theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-31)

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Mr Joshua Reynolds:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to provide guidance to education providers on the introduction of the new Technical Occupational Qualification in Social Care from September 2026. \p Josh MacAlister: For detailed information specific to individual qualifications, the department advises education providers to consult the relevant Awarding Organisation. These organisations are responsible for developing and delivering qualifications and will provide tailored guidance to support providers in their delivery of the Technical Occupational Qualification in Social Care from September 2026.

The department provides comprehensive support materials to help education providers in implementing newly reformed qualifications, including Technical Occupational Qualifications. This includes hosting a toolkit, model pathways, resources for careers advisers, video explainers, links to webinars, newsletters, and the webpage: https://support.tlevels.gov.uk/hc/en-gb/sections/xx-xxxx-xxxx-Qualifications-Review.

These resources are regularly updated to ensure providers have access to the latest advice and are signposted to broader support where appropriate.

The department remains committed to maintaining and enhancing guidance materials to ensure continued support for providers throughout the reform process.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-31)

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Mark Garnier:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether those who leave further education before the end of their course are included in the without education, employment or training statistics in the year of departure. \p Josh MacAlister: The department publishes statistics on those not in education, employment or training (NEET) for England from the labour force survey (LFS) for young people aged 16-24. These are accessible at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/neet-statistics-annual-brief/2024.

Additionally, estimates of young people aged 16 to 18 participating in education and training using the department’s administrative data are published at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/participation-in-education-and-training-and-employment/2024. This release contains the most robust measure for 16 to 18 year olds NEET.

Both NEET sources are based on status at time of data collection and therefore the definition does not rely on being out of education and employment for a specific length of time before being categorised as NEET.

Neither source can be used to estimate the number of young people who left school/further education before the end of their course. However, they will be included in the statistics as NEET if they had left their course prior to the reporting timeframe and not taken part in any employment or alternative education at that time.
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Mark Garnier:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the number of students who are at risk of being withdrawn from their study programme for not attending their GCSE retake lessons. \p Josh MacAlister: I refer the hon. Member for Wyre Forest to the answer of 31 October 2025 to Question 83275.
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Mark Garnier:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to provide pathways for students who have been withdrawn from further educations due to their absence from Maths and English GCSE lessons. \p Josh MacAlister: Further education colleges can decide to retain students who have been absent from their maths or English lessons, but they will have their future funding allocations reduced by half the national funding rate for every eligible student who is not offered the minimum planned teaching hours. This demonstrates the importance of supporting all students to make progress towards and attain level 2 in English and maths. A provider is permitted to opt out up to 2.5% of their 16- to 19 cohort from this requirement without financial penalty, where it is not appropriate to offer a student the minimum planned teaching hours.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-31)

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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the value was of student loans that were written off in the last year; and what this was as a proportion of all outstanding student loans, by nationality. \p Josh MacAlister: The requested information can be found in the Student Loans Company’s Student loans in England publication, updated in July each year. The publication, ‘Student loans in England: 2024 to 2025’ can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/student-loans-in-england-2024-to-2025.

The amount that has been cancelled or written off during the 2024/25 financial year, the total amount outstanding at the start of the financial year including interest and loans not yet due for repayment (after adjustments), and the proportion that write offs or cancellations make out of the starting balance can be found at: https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.publishing.service.gov.uk%2Fmedia%2F684c16b8da3d1b49e6797046%2Fslcsp012025.xlsx&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK.

These statistics are not broken down by borrower nationality. This information is not readily available and cannot be obtained within the timeframe given to respond. Figures for the 2025/26 financial year will be available in the July 2026 publication.
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Mr Joshua Reynolds:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to announce (a) how many Technical Excellence Colleges there will be in each (i) sector and (ii) region and (b) other matters relating to Technical Excellence Colleges. \p Josh MacAlister: In August 2025, the department appointed 10 Technical Excellence Colleges (TECs) in construction, backed by £100 million in funding to deliver high-quality construction skills provision. The post-16 education and skills strategy white paper confirmed that we will now go further, expanding the TEC programme to a further 4 sectors which will include: four TECs in advanced manufacturing, five TECs in clean energy, five TECs in digital and technologies and five TECs in defence.

