Written questions by Dixon.

With reference to her Department's consultation document entitled Assistive software funded through Disabled Students’ Allowance, published on 26 March 2026, what steps she is taking to ensure that any restrictions to access to specialist software will not be detrimental to student learning.

The department’s consultation on assistive software funded through Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) seeks to gather evidence on how best to modernise the support provided to take into account the huge advances in technology over recent years. As part of this, the consultation explores how the widespread availability of built‑in and free-to-access accessibility tools can meet some students’ needs without the use of specific specialist software products funded through DSA. The proposals in the consultation envisage that assistive software will continue to be funded through DSA where there is an additional disability-related need for it that cannot be met by any other software available to the student free of charge.No policy decisions have yet been made. The consultation remains live until 18 June, and responses will inform final policy decisions following the consultation.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of including maintenance loans as part of a student loan on students from lower income backgrounds.

We have future-proofed our maintenance offer by confirming that we will increase maintenance loans in line with forecast inflation every academic year. This will provide students with long-term financial certainty on the support they will receive while studying and ensure that students from the lowest income families receive the largest year-on-year cash increases in support. Maximum loans for living costs for undergraduate students will increase by 2.71% for the 2026/27 academic year.From 2028/29, maintenance grants will support full-time students from low-income households studying courses aligned with the government’s missions. The grants will provide disadvantaged full-time students with up to £1,000 extra per year on top of existing maintenance loans, increasing cash for students without increasing their debt.

Whether she plans to extend the period by which UK nationals and family members living in (a) the EEA and (b) Switzerland at the end of the transition period will be eligible for home fee status, tuition fee and maintenance support to courses starting beyond 1st January 2028.

UK nationals and their children living in the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland who wish to study in the UK will be eligible for automatic home fee status and student support for courses starting up to seven years from the end of the transition period. The seven-year period ensures that eligible UK nationals and their children whose normal place of residence is in the EEA or Switzerland will still be able to access home fee status and student financial support in England immediately on their return to the UK. From 1 January 2028, UK nationals and their children must normally have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands (Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) for three years immediately before the start of their course to qualify for automatic home fee status and student support. There are no plans to extend this period.

When she next plans to review the Children (Performance and Activities) (England) Regulations 2014.

The government recognises the need to review the Children (Performance and Activities) (England) Regulations 2014, and we are committed to doing so. This will require careful consideration of how such a review might best be conducted to ensure that children are able to continue to access positive performance opportunities in the future, while also making sure that their safety, wellbeing and best interests are protected.

If she will take steps to extend the Young Futures Programme to include young people up to the age of 25.

Young Futures Hubs will build on the success of existing infrastructure and provision, with the government establishing a number of early adopter hubs, the locations of which will be determined by where they will have the most impact. The multi-year Spending Review set overall resource departmental budgets until 2028/29 and overall capital departmental budgets until 2029/30. Departments are now working to determine allocations and further details will be provided in due course.Young Futures Hubs will be co-designed using local knowledge to best serve their communities and will serve a core age range of 10-18, but with flexibility to support young people at each end of this age range in line with local needs.

What (a) capital and (b) revenue funding will be allocated for Young Futures Hubs.

Young Futures Hubs will build on the success of existing infrastructure and provision, with the government establishing a number of early adopter hubs, the locations of which will be determined by where they will have the most impact. The multi-year Spending Review set overall resource departmental budgets until 2028/29 and overall capital departmental budgets until 2029/30. Departments are now working to determine allocations and further details will be provided in due course.Young Futures Hubs will be co-designed using local knowledge to best serve their communities and will serve a core age range of 10-18, but with flexibility to support young people at each end of this age range in line with local needs.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure that multi academy trust executives are paid appropriately; and what action was taken by the 37 trusts her Department issued with outlier pay challenge letters in October 2024.

The 37 academy trusts listed in the October 2024 publication on GOV.UK were engaged with on executive pay to ensure compliance with the Academy Trust Handbook.The Academy Trust Handbook requires that:An academy trust’s board of trustees ensures its decisions, when setting levels of executive pay (including salary and any other benefits), follow a robust evidence-based process.Academy trusts’ decisions on pay must be a reasonable and defensible reflection of the individual’s role and responsibilities.No individual can be involved in deciding their remuneration.Academy trusts must be transparent on pay and publish the number of employees whose benefits exceed £100,000 on their websites in £10,000 bandings. Where employees are also trustees, this information must be disclosed in £5,000 bandings.Following provision of evidence from the academy trusts, all 37 were found to be compliant with the Academy Trust Handbook.

How many claims to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund were rejected as a result of the total fund limit being reached in 2024-2025; and how many claims made in 2024-25 exceeded the new limits for individual claims in 2025-26.

No claims to the adoption and special guardianship support fund (ASGSF) were rejected as a result of the total fund limit being reached in 2024/25.Applications exceeding £3,000 were made for 4,832 children in 2024/25. This figure may include some double counting, if more than one application exceeding £3,000 was made for the same child, as could be the case if an application for match-funding was being made.However, the department’s systems do not enable it to make an accurate calculation of the number of children for whom two or more separate applications under £3,000 were made, but which together totalled more than £3,000. This could, as a result, lead to some under-counting of children in this category.

Pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2024 to Question 15144 on Teachers: Workplace Pension, what the updated planned timetable is for resolving the backlog of people waiting for cash equivalent transfer value details from Teachers’ Pensions.

