Information on the school workforce in England, including the curriculum taught in secondary schools, is published in the annual ‘School Workforce in England’ national statistic here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.

As at November 2020 (latest information available) around 15% of reported taught teaching hours were in each of mathematics, English and sciences in state-funded secondary schools in England (Table 1). To produce this information, data on subjects taught is collected from a large sample of secondary schools, and this is then weighted and grossed to provide national totals.

Table 1: Hours taught in a typical week in state-funded secondary schools¹ for key stage 3², by subject, number and percentage³

November 2020

Source: School Workforce Census 2020 and Database of Teacher Records 2021

1 - Collected from secondary schools that use electronic timetabling software that can produce data in the format required

2 - Teaching in years 7, 8 and 9.

3 - Percentage of all hours taught.

The information requested is not collected centrally for key stages 1 and 2. Some information is available from the Omnibus Survey (2017). The information collected through this survey provides information on the amount of time, in minutes per week, spent teaching subjects within primary schools (key stage one and two) (Table 2). Information from this survey was published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-voice-omnibus-may-to-july-2016-survey-dfe-questions

Table 2: Minutes per week spent on curriculum subject-specific lessons in primary schools, by subject, median and percentage of time taught

May 2016

Source: Teacher Voice Omnibus Survey May 2016 and Senior Leader booster June 2016

Number of responses = 469

All state-funded schools are required to offer a balanced and broadly based curriculum which promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development; and prepares pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life.

The department regularly considers advice from a number of different sources, including the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), to ensure our policies are guided by the most up to date scientific evidence. The current COVID-19 operational guidance for schools balances the government’s priority to deliver high quality face-to-face education to all pupils with the need to retain measures to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19. The evidence is clear that being out of education causes significant harm to educational attainment, life chances, mental and physical health.

The department has published its own evidence summaries at three points during the COVID-19 outbreak, bringing together high quality evidence from government commissioned research as well as research published in academic journals. The evidence summary can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evidence-summary-covid-19-children-young-people-and-education-settings.

Public Health England (now the UKHSA) previously published a rapid review of available evidence relevant to interventions to reduce transmission in schools, which remains relevant, although precedes the full rollout of vaccinations since April 2021 until now: https://ukhsa.koha-ptfs.co.uk/cgi-bin/koha/opac-retrieve-file.pl?id=9adedb17d5622f9cd7e42febcadb19ad.

We are committed to ensuring that all schools have access to highly skilled teachers. The department funds a package of programmes to support subject-specific professional development for science teachers. These include the network of Science Learning Partnerships delivering local continuous professional development (CPD) and support to increase the take up of triple science, Project Enthuse which provides bursaries for teachers to participate in CPD, the Isaac Physics programme which offers support and activities in physics problem-solving to teachers and students studying GCSE and A level physics, and the Stimulating Physics Network to improve the take up of physics. In addition, we also recently announced our levelling-up premium which offers incentives of up to £3,000 to recruit the best teachers across the country.

The department is providing every early career teacher access to free, high-quality training and support underpinned by the Early Career Framework (ECF). The ECF was designed in consultation with the education sector and is designed to work for all early career teachers regardless of their subject, phase or context.

The training providers delivering these programmes will build on the curriculum knowledge embedded in the Initial Teacher Training core content framework and have ensured that content includes materials and exemplification that is applicable to all teachers to help them deliver high quality curriculum content.

Building on this, National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) are designed to help the teaching profession hone and develop the skills they already have, helping them to become more effective teachers and leaders inside and outside the classroom. The department is committed to ensuring that NPQs offer the best possible support to teachers and leaders wanting to expand their knowledge and skills.

The department will be introducing a reformed suite of NPQs from Autumn 2021. All teachers and school leaders in state funded schools and 16-19 organisations are able to access this new fully funded suite of qualifications. Each qualification continues to build on embedding excellence in curriculum design and delivery.

The department is creating a world-class teacher development system by transforming the training and support teachers and head teachers receive at every stage of their career. We are investing an unprecedented amount of funding to improve the quality and delivery of professional development for teachers giving us a significant opportunity to impact pupil outcomes.

The department acknowledges the disruption to teacher training for early career science teachers, indeed for all teachers, during the COVID-19 outbreak. That is why we ensured that Initial Teacher Training (ITT) trainees and their tutors were designated as critical workers at the height of the COVID-19 outbreak. We encouraged schools to host ITT trainees throughout the national lockdowns and beyond to provide as many trainees as possible with a varied training experience in schools.