These new TECs, backed by £175 million, will ensure the pipeline of skilled workers into these areas, securing new defence jobs in this growing industry and will help to address shortages in engineering. Exact locations are yet to be determined, and colleges will be appointed through a fair and transparent application process. Selection processes for these TECs will start by the end of 2025, with delivery planned to begin from April 2026. Further details will be published in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-31)

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Vicky Foxcroft:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the number of students studying (a) BTECs and (b) other level 3 qualifications. \p Josh MacAlister: On 20 October 2025, the department set out plans to introduce V Levels, a third vocational pathway at level 3. V Levels will sit alongside A levels and T Levels and will offer a vocational alternative to these academic and technical routes. They will blend applied learning with practical assessment, with content linked to occupational standards set by Skills England. We launched a consultation on post-16 level 3 and below pathways, closing on 12 January 2026. The consultation is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/post-16-level-3-and-below-pathways.

This government is fully committed to T Levels. Where a student wishes to study a large qualification (those with 720 guided learning hours or more) and a T Level exists, they should undertake the T Level. T Levels are outperforming large qualifications in T Level areas of study. In line with this, funding for other qualifications of 720 guided learning hours and over in T Level areas of study will be removed in 2026 and 2027.

The department is keeping funding for most existing qualifications in place until new V Levels and other qualifications come in.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-31)

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Andrew Lewin:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many postgraduate students are (a) studying and (b) parents of children of nursery age for which the latest data is available.. \p Josh MacAlister: The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) is responsible for collecting and publishing data on the UK higher education (HE) sector. HESA does not collect data on the parental status of students across all UK HE providers, and so information on the total number of postgraduate students that are parents of children of nursery age is not currently held by the department.

For the 2023/24 academic year, HESA reported there are 847,905 postgraduate students enrolled in UK HE providers. Counts of HE student enrolments by level of study are published in Table 3 of HESA’s Student data, which can be found here: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/sb271/figure-3.
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Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many officials were investigated under their Department's disciplinary processes in each of the last five years. \p Josh MacAlister: The number of employees who were subject to an investigation as part of the department’s disciplinary process is shown in table below.

Year (calendar)

Number of cases

2025*

18

2024

37

2023

34

2022

34

2021

30

*1 January - 30 September 2025
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Mark Garnier:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how her Department uses data on people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) to develop policy in the context of changes in the number of people who are NEET. \p Josh MacAlister: The department collects and uses a range of data and evidence relating to young people who are not in education, employment, or training (NEET) to inform policy, including ‘Participation in education, training and employment’, which can be accessed at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/participation-in-education-and-training-and-employment/2024.

The department also uses NEET age 16 to 24 statistics, which can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/neet-statistics-annual-brief/2024.

In developing policy, the department engages with a range of externally produced research and evidence, including through the Youth Futures Foundation – the What Works Centre for youth employment.

The post-16 education and skills white paper set out our objectives for a skills and employment system with a clear focus on re-engaging those who are NEET. The white paper recognises evidence shows there are certain characteristics that can increase the risks of young people becoming NEET. These include young people with low prior attainment, from low socio-economic backgrounds or who have special educational needs or mental health problems. The white paper includes a range of measures which apply the use of data to respond to these challenges, such as improving early identification and tracking through better data sharing and artificial intelligence-driven risk indicators.
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Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had recent discussions with local authorities on expanding post-16 provision in areas experiencing population growth. \p Josh MacAlister: The department knows that the 16 to 19 population has been increasing in some parts of England and that extra capacity has been needed in post-16 places in some areas.

The post-16 Capacity Fund has already invested £282 million between 2021 and 2025 for additional capacity and we will be investing a further £375 million between 2026/27 and 2029/30 to provide additional places.

In due course, we will make announcements and provide further information about the delivery of the £375 million capital funding secured for the post-16 sector.

For institutions with a significant growth in students, we recognise that there are additional costs and we provide in year 16 to 19 funding to help with these costs. The department announced its plans to support providers in offering places to young people across the country on 27 August 2025.

