Written questions by Vickers.

What evaluation has been undertaken of access to specialist educational provision for children with acquired brain injuries; and whether additional support is planned for emerging specialist schools such as those in Stockton-on-Tees.

Children who have had a brain injury can be affected in different ways. Some brain injuries will result in a special educational need (SEN) or a medical need, whilst others may affect a child in other ways. In whatever way a brain injury manifests, it is essential that the pupil’s individual needs are identified and supported appropriately. Schools must make arrangements to support their pupils with medical conditions and must make reasonable adjustments to their practices, procedures and policies and not discriminate against their disabled pupils. The governing body should ensure that sufficient staff have received suitable training and are competent before they take on responsibility to support children with medical conditions. They should also ensure that any members of school staff who provide support to pupils with medical conditions, or those with SEN, are able to access information and other teaching support materials as needed. Mainstream schools must use their best endeavours to meet the special educational needs of their pupils, which includes those with acquired brain injury. Where needs are more complex the school may request the local authority to conduct an education, health and care needs assessment.

What steps are being taken to improve early identification of cognitive, behavioural, and emotional needs arising from acquired brain injury in children, particularly within school settings.

Children who have had a brain injury can be affected in different ways. Some brain injuries will result in a special educational need (SEN) or a medical need, whilst others may affect a child in other ways. In whatever way a brain injury manifests, it is essential that the pupil’s individual needs are identified and supported appropriately. Schools must make arrangements to support their pupils with medical conditions and must make reasonable adjustments to their practices, procedures and policies and not discriminate against their disabled pupils. The governing body should ensure that sufficient staff have received suitable training and are competent before they take on responsibility to support children with medical conditions. They should also ensure that any members of school staff who provide support to pupils with medical conditions, or those with SEN, are able to access information and other teaching support materials as needed. Mainstream schools must use their best endeavours to meet the special educational needs of their pupils, which includes those with acquired brain injury. Where needs are more complex the school may request the local authority to conduct an education, health and care needs assessment.

What assessment has been made of the adequacy of training for teachers and education support staff on recognising and supporting pupils with acquired brain injuries.

Children who have had a brain injury can be affected in different ways. Some brain injuries will result in a special educational need (SEN) or a medical need, whilst others may affect a child in other ways. In whatever way a brain injury manifests, it is essential that the pupil’s individual needs are identified and supported appropriately. Schools must make arrangements to support their pupils with medical conditions and must make reasonable adjustments to their practices, procedures and policies and not discriminate against their disabled pupils. The governing body should ensure that sufficient staff have received suitable training and are competent before they take on responsibility to support children with medical conditions. They should also ensure that any members of school staff who provide support to pupils with medical conditions, or those with SEN, are able to access information and other teaching support materials as needed. Mainstream schools must use their best endeavours to meet the special educational needs of their pupils, which includes those with acquired brain injury. Where needs are more complex the school may request the local authority to conduct an education, health and care needs assessment.

What steps she is taking to improve recruitment and retention of teachers in STEM subjects.

The department is making good progress on our pledge to deliver 6,500 more teachers. The workforce has grown by 2,346 FTE between 2023/24 and 2024/25 in secondary and special schools, the schools where they are needed most. Additionally, 12% more trainees have accepted offers to train as secondary teachers, and in STEM, acceptances are up 25% compared to last year.Workforce shortages are more acute in some subjects, which is why the department is offering bursaries worth up to £29,000 tax-free and scholarships worth up to £31,000 tax-free, to encourage more talented people to train in key subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing.The department is also offering a targeted retention incentive worth up to £6,000 after tax for teachers of these subjects in the first five years of their careers who choose to work in disadvantaged schools or teach technical subjects in further education colleges.The department undertakes regular reviews to ensure we are prioritising the subjects where teachers are needed most, for example, through our bursaries, which are evaluated annually.

What recent estimate she has made of the number of schools with in-year budget deficits.

The latest available figures show 96% of academy trusts and 85% of local authority-maintained schools are in cumulative surplus or breaking even, with an overall cumulative surplus of almost £6.5 billion, compared to a cumulative deficit of £330 million. These figures relate to 31 August 2024 for academy trusts and 31 March 2024 for maintained schools. In the 2023/24 financial year, there were 1745 local authority-maintained schools in deficit, and 341 academies were in trusts that had an overall deficit.The department does not hold in-year information on the spending of schools and trusts.

What recent steps her Department has taken to reduce waiting times for education, health and care plans.

