Topical Questions — House of Commons, 2022-03-14
Topic: Education
Questions: Way back in 2020, my Truro and Falmouth constituency successfully secured a new secondary school as part of the Government’s free school programme. That much-needed secondary school will be based at Perranporth on the north coast, and it will make a huge difference to families in Perranporth, Goonhavern, Newquay and Truro. I am in regular contact with the Department and local stakeholders, and I believe we are close to getting a site for the school. Will my right hon. Friend reaffirm the Government’s commitment to supporting and delivering this new secondary school in my constituency, as soon as possible?; I welcome Kirklees being an education investment area, and Greenhead College, which I visited on Friday, and Huddersfield New College are outstanding providers of sixth-form education to local students. Does the Secretary of State agree that those existing colleges are best placed to support disadvantaged students in my area into universities?; What plans does the Minister have to help enable universities to diversify their international student cohorts, so that they are not reliant on funding from countries such as China?; Government Front Benchers need not bother visiting Ashfield—I have got two new school rebuilds coming, so they can go somewhere else—but they will be aware of the problems that I have had with Kirkby College, which is a failing school. It is going to be rebuilt, which is fantastic news, but will the Minister please use all his levers to ensure that that happens as quickly as possible?; Parts of the building at Lydiate Primary School are unsafe, the basement floods and the damp conditions are a health hazard. The latest survey shows a significant recent deterioration in conditions, yet the Department for Education says that it will use an out-of-date survey to assess the funding bid made to it. Will the Minister at least promise the children at Lydiate Primary School that the Department will use the latest survey data and information in deciding whether to fund the new building that they need?; Does my hon. Friend agree that essay mills have the potential to cause severe damage to academic integrity? What steps are being taken to tackle them?; Will the Minister join me in congratulating all the girls who took part in the FA’s “let girls play” biggest ever football session last week? Will he update the House on the steps that his Department is taking to ensure that girls have equal access to football in schools, and on the work that it is undertaking to ensure that PE is not squeezed out of the curriculum due to the academic over-testing of children?; Next week, staff at Glasgow University will be among 50,000 across the UK striking in protest at the 35% cut to their guaranteed pensions. It is in the interests of both students and staff that a negotiated settlement can be reached as soon as possible. What discussion are Ministers having with university employers to encourage them to engage in meaningful dialogue with staff and trade unions?
Robin Caspar Walker (Conservative, Centre-right): I would be happy to take up the issues the hon. Member raises with Ofqual, which I am due to meet later this week. It is important to reiterate that some of the challenges we have seen with TAGs are among the many reasons we think it is right that exams should go ahead. We need to move back to a proper, independently assessed system. I want to make sure that schools and colleges that have been asked to collect evidence of their students’ performance, covering the breadth of content usually seen in exams and assessments, recognise that, once they have that evidence, they are not obliged to collect any more. It is important that we have the fallback of TAGs, of course, but we do not necessarily want schools to be going out of their way to do extra work in this space.