In support of local authorities’ statutory duty to secure suitable provision in an area, we will consider their requests to fill a gap in provision. Information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/16-to-19-education-market-entry.
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Mike Wood:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether Policy Lab will fund the MANIFEST programme in 2025-26. \p Josh MacAlister: There are currently no commitments by Policy Lab to fund the MANIFEST programme further in 2025/26.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that higher education delivers value for money. \p Josh MacAlister: The department remains determined that the higher education (HE) system should deliver for our economy, for universities, and for students

HE should be a pathway to opportunity for all students. Our economy needs graduates to go on to highly skilled and well-paid employment, and both students and the taxpayer deserve a good return on their significant investment in HE.

The government will continue to work with the Office for Students (OfS), empowering it to hold HE providers to account for the quality of students’ experiences and the outcomes they achieve. The department will support it to implement a new, more integrated approach to quality assessment, which will expand the existing Teaching Excellence Framework and focus on driving continuous improvement at every provider. Ensuring students from all backgrounds receive value for money is one of the OfS's four key regulatory objectives. In the future, HE providers will only be able to charge the maximum fee cap if they meet a higher quality threshold, as announced in the Post-16 Education and Skills strategy.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support her Department provides for people in further education. \p Josh MacAlister: Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The department provides a range of financial support for students who need it to enable them to participate in post-16 education, including free meals, bursaries to help with the cost of education (such as travel, books, equipment, and trips), plus support for childcare and residential costs where required.

Within the Adult Skills Fund, Learner Support is available to colleges and training providers to help learners meet costs such as transport, accommodation, books, equipment and childcare. In addition, learning support meets the costs of reasonable adjustments as set out in the Equality Act 2010 for learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-31)

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Steve Darling:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that independent fostering agencies receive adequate support to provide high-quality fostering services. \p Josh MacAlister: The department’s priority is to recruit and retain more foster carers so there is a choice of stable, loving foster homes for children in care.

The government is committed to ensuring a fostering system that meets the needs of children and young people and works for everyone involved. We have clear regulations and rigorous inspection frameworks to ensure these high standards are achieved.

All private independent fostering agencies must meet the legal requirements set out in the Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011. These regulations, alongside the fostering services: national minimum standards, are used by Ofsted when inspecting fostering agencies to ensure that they are offering the right support to children and foster families.

The department encourages local authorities and independent fostering agencies to collaborate and welcome sector efforts such as the National Fostering Model Contract, which was co-produced by local authorities and independent fostering agencies, which aim to improve commissioning processes.
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Amanda Martin:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to implement the British Standards Institute PAS 5222 Safeguarding Children specification. \p Josh MacAlister: The government is committed to safeguarding children across all settings, including out-of-school settings (OOSS). That is why the department launched a call for evidence on OOSS safeguarding to better understand current safeguarding practices and explore how best to strengthen them. This closed on 21 September, and we are now analysing the responses.

The department welcomes initiatives aimed at improving safeguarding, including the British Standards Institute Publicly Available Specification 5222. However, it is right that we take the time to carefully consider the evidence before setting out next steps for enhancing safety in the sector. We will respond to our call for evidence in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-31)

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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve (a) apprenticeships, (b) technical qualifications and (c) other alternative pathways for non-graduates. \p Josh MacAlister: The department has published the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper, setting out reforms for a world-class system that breaks down barriers to opportunity and supports economic growth by giving young people the skills our economy needs.

Alongside this, the department is strengthening technical and work-based training through foundation apprenticeships, high quality T Levels, and employer-backed Higher Technical Qualifications, ensuring young people gain the skills our economy needs.
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Manuela Perteghella:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with (a) local authorities and (b) academy trusts on ensuring a consistent national approach to the admission of summer-born children. \p Georgia Gould: The department keeps its guidance for schools and parents about requests for summer born children to be admitted out of their normal age group under review and updates it as required.

The guidance for schools is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/summer-born-children-advice-for-admission-authorities(opens in a new tab).

The guidance for parents is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/summer-born-children-school-admission(opens in a new tab).

