Speeches by Phillipson.

“This is an incredibly important area in which we have seen some deeply distressing and troubling incidents, as the Committee will have heard. I have met many of the families who have been affected by this. Liv Bailey, our Minister for Early Education, has been taking forward a lot of work in this area, engaging directl…”

“The lifelong learning entitlement, as you know, represents a big change to the student finance system in England. It will launch in academic year 2026-27 and commence from 1 January 2027. This big change means that, for the first time, there will be a single, flexible funding system covering levels 4 to 6 across furthe…”

“What is exciting about the consultation that we launched on the natural history GCSE is the strong fieldwork element. That is a minimum of 20 hours of fieldwork. We have worked very closely with drafters to make sure that can be done in or close to the school grounds and not via expensive fieldtrips. It is an area wher…”

“This is an area where we also work with Ofqual, particularly when considering, for example, on-screen assessment, where it must ensure the integrity of the exam system. As you say, there is a growing desire to consider the use of on-screen assessment and technology. However, in parallel, there are all the challenges th…”

“In terms of the wider technologies used by schools and AI, there are amazing benefits that we can deliver, both for young people in their education and for the workforce, in terms of managing workload pressures, admin burdens and much more besides. Setting that direction from the centre is important. As you said, schoo…”

“Professor Francis brought forward two areas, both around English and maths. In terms of when you do it, because we want schools to focus on improving reading in year 7, the assessment should be made in year 8. Professor Francis is also keen, as am I, that we make progress in maths, but to Sureena Brackenridge’s questio…”

“It will be a statutory test, but we want schools to use it to shape and inform how they support pupil progress.”

“My expectation is that, over time, it will make the job of teachers easier because if we identify young people who are struggling with their reading more quickly and put in place the right support, that will open up the whole of the curriculum to our young people. Not being a confident reader is not just a barrier to e…”

“I understand, and that is an area that we are working through right across the curriculum, as part of the work arising out of the curriculum and assessment review. We are working with experts in the field, and we have expert drafters supporting us to make sure that young people do have that breadth, while also recognis…”

“Yes. It is about safety, which is critical, but it is also about how children learn, and wanting to make sure that the tools are aids to support learning and do not replace the ways that children’s brains develop and the way learning takes place. We want to avoid some of the challenges around cognitive offloading in pa…”

“Coming out of the curriculum and assessment review, we are looking at all programmes of study that will give rise to the new GCSE qualifications. We are taking account of those important questions while maintaining high standards within those subjects. I know the Committee is very interested in reading for pleasure and…”

“We will continue to work with anyone with an interest in bringing forward important qualifications in the areas that you have just described. Certainly, a GCSE in Ukrainian is something that, every time I meet my Ukrainian counterpart or with representatives from the Ukrainian Government, they raise with me. They belie…”

“Indeed. That is the definitional challenge. There are significant numbers of subjects that are exceptionally popular, where there are no challenges for awarding organisations around what they can deliver because of the sheer volume of young people who wish to study those subjects. Of course, classics is not taught, sad…”

“Of course—absolutely.”

“Across the board, in terms of strategically important subjects—and Peter Swallow might disagree that classics is perhaps not put into that category, although I am sure—”

“There is certainly no question of deprioritisation. This has been a personal priority for me when co-chairing the work, first with the predecessor in the role, Liz Kendall, and now with Pat McFadden. I am delighted that, through the strategy, we are on course to lift more than half a million children out of poverty. I …”

“I will see what I can do.”

“The Prime Minister did give that commitment. This is also an area that I keep a keen interest in, and I assure you that I continue to discuss with colleagues in the Treasury the important case that you have made and that the sector has made, which is well understood. While I am not able to provide a further update in t…”

“I have discussed all three of those areas with Ofqual and with exam boards. Exam boards would say that they have to be confident around the delivery and the scale of some of these programmes. I have impressed upon exam boards and awarding organisations the case that others are making. I do not have the power to compel …”

“Yes. That is why the implementation in its wider sense is incredibly important. Yes, we do lots of communication to parents and young people so that the Department makes sure that we are getting those messages across, but also that schools and colleges are able to provide high-quality advice to young people about all t…”