The scheme administrator has made significant progress to reduce the backlog of Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (CETV) figures that built up whilst the necessary guidance was developed following the Transitional Protection (McCloud) remedy taking effect.The backlog of 3,062 at the end of October 2024 has been reduced to 472 as of 3 June. The current outstanding figure includes recent applications and as such there will always be a number of outstanding CETVs at any given time.The scheme administrator is now working through the more complex cases for members who have not retired who have scheme flexibilities to take account of, which must be processed clerically as a result.Addressing the remainder of the backlog remains a key priority for both the department and the scheme administrator and it is anticipated that these outstanding cases will be completed before October 2025.

Whether her Department plans to continue the implementation of a new GCSE in Natural History.

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Shipley to the answer of 17 December 2024 to Question 18517.

Whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of a national bank of lesson and curriculum resources for primary and secondary school teachers.

The department has provided funding to Oak National Academy (Oak), a non-departmental public body, to provide free, optional and adaptable curriculum and lesson resources for primary and secondary school teachers. These resources are available on Oak’s website at: https://www.thenational.academy/.The government has commissioned an independent review of Oak. The review will include an assessment of whether Oak is delivering services that meet the needs of teachers and young people.

What number and proportion of pupils in (a) state and (b) independent schools had access arrangements for extra time during (i) GCSEs and (ii) A-Levels in the summer exams 2024.

This is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have asked its Chief Regulator, Sir Ian Bauckham, to write to the hon. Member directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

If she will conduct a review into apprenticeships that includes taking representations from existing functional skills teachers.

The department keeps all aspects of apprenticeships policy under review, including the English and mathematics requirements, to make sure it is striking the right balance in equipping apprentices with the right skills, without putting up unnecessary barriers to starting or completing an apprenticeship.More widely, the government will be transforming the apprenticeships levy into a new growth and skills levy, which will offer greater flexibility to employers and learners and align with the government’s Industrial Strategy. Skills England will be working closely with employers, training providers, unions and other key partners to identify priority skills gaps, helping to ensure that levy-funded training delivers value for money, meets the needs of business and helps kick start economic growth. Details on Skills England engagement plans will be set out in due course.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing funding for local authority teacher supply pools.

Supply teachers perform a valuable role and make an important contribution to the smooth running of schools by filling posts on a temporary basis and covering teacher absences.Schools and local authorities are responsible for the recruitment of their supply teachers. Local authority supply pools are one of the approaches to providing supply teachers, and local authorities have the autonomy to decide whether to operate supply teacher pools.The department, in conjunction with the Crown Commercial Service, has established the agency supply deal, which supports schools to obtain value for money when hiring agency supply teachers and other temporary school staff. More information is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/deal-for-schools-hiring-supply-teachers-and-agency-workers.

Whether schools that were assessed before the announcement of the removal of single headline grades and which have not yet received their report will receive a single headline grade.

This is a matter for His Majesty’s Chief Inspector at Ofsted, Sir Martyn Oliver. I have asked him to write to my hon. Friend, the Member for Shipley directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

What steps her Department is taking to increase public awareness of the required parental contributions when accessing student loans.

Guidance on ‘Understanding Student Living Costs’ from the Student Loans Company is available on GOV.UK and reviewed on a regular basis. More information on this guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/understanding-student-living-costs. This guidance makes it clear that students are expected to make up the difference between the maintenance loan amount available to them and their total living costs.Students supplement their living costs support through a variety of means, including parental support, part-time employment, or savings. Students’ living costs vary widely, according to their individual circumstances and where they study and reside, so it is not possible to provide a single figure for any parental contribution.Students can also find more information about some of the alternative sources of funding, and guidance on how to budget for university, at Student Space here: https://studentspace.org.uk/.

What steps her Department plans to take to help reduce the pay gap between (a) further education college teachers and (b) other teachers.

The government does not set or recommend pay in further education (FE). This remains the responsibility of individual colleges who are free to implement pay arrangements in line with their local needs.The department recognises the vital role that FE teachers play in developing the skills needed to drive the government’s missions to improve opportunity and economic growth. That is why the department is investing around £600 million across the 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years. This includes extending retention payments of up to £6,000 after tax to eligible early career FE teachers in key subject areas. The department also continues to support recruitment and retention with teacher training bursaries worth up to £30,000 tax-free in certain key subject areas, and with support for industry professionals to enter the teaching workforce through the Taking Teaching Further programme.My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor for the Exchequer, has announced a Budget on 30 October to be followed by a multi-year Spending Review in the spring of next year. Decisions about future post-16 funding and capital programmes will be subject to the outcomes of these fiscal events.

What steps her Department is taking to reduce (a) bus, (b) coach and (c) other transport costs for schools.

The department’s home to school travel policy aims to make sure that no child is prevented from accessing education by a lack of transport. Local authorities must arrange free home to school travel, at the start and end of the school day. This is for children of compulsory school age, (5 to 16), who attend their nearest school and would not be able to walk there because of the distance, their special educational needs, disability or mobility problem, or because the nature of the route means it would be unsafe for them to do so. At their discretion, some schools may choose to organise their own school travel, which they may or may not charge for. Local authorities may also choose to meet their statutory responsibilities for arranging school travel through local arrangements with schools in some cases. I am keen to understand how well home-to-school transport supports children to access educational opportunity and will be working with departmental officials on this.