The guidance is clear that it is rarely in a child’s best interests to miss a year of their education by being admitted to primary school in year 1 rather than reception, or to secondary school in year 8 rather than year 7. Therefore, if a parent requests their summer born child start their reception year aged 5, it should be rare for such a request to be refused.

The department conducts regular surveys of local authorities and parents to keep this issue under review. These show that only a small proportion of parents of summer born children request that they are admitted out of their normal age group, and the vast majority of such requests are agreed. The findings can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/summer-born-children-research-and-guidance(opens in a new tab).
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether their Department has run any (a) recruitment and (b) internship schemes aimed to increase the number of people from underrepresented groups in the workforce in the last year. \p Josh MacAlister: The Civil Service is committed to a truly diverse workforce and culture of openness and inclusivity, not as ends in themselves but as means of delivering better outcomes to the citizens we serve. As set out in the Civil Service People Plan 2024 - 2027, we are committed to ensuring we attract, develop and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds to create a modern Civil Service, now and for the future.

Civil Service recruitment must follow the rules set out in legislation within the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act (CRaGA) 2010, which outlines the requirements to ensure that civil servants are recruited on merit, via fair and open competition.

Going Forward into Employment (GFiE) accredits life chance recruitment pathways across government. GFiE pathways recruit people from a wide range of backgrounds into the Civil Service, including people from low socio-economic backgrounds, prison leavers, veterans, carers and care leavers. People recruited by GFiE develop skills, gain experience and build a career, contributing to the Opportunity Mission and to the wider economy. The department ran the annual GFiE accredited Care Leaver Internship Scheme in August 2025.
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Manuela Perteghella:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of publishing simplified guidance for (a) parents and (b) schools on how requests for (i) deferred entry and (ii) out-of-cohort progression are handled. \p Georgia Gould: The department keeps its guidance for schools and parents about requests for summer born children to be admitted out of their normal age group under review and updates it as required.

The guidance for schools is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/summer-born-children-advice-for-admission-authorities(opens in a new tab).

The guidance for parents is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/summer-born-children-school-admission(opens in a new tab).

The guidance is clear that it is rarely in a child’s best interests to miss a year of their education by being admitted to primary school in year 1 rather than reception, or to secondary school in year 8 rather than year 7. Therefore, if a parent requests their summer born child start their reception year aged 5, it should be rare for such a request to be refused.

The department conducts regular surveys of local authorities and parents to keep this issue under review. These show that only a small proportion of parents of summer born children request that they are admitted out of their normal age group, and the vast majority of such requests are agreed. The findings can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/summer-born-children-research-and-guidance(opens in a new tab).
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's statistics entitled Graduate labour market statistics, published on 5 June 2025, what steps she is taking to improve levels of high-skilled employment among graduates aged 21-30. \p Josh MacAlister: The department publishes the ‘Graduate Labour Market Statistics’, which provides statistics on employment and earnings outcomes for post-graduates, graduates and non-graduates. The publication includes estimates for high-skilled employment for graduates aged 21-30 years. In 2024, 60.1% of young graduates (age 21-30) were in high-skilled employment, a 0.1 percentage point increase on 2023 at 60.0%. This data was published on 5 June 2025, and is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/graduate-labour-markets/2024.

Higher education (HE) should be a pathway to opportunity for all students. Students and taxpayers deserve a good return on their significant investment in HE, and our economy needs graduates to go on to highly skilled and well-paid employment. We are supporting the Office for Students to implement a new expanded quality system that will include a specific focus on the needs and benefits of HE to employers.

We published our Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper on 20 October 2025, which sets out our reforms to the skills system to support the development of the skilled workforce our economy needs, delivering on our Plan for Change and driving national renewal.
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Catherine West:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the University and College Union news item entitled New analysis shows over 15,000 university job cuts as UCU launches UK wide strike ballot, published on 10 October 2025, what steps she is taking to help prevent job reductions in higher education. \p Josh MacAlister: Higher education (HE) providers are independent. This means government is not involved in workforce matters as it is in other education sectors.

