer more apprenticeship opportunities, including in dynamic and in-demand STEM fields. Apprenticeships are a great way for anyone, regardless of their background, to gain the skills they need for a successful career in STEM, and employers have developed over 365 high-quality apprenticeships in the Construction, Digital, Engineering and Manufacturing, and Health and Science sectors.

Our new specialist maths school are also being established across the county, offering talented young people world class maths and STEM opportunities regardless of their background. Seven schools are already open and teaching students in Exeter, Cambridge, Leeds and London (Imperial College), with a further 4 set to open in other parts of England.

The department is also working with other government departments through the UK Science and Technology Framework to deliver talent and skills for critical technologies.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 19 January 2024.

The department for education has sent its response to the coroner’s Regulation 28 report to prevent further tragedies.

The Department for Education has sent the coroner its response to the regulation 28 prevention of future deaths report, following headteacher Ruth Perry’s inquest.

Work is ongoing between the department, Ofsted, local authorities and trusts to ensure all headteachers are supported during the inspection process. There is also a further commitment to ensure schools and inspectors are aware of the wellbeing help headteachers can access, including the recently expanded £1.5 million wellbeing support.

Alongside this, the department is committed to helping to avoid future tragedies through working with local authorities and school trusts to ensure that appropriate support is made available to school leaders following an adverse inspection result.

The department is committed to working with Ofsted to review how judgements are made for schools that are found to be inadequate solely on safeguarding grounds, as Caversham Primary School was. Where the safeguarding issues are shown to have been resolved quickly, no further intervention will take place.

Safeguarding guidance in the department will also be reviewed and a call for evidence will be launched in the spring, asking the sector for views on how to go further to support school leaders on safeguarding.

Two years ago, the department for education launched the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter – a public commitment to the wellbeing and mental health of everyone working in education.

As part of this, the expansion of the wellbeing support is new investment to deliver a 3-year mental health and wellbeing support package for school and college leaders, providing professional supervision and counselling to at least 2,500 leaders. In addition, the Education Support which provides wellbeing help for school leaders was this year doubled in size to support an additional 500 heads by March 2024.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said:

Ruth Perry’s death was a tragedy and the coroner’s findings made clear that lessons need to be learned.

That’s why I have worked closely with Ruth Perry’s sister, former colleagues and friends over the past year, to listen and make important changes to inspections with Ofsted to secure a legacy for Ruth.

We are working to ensure inspections keep children safe, whilst also prioritising the safety and wellbeing of school leaders serving in our schools through expanded wellbeing support for leaders.

I hope lots of teachers and parents take part in Ofsted’s Big Listen to further evolve inspection practice so Ofsted continues to drive up school standards.

The press release issued by the Department for Education on 15 January 2024.

£1.5million investment for mental health support, new guidance for schools to prevent bullying of staff and steps to ease teacher workload have been announced.

New measures to enhance recruitment and retention in the teaching profession have been announced by the government today.

They include £1.5 million of new investment to deliver a three-year mental health and wellbeing support package for school and college leaders; providing professional supervision and counselling to at least 2,500 leaders.

The government is also committing to publish new guidance for schools – expected to be completed this spring – on how to prevent and tackle bullying and harassment of school staff.

The measures have been announced after extensive consultation with school leaders and teachers around the improvements they believe will ensure that teaching remains an attractive and rewarding profession.

Separately, the Workload Reduction Taskforce – a cross-cutting group made up of unions, teachers, and sector leaders – has agreed early recommendations to help reduce teacher workload and encourage education staff wellbeing to support the department’s aim to reduce teachers’ and leaders’ working week by five hours within the next three years. The group will make final recommendations on how to address the wider causes of teacher and leader workload to government, Ofsted, and school and trust leaders in Spring 2024.

This builds on the Public Sector Productivity Programme led by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and the Chancellor, which is revealing huge opportunities to cut admin, safely harness Artificial Intelligence and deliver early interventions to relieve pressure on public services.

School Minister Damian Hinds said:

Great teaching is the key ingredient to academic success – and while we now have more teachers than ever before – it’s crucial that we continue to ensure that teaching remains an attractive and rewarding profession.

That’s why we have announced new investment and reforms today to support teacher wellbeing, ease workload pressures and tackle bullying and harassment of staff.

Thanks to the hard work of teachers and pupils, standards in education have risen significantly since 2010, with nearly 90% of schools now rated good or outstanding.

Earlier this year the Government delivered on the manifesto commitment to give every new teacher a starting salary of at least £30,000 – alongside the highest pay award for teachers in over thirty years. With thanks to the hard work of teachers, 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 Workload Reduction Taskforce was launched by the Secretary of State alongside the pay award in July 2023. They were initially tasked with finding ways to maximise sign up to the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter – a public commitment to the wellbeing and mental health of everyone working in education – and strengthening the implementation of the 2016 independent workload review groups’ recommendations which looked at on reducing teacher workload in relation to marking, planning and data management.

Alongside this, the department is honouring its commitment to publish its progress update on the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter – two years after it was initially launched. The update shows the significant progress made on its pledges, including the commitment to: embed staff workload and wellbeing considerations into Government decisions; measure and respond to changes in staff wellbeing; and make sure guidance meets user needs. Over 3,000 schools and colleges have adopted the charter so far.

The department has also renewed a contract with Now Teach to support career changers into teaching, helping bring in talented, experienced professionals into the profession. The contract, valued at £1.5 million will support career changes up to October 2026.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan said:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Together this support will help improve families’ lives.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said:

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

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

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

Children’s Commissioner Rachel De Souza said:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Student Ellie Hamilton, from Bangor, said:

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

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

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

Psychology student, Esi Cynthia Jacqueline Obiri, said:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan said:

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

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

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

Deputy Chief Regulator of Ofqual, Michael Hanton said:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan said:

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

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

Minister for Women and Equalities, Kemi Badenoch said:

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

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

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

Ofsted Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman

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

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

Guiding principles

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

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

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

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

Requests for social transition

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

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

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

Single-sex spaces, admissions and sports

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

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

Engagement

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

Notes to editors

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

This includes:

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