The sector coordinated examples from ITT providers of flexible and innovative approaches to placements, which were shared through sector channels. Those trainees whose courses were severely disrupted and needed extra time to qualify were given government funded course extensions, allowing them the opportunity to achieve Qualified Teacher Status.

As part of the education recovery plan announced in June 2021, we secured over £250 million of additional funding to provide 500,000 world-leading training opportunities for teachers and leaders, wherever they are in their career. The package includes £69 million to extend the rollout of the Early Career Framework (ECF) reforms to meet far higher than expected demand for the programme. The ECF reforms are transforming support for early career teachers, introducing the most significant reform to teaching since it became a graduate only profession.

The department is investing over £130 million a year to ensure that all new teachers have access to a fully funded entitlement to an extended two-year induction to the profession. The structured package of support is linked to the best available research evidence, alongside funded time off timetable in the second year of teaching and support for mentors.

The ECF was designed in consultation with the education sector and covers five core areas: behaviour management, pedagogy, curriculum, assessment and professional behaviours, and is designed to work for all early career teachers regardless of their subject, phase or school. The lead providers delivering the programme have ensured that there are materials and exemplification to cover a range of subjects, including science.

More widely we are committed to gathering evidence about the implementation and impact of the ECF, to ensure that it continues to provide the best support for new teachers entering the profession. Therefore, we are working with the Education Endowment Foundation to design a comprehensive package of evaluation activity which will ensure the reforms remain relevant, up to date and open to all.

We are committed to ensuring that all schools have access to highly skilled teachers. The department funds a package of programmes to support subject-specific professional development for science teachers. These include the network of Science Learning Partnerships delivering local continuing professional development (CPD) and support to increase the take up of triple science and Project Enthuse which provides bursaries for teachers to participate in CPD.

We have agreed the terms of our exit from the European Union, as set out in the Withdrawal Agreement. This, along with Political Declaration on the Future Relationship, was agreed by the EU member states at the special European Council on Sunday 25 November and will now be voted on in Parliament.

The Withdrawal Agreement offers certainty to universities and other UK recipients of EU research funding programmes, including Horizon 2020, by providing for continued UK participation until the current programmes end in 2020, including where funding agreed before the end of the implementation period extends beyond 2020. UK based organisations and individuals will be able to bid for funding, participate in and lead consortia, until programme closure, replacing the need for the government’s existing funding guarantee.

We want to build on the progress made in recent negotiations and continue to pursue a far-reaching relationship on science and innovation with the EU, which is mutually beneficial for the UK, the EU, our scientific communities, and our citizens. The Political Declaration is a significant milestone towards the future relationship, and sets out that we will establish general principles, terms and conditions for the UK’s participation in Union programmes, including on science and innovation, and wider dialogue.

Two rounds of negotiations have taken place on Science and Innovation, the first on 22 May 2018 where we presented our slides on the 'Framework for the UK-EU Partnership on Science, Research and Innovation’. The second round was on 7 June 2018 where the Commission presented the programme regulations for Horizon Europe to the UK.

The White Paper set out that the UK is committed to establishing a far-reaching science and innovation accord with the EU as part of our future relationship. As part of this accord, the UK would like to explore association to EU research funding programmes, including Horizon Europe and the Euratom R&T Programme.

Under the terms of the draft Withdrawal Agreement, UK entities' right to participate in EU science and research funding programmes during the current Multiannual Financial Framework period will be unaffected by the UK's withdrawal from the EU for the lifetime of projects financed by the current MFF. No further agreement would be needed for the UK to participate in these programmes in this period.

The next generation of science and research programmes will begin in 2021. The Government’s proposals published in July 2018 set out that as part of an ambitious science and innovation accord the UK would like to explore association to future EU research funding programmes, including but not limited to Horizon Europe and Euratom R&T. Any such an association would necessarily involve an appropriate UK financial contribution. However, the terms of any such association would be a matter for the negotiations and the Government will negotiate on the basis of what is in the best interests of British citizens and the UK economy and scientific community.

As the Prime Minister set out at Mansion House and reinforced at Jodrell Bank, the UK is committed to establishing a far-reaching science and innovation pact with the EU,

facilitating the exchange of ideas and researchers, and enabling the UK to participate in key programmes alongside EU partners.

What steps the Government is taking in its withdrawal negotiations to facilitate ongoing scientific co-operation between the UK and EU.

Ongoing co-