While government understands that HE providers must make difficult business decisions to safeguard their financial sustainability, we encourage providers to work with their staff to develop sustainable models that retain talent and expertise and provide stability for the workforce and the institution. All efficiency measures taken by the sector should provide a better long-term future for staff, students and the country.
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Adam Thompson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve the assessment of the value for money of Government funding for universities. \p Josh MacAlister: The government has commissioned the Institute for Fiscal Studies to update their 2020 research report on the impact of undergraduate degrees on lifetime earnings, and this will be published in early 2026.

The 2020 research suggests that higher education (HE) yields a positive financial return to both the graduate and the exchequer for the majority of graduates over their lifetime. Previous graduates are estimated to be over £100,000 better off on average in real terms by going to university after taxes, student loan repayments and foregone earnings are considered.

Whilst the department recognises not all HE qualifications are associated with high salaries, we want all HE providers to equip their students with the skills they need to progress to good jobs they find rewarding.

The government will continue to work with the Office for Students, empowering it to hold HE providers to account for the quality of students’ experiences and the outcomes they achieve.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of numbers of international students attending lower-ranking universities on the quality of higher education provision. \p Josh MacAlister: The department wants to make sure that all students, regardless of their background, benefit from high quality, world-leading higher education (HE) that leads to excellent outcomes.

The Office for Students (OfS) monitors the outcomes achieved by students at HE providers, including international students with minimum expectations set for rates of course continuation and completion. This monitoring will consider the way in which courses meet its expectations for quality for all students who providers choose to recruit.

Where the OfS discovers providers failing to meet its expectations for quality, it can impose sanctions, including financial penalties and, in extreme cases, removing providers from its register.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that the UK attracts the highest calibre of international students. \p Josh MacAlister: The UK remains an incredibly attractive overseas study destination to international students across the globe. We have a world-class higher education sector, with four universities in the top 10 and 17 in the top 100, as well as a wide range of institutions offering high quality education and a fulfilling experience.

The Immigration White Paper set out that we will retain the graduate visa but reduce its duration from 2 years to 18 months, whilst maintaining the 3-year duration for PhD students. This will maintain our competitive post-study offer whilst ensuring individuals on this route obtain employment in graduate level roles and contribute to the country’s skills needs more quickly.
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Callum Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the press notice entitled World-leading UK higher education sector expands in India and bolsters growth at home, published on 9 October 2025, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the expansion of higher education partnerships in India on the economy. \p Josh MacAlister: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, is pleased that 14 university Vice Chancellors and representatives joined my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, in his recent trip to India in recognition of the increased demand for higher education (HE) in India, which has created an opportunity for UK universities seeking new funding streams. HE is one of the UK’s greatest exports, and international education was worth £32 billion in export revenue in 2022. The UK’s HE sector is set to bring in a £50 million boost over the next five years to the economy as part of a major expansion of British universities in India.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department holds on the proportion of student visa holders who progress to graduation. \p Josh MacAlister: The department does not hold data on what proportion of student visa holders progress to graduation, however, data on non-UK domicile entrants is collected by the Office for Students (OfS).

The OfS publish data on the completion rates of entrants. For full-time first degree non-UK domicile entrants from 2016/17 to 2019/20, 89.9% completed their courses within 4 years 15 days of entry to higher education. This data is published annually and the latest available data was published in August 2025 at : https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/data-and-analysis/student-outcomes-data-dashboard/data-dashboard/.
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Adam Jogee:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she had with the Association of Commonwealth Universities on her Departmental priorities since her appointment. \p Josh MacAlister: No meetings have taken place with the Association of Commonwealth Universities.
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Mr Gregory Campbell:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her planned timetable is for responding to Question 76810 of 12 September 2025 on Confucius Institutes. \p Josh MacAlister: The response to Written Parliamentary Question 76810 was published on 15 October 2025.
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UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-31 conversation_68

Liz Jarvis:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of mental health support within universities. \p Josh MacAlister: This government is committed to ensuring students in higher education (HE) have access to effective mental health support. This is why my noble Friend, the Minister for Skills, has recently appointed a new HE Student Support Champion to lead a reconvened HE Mental Health Implementation Taskforce. Full details of the new champion will be announced shortly.

The taskforce is instrumental in assessing and driving improvements in mental health support across the sector, including taking forward recommendations from the recent national review of HE student suicides.

The government also strongly supports the University Mental Health Charter Programme and Award, run by Student Minds. This programme provides a robust framework for universities to improve their mental health provision and is a valuable tool for driving sector-wide change.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-31)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-31 conversation_69

Sarah Green:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help support people aged 17 years and over in resitting their GCSE English Language. \p Josh MacAlister: The department has strengthened the requirements for the mathematics and English conditions of funding to ensure every eligible student is supported to make progress towards and, wherever possible, attain GCSE English by the end of their 16-19 study. This is backed by significant additional investment, including increases to the English and mathematics funding rate of 11% in 2025/26.

The Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper includes a package of support for English, including new level 1 stepping stone English qualifications that support students with lower prior attainment for successful GCSE resits. It also pledges to improve the gathering and sharing of effective practice to support providers’ delivery of 16-19 English in the meantime and strengthens accountability measures to hold providers to account.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-31)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-31 conversation_70

Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support partnerships between further education providers and hospitality businesses. \p Josh MacAlister: It is for employers and further education providers to work together to ensure that provision meets learner, labour market and employer needs. The department welcomes and encourages such partnerships.

Across all areas of England, Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) give businesses a direct route to work collaboratively with local providers and leaders to shape curricula and deliver skills provision. Over 25% of LSIPs identified Hospitality and Tourism as a priority sector with key skills needs. In these areas, key stakeholders are working in partnership to develop a skilled workforce that can support these areas' growth and sustainability.

A new round of LSIP development started on 1 October 2025 and this is an opportunity for businesses to engage with their local Employer Representative Body to discuss their skills needs and set out the challenges specific to their local economies, including in the hospitality sector.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-31)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-31 conversation_71

Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 16 September 2025 to Question 73942 on Department for Education: Social Media, how much her Department has spent on social media influencers since July 2024, listed by influencer. \p Josh MacAlister: Commercial sensitivities exist around aspects of spending of this kind which could prejudice commercial interests. All spend in these areas are subject to the standard value for money assessments.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-31)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-31 conversation_72

Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to p.45 of the Defence Industrial Strategy: Making Defence an Engine for Growth (CP 1388), where the five new Defence Technical Excellence Colleges will be located. \p Josh MacAlister: A £182 million defence skills package was announced at the start of September 2025 in the Defence Industrial Strategy, which aims to make defence an engine for national renewal and economic growth, harnessing the skills needed for the future, from submarine engineers to specialist welders. The package centres on establishing five Defence Technical Excellence Colleges (DTECs), training people in the skills needed to secure new defence jobs in this growing industry.

DTECs will be in England. The exact locations are yet to be determined and will be appointed through a fair and transparent application process. All further education (FE) colleges that are part of the statutory FE sector in England will be able to apply, subject to meeting specific eligibility criteria, to be released in due course. The selection process for these Technical Excellence Colleges will start by the end of 2025, with delivery planned to begin from April 2026. Further details will be published in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-31)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-31 conversation_73

Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what subset of border movements are affected by the Data Futures Project. \p Josh MacAlister: The Data Futures Programme is led by the Office for Students (OfS) in collaboration with sector partners. The programme is primarily focused on enhancing data collection and reporting within the higher education sector.

The programme is not directly managed by the department, and its scope and development are matters for the OfS. The department maintains an interest in its progress and continues to engage with relevant stakeholders as appropriate.

Decisions regarding system changes or replacements in relation to the programme fall under the remit of the OfS and its delivery partners. The department does not hold specific information on system decommissioning linked to the programme. Any consideration of its relevance to operational data, including border movements, would be subject to further engagement with the OfS and other responsible bodies.

The OfS, in collaboration with delivery partners including Jisc, are working to implement recommendations highlighted in the Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) review published in January 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-31)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-31 conversation_74

Dr Roz Savage:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that Palestinian students in Gaza who are eligible to apply for visas and scholarships for UK courses beginning before December 2025 are able to access university places, in the context of many UK institutions having already closed their applications for the 2025 academic year. \p Josh MacAlister: The government outlined plans for how it is supporting students travelling to the United Kingdom from Gaza in a policy statement published on 15 September 2025 available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/support-for-students-travelling-to-the-uk-from-gaza/scholarships-for-students-from-gaza.

To be eligible to come to the UK under this approach, students must submit a student visa application, which will need to be sponsored by their university, and pay associated fees.

Students must:

The government remains committed to doing everything we can to assist eligible students to leave Gaza, specifically those who hold full scholarships to UK universities with course start dates no later than 31 December 2025.

The government is making every effort to support this process. However, a student’s journey from Gaza to the UK cannot be guaranteed, and timelines remain subject to external factors, outside the government’s control.

The government is working with the devolved governments and universities to identify eligible students, and to ensure students receive the support they need for the duration of their studies.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-31)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-31 conversation_75

Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with hospitality employers on shaping T-Level qualifications. \p Josh MacAlister: The department has engaged with employers throughout the development of T Levels. Employers from the hospitality sector were particularly involved in discussions with the Institute of Apprenticeships and Technical Education around potentially developing T Levels in Catering and Hospitality, with a decision taken not to pursue this T Level announced in March 2025.

Hospitality employers have been involved in other T Levels, including as members of the T Level panel developing and approving the Management and Administration T Level, and through providing industry placements to learners.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-31)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-31 conversation_76

Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with local authorities on increasing the level of capital funding for school building (a) repairs and (b) maintenance. \p Josh MacAlister: Ensuring schools and colleges have the resources and buildings they need is a key part of our mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every young person the best start in life.

The government has given a long-term commitment for capital investment through to 2034/35 to improve the condition of schools and colleges across England, including those overseen by local authorities. We are investing almost £3 billion per year by 2034/35 in capital maintenance and renewal to improve the condition of the school and college estate, rising from £2.4 billion in 2025/26.

This is in addition to investment of almost £20 billion in the School Rebuilding Programme through to 2034/35, delivering rebuilding projects at over 500 schools across England within the existing programme, with a further 250 schools to be selected within the next two years.

The department engages regularly with representatives from local authorities about capital policy and programmes.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-31)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-31 conversation_77

Bob Blackman:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to help improve the quality of local authority children's social care services. \p Josh MacAlister: The department has announced the biggest overhaul to children’s social care (CSC) in a generation, including increased investment and landmark legislation through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. From April 2025, we are making £500 million available to local authorities to roll out Family Help and Child Protection nationally to transform services and transition towards earlier intervention. This is a landmark moment and will nearly double direct investment in preventative services to over half a billion pounds in 2025/26.

The department’s CSC Improvement and Intervention Programme aims to improve services for children and families by offering support to areas with early signs of decline and intervening decisively when the required level of service is not being provided, for example for councils judged inadequate by Ofsted. This approach tackles the real issues, with a focus on sustainable and cost-effective improvement. Local authorities are supported and challenged through expert improvement advisors, leadership work from the Local Government Association, building regional networks, and our ‘Sector Led Improvement Partner’ programme.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-31)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-31 conversation_78

Fleur Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to implement the recommendations in the final report by the Law Commission on Disabled Children's Social Care, published on 15 September 2025. \p Josh MacAlister: I refer my hon. Friend the Member for Putney to the answer of 24 October 2025 to Question 83684.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-31)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-31 conversation_79

Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, which towns will be eligible to bid for the UK Town of Culture; and what criteria will be used to define what a town is for the purposes of the competition. \p Ian Murray: The new UK Town of Culture competition aims to boost civic pride in our towns through recognising their cultural contributions to public life and actively supporting their continued development. Regarding eligibility criteria, we will advise small and medium size towns apply to this new competition, and refer larger towns to the UK City of Culture competition. This, however, will not be mandated and it will be for the places themselves to decide which competition they wish to apply for. We will provide further guidelines and support in due course to ensure all places can confidently engage with the competition.