The department wants to ensure that education, health and care (EHC) needs assessments are progressed promptly and, if needed, high quality EHC plans are issued as quickly as possible so that children and young people can access the support they need.We continue to monitor, challenge and work closely with local authorities that have issues with EHC plan timeliness. Where there are concerns about a local authority’s capacity to make the required improvements, we ensure that the cause of these problems is identified with the local authority and that an effective recovery plan is implemented. Where needed, the department deploys specialist special educational needs and disabilities advisors to help identify the barriers to carrying out the EHC plan process in a timely way and to address these barriers through practical plans for recovery, whilst also addressing any other areas of weakness in provision.

What recent discussions she has had with local authorities on increasing the level of capital funding for school building (a) repairs and (b) maintenance.

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.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of school funding allocations to meet increased costs associated with (a) energy, (b) staffing and (c) materials in the 2025-26 financial year.

School funding is increasing by £3.7 billion in financial year 2025/26, meaning that core school budgets will total £65.3 billion, compared with £61.6 billion in 2024/25.In May, the government announced a further £615 million of additional funding for schools in 2025/26 to support them with their overall costs, including staff pay awards. Schools will, on average, be expected to find the first 1% of pay awards through plans to realise and sustain better value from existing spend. Schools will not be alone in making these decisions. The department will support schools to tackle the systemic issues that drive costs and prevent schools getting the best value for money, such as with energy, through our Energy for Schools Service.

What steps she has taken to ensure fair funding across local authorities under the National Funding Formula.

Every year, the department uses the schools national funding formula (NFF) to distribute core funding for 5 to 16-year-old pupils in mainstream state-funded schools in England. This ensures that funding is distributed based on a fair and consistent assessment of need.The vast majority of funding is distributed on the basis of pupil numbers and characteristics. In 2025/26, 74.2% of the schools NFF has been allocated through basic entitlement funding, which every pupil attracts. A further 17.8% (£8.6 billion) of all funding has been allocated through additional needs factors based on deprivation, low prior attainment, English as an additional language and mobility. It is right that schools with more pupils with additional needs receive extra funding to help them meet the needs of all their pupils.The government will continue to keep all the unit values and the wider operation of the schools NFF under review for 2026/27 and in future years.

What recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of workload reduction measures on teacher retention rates.

The best recruitment strategy is a strong retention strategy, and this government has provided a near 10% pay award for teachers to ensure teaching is once again a respected and attractive profession.The department is undertaking a range of initiatives to help teachers manage workload and improve retention. Our ‘Improve workload and wellbeing for school staff’ service, developed alongside school leaders, contains a range of supportive resources for schools to reduce workload. Our education staff wellbeing charter, now with over 4,200 signatories, sets out commitments from government, schools, and colleges to improve staff wellbeing, including commitments to help reduce teacher workload.The department is seeing signs of improvement. 2024/25 saw one of the lowest leaver rates since 2010, with 1,300 fewer teachers leaving the state-funded sector, and the workforce has grown by 2,346 FTE from the previous year in secondary and special schools, the schools where teachers are needed most.

What discussions her Department has had with teacher training providers on ensuring sufficient placement opportunities for trainees.

The department works closely with initial teacher training (ITT) providers to support them in securing high-quality school placements. This includes engagement through dedicated forums and collaboration with sector bodies such as the Universities’ Council for the Education of Teachers and the National Association of School-Based Teacher Trainers.The department monitors data from our digital recruitment services to identify trends and challenges across the sector. Where providers experience difficulties in sourcing placements, we encourage them to share their concerns with us so that appropriate support can be considered. We also expect providers to work collaboratively with each other and offer mutual support where needed.To further strengthen the system, the department is piloting a new digital service this year designed to improve the visibility of placement opportunities. This service allows schools to express an interest in hosting ITT placements, making it easier for providers to identify and connect with schools in their area.The department recognises that a key challenge for schools is the time and cost associated with hosting trainees. That is why we have introduced funding to support schools for the time their mentors spend in training. This funding is available to all schools hosting ITT placements.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of education investment areas on attainment in regions with historically lower performance.

Between 2022 and 2025, key stage 2 outcomes in Education Investment Areas (EIAs) improved slightly faster than in non-EIAs, with the attainment gap narrowing by one percentage point. At key stage 4, the Attainment 8 gap between EIAs and non-EIAs remained stable. Multiple influences are likely to have contributed to these trends and we cannot attribute any changes solely to the EIA programme.

What assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the number of special school places in each local authority area.

It is the responsibility of local authorities to ensure there are sufficient school places for pupils in their area, including those with special educational needs and disabilities. If a local authority identifies a shortage of places, resulting in a significant number of pupils needing to travel a long way to access a placement, they should consider creating, adapting, or expanding provision to meet that need.The department has published allocations for £740 million in high needs capital funding in 2025/26, supporting local authorities to fulfil that duty. This can be used to create SEN units and resourced provision, or to improve the accessibility and inclusivity of the mainstream school environment, alongside providing places in special schools for pupils with the most complex needs.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the pupil premium on educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils.

