Written questions by McKinnell.

What steps her Department is taking to support schools to help tackle climate change.

The Education Estates Strategy sets out plans for an education estate that supports opportunity for all, with an education estate that is safe, suitable, sustainable and appropriately sufficiently sized. It is backed by a ten-year plan to deliver a decade of renewal to transform schools and colleges.The department expects all settings to have a climate action plan to ensure that the education estate becomes more climate resilient.We will support all settings to develop climate action plans and appoint a sustainability lead through the Sustainability Support Programme until at least 2030. More than 10,000 education settings are already accessing this free support.The Sustainability Support for Education online service signposts settings to relevant actions and trusted guidance and tools.Climate Ambassadors, working with Ashden’s ‘Let’s Go Zero’ campaign, provide on the ground support and facilitate peer learning.All settings have the flexibility to develop a plan that reflects their specific context, priorities and needs.

Whether her Department has considered the potential merits of using timber materials in a) constructing and b) maintaining school buildings.

The government recognises that timber offers a solution as a renewable, low-carbon resource. It offers potential to reduce emissions and create jobs, as set out in the Timber in Construction Roadmap: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/timber-in-construction-roadmap-2025/timber-in-construction-roadmap-2025.The department has piloted a number of projects which explore the use of timber in school construction, including three prototypes using UK timber.Our construction specification requires that new buildings meet an embodied carbon requirement, and that designs use natural materials to create a healthy learning environment. These specifications encourage the use of timber and other natural materials to meet the needs of our low carbon future.Timber is a commonly used material in maintaining school buildings. School responsible bodies must ensure that the correct materials are used for any works to maintain fire, safety and other critical requirements.

What contingency plans his Department has in place to support schools during the transition period from the Turing Scheme to Erasmus+.

The UK and EU have agreed to work towards association to the Erasmus+ programme, on mutually agreed financial terms. Negotiations are underway and the terms of any association will be subject to further discussions. The department will have to consider the implications for other programmes, following the outcome of those discussions.Details on the Turing Scheme for future years will be shared in due course.

Whether she is taking steps to simplify the process for Turing Scheme applications for schools.

Since bringing management of the Turing Scheme in-house for the 2024/25 academic year, in response to feedback from the education sector, the department introduced a streamlined digital application service that was co-designed. The service also includes simplified and shorter guidance and a grant calculator tool to help providers work out how much funding to apply for.We welcome feedback from providers throughout the year and make changes to the Scheme’s operation where possible to increase access to the opportunities it provides.

What steps she is taking to ensure that Turing grants to schools take into consideration the additional costs of (a) travel, (b) appropriate (i) clothing and (ii) equipment and (c) other items for children and young people.

Turing Scheme funding is a contribution towards the costs of international educational placements. The scheme provides a contribution to the travel and living costs of students and accompanying staff. Additionally, the Turing Scheme provides readiness to travel funding to help students from disadvantaged backgrounds to prepare to travel, which covers items such as passports, visa applications, vaccines, travel insurance and medical certificates.The Turing Scheme also covers the additional costs faced by those students with special educational needs or a disability. In line with government spending rules, it does not cover costs relating to acquisitions of any form of asset, such as clothing or luggage.

What steps she is taking to reduce the risk of schools in disadvantaged areas excluding pupils from Turing Scheme-funded excursions due to the cap on funding.

In the current academic year of the Turing Scheme, we applied a cap to the funding that schools could apply for. Schools could receive funding of up to £50,000 for a single application or, applying as a consortium, up to £50,000 per school to a maximum of £300,000. This will limit how many schools are required to replan their intended placements. Setting a limit means that we can offer schools more certainty that they can be awarded the funding they request, without concentrating the funding in the hands of too few schools.An estimated 82% of school placements this year will be for students from a disadvantaged background. The proportion of students from a disadvantaged background in a school’s application is a key factor in deciding which applications are funded. More schools than ever before have applied for funding, with 485 applying compared to 333 last year.

What steps she is taking to support schools in disadvantaged areas with applications to the Turing scheme; and what assessment she has made of the trends in the level of concern that the current design of the application process incentivises schools to outsource applications to profit-making enterprises.

In order to support schools, especially those in disadvantaged areas, the department provided guidance and webinars to enable potential applicants to find out more about the Turing Scheme, what it could offer their students and how to make their application. Since bringing management of the Turing service in-house for the 2024/25 academic year, in response to feedback from the education sector, the department introduced a streamlined digital application service that was co-designed. The service also includes simplified and shorter guidance and a grant calculator tool to help providers work out how much funding to apply for.It is up to schools to decide whether they choose to use a third party to support them with an application or scheme administration. However, they cannot use Turing Scheme funding towards the cost of appointing an external organisation to write their application.

Whether she is taking steps to include schools in the Erasmus+ programme.

The department has agreed to work towards association to Erasmus+, on mutually agreed financial terms. Negotiations are under way, and the terms of association are subject to further discussions.The current Erasmus+ programme is open to a broad audience and provides mobility opportunities for learners and staff across the education, training, youth and sport sectors including for school pupils and school staff. As part of the programme, schools can also develop partnerships and collaborate with other schools or educational organisations.