Written questions by Pakes.

How much funding her Department has provided to Ofsted for the inspection of independent schools in each of the last five years.

Ofsted inspects around 50% of the 2,496 (July 2025) registered private schools in England. There is currently disparity between the fees charged for inspections and full cost recovery.The table below sets out the budgeted cost of inspections compared to the fee income, over the last three years. Ofsted do not hold comparable data for the 2020/21 and 2021/22 financial years as Ofsted inspections were still in part affected by Covid and were therefore not typical years of inspection activity.YearFull cost - £millionFee income - £million% of costs recovered2022/236.81.928%2023/246.42.336%2024/256.52.234% Government policy is that costs associated with inspections by government bodies should be recoverable. This will reduce the need for government subsidy. The government is considering options to close the gap.

How much funding her Department has provided for the (a) operation of the Independent Schools Inspectorate and (b) cost of inspections undertaken by the Inspectorate in each financial year since 2015-16.

The department does not provide funding to the Independent Schools Inspectorate, and does not cover the cost of inspections undertaken by the inspectorate.

Whether Skills England will be required to comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty under the Equalities Act 2010.

Skills England will be required to comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) under the Equality Act 2010. While currently operating in shadow form, Skills England will (subject to final approvals) be established as an Executive Agency of the department, and as such will be subject to the same requirements as the rest of the department.My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has considered PSED in her decision making in the development of Skills England.

How many physiotherapy apprentices there are at each level of study in England.

The information requested can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/2241facc-8e02-44c3-7d16-08dcf4c39769.These figures are published in the Apprenticeships statistics publication, which can accessed at: h...

What steps her Department is taking to improve the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of science teachers in Peterborough constituency.

​​​​​High quality teaching is the factor that makes the biggest difference to a child’s education. There are now 468,693 full-time equivalent teachers in state-funded schools in England, but this government must do more to ensure the country has the workf...

What estimate her Department has made of the number of science teachers in Peterborough constituency in the 2023-24 academic year; and if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the number of science tea

​​​​​High quality teaching is the factor that makes the biggest difference to a child’s education. There are now 468,693 full-time equivalent teachers in state-funded schools in England, but this government must do more to ensure the country has the workf...