This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity so that all our children can achieve and thrive in education.We are providing over £3 billion of pupil premium funding in the 2025/26 financial year to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in state funded schools in England.In March 2025, the department published a pupil premium and recovery premium evaluation. The findings were positive about schools’ approaches to planning pupil premium spend being driven by high quality data and evidence, and schools felt the funding had a positive impact on pupils’ outcomes. For example, 85% of schools and 91% of trusts agreed that having pupil premium meant they had a better strategy for meeting disadvantaged pupils’ needs.Schools must spend their pupil premium funding in line with the department’s 'menu of approaches' which is informed by evidence of how best to improve disadvantaged pupils’ attainment.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure schools have equitable access to (a) capital funding and (b) teacher recruitment incentives in the North East.

The department is committed to ensuring all schools, including those in the North East, have equitable access to funding for capital and teacher recruitment incentives.This government has given a long-term commitment to improve the condition of our schools and colleges across England. 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. Funding is allocated on a consistent basis across the country, partly informed by data on the relative condition of schools. Information on capital funding and methodology can be found on GOV.UK. We are also investing almost £20 billion through to 2034/35 to continue and expand the School Rebuilding Programme.The department is offering trainee bursaries worth £29,000 tax-free and scholarships worth up to £31,000 tax-free to encourage more talented people to train to teach key subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing. We are also offering a Targeted Retention Incentive worth up to £6,000 after tax for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who work in disadvantaged schools. In the North East,179 schools are eligible for this incentive.

Whether she has had recent discussions with local authorities on expanding post-16 provision in areas experiencing population growth.

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.

What progress her Department has made towards meeting teacher training targets in the 2024–25 academic year.

​​Performance against the postgraduate initial teacher training (ITT) recruitment targets for the 2024/25 academic year is published in the ITT Census here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/initial-teacher-training-census/2024-25.​In 2024/25, 88% of the postgraduate ITT recruitment target was met for Primary ITT, and 62% for Secondary ITT. This was a significant increase in secondary, where just 48% of the target was met in 2023/24. For science, technology, engineering, and mathematics subjects (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics and Computing), there were positive improvements, with 61% of the postgraduate ITT target met, compared to 47% in 2023/24. We are working hard to build on these improvements, as the government reestablishes teaching as a respected, valued profession once again.

What proportion of pupils with Education, Health and Care Plans are educated in (a) specialist state schools, (b) ARP units within mainstream state schools (c) independent/third sector placements paid for by the state (d) further education colleges and (e) other settings in Stockton West constituency.

Information on education, health and care (EHC) plans maintained by local authorities and the settings attended is published as part of the statistical release ‘Education, health and care plans, Reporting year 2025’, which can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans/2025.Information on the educational settings attended by children and young people whose EHC plan is maintained by Stockton on Tees local authority is shown in the permanent data table ‘Number of education, health and care plans (EHC) plans as at January each year’, which can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/c1dfe3cb-28bd-44a1-f89d-08de0724494a.Information at constituency level is not available.

How many and what proportion of (a) secondary school and (b) further education college students have Education, Health and Care Plans in (i) Stockton West constituency and (ii) England.

Information on pupils in schools who have education, health and care (EHC) plans is published as part of the statistical release ‘Special educational needs in England’, which can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england/2024-25.An extract showing the requested information for primary and secondary schools in England and Stockton West constituency is shown below: Number of pupils with an EHC planPercentage of pupils with an EHC planEngland State funded Primary schools157,7163.5%State funded secondary schools113,4523.1%Stockton West Constituency State funded Primary schools2442.7%State funded secondary schools3103.1%1. Source: School CensusInformation on the number of young people with an EHC plan who attend further education colleges within the Stockton West constituency, and for England, is not currently available.

How many and what proportion of primary school pupils have Education, Health and Care Plans in (a) Stockton West constituency and (b) England.

Information on pupils in schools who have education, health and care (EHC) plans is published as part of the statistical release ‘Special educational needs in England’, which can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/special-educational-needs-in-england/2024-25.An extract showing the requested information for primary and secondary schools in England and Stockton West constituency is shown below: Number of pupils with an EHC planPercentage of pupils with an EHC planEngland State funded Primary schools157,7163.5%State funded secondary schools113,4523.1%Stockton West Constituency State funded Primary schools2442.7%State funded secondary schools3103.1%1. Source: School CensusInformation on the number of young people with an EHC plan who attend further education colleges within the Stockton West constituency, and for England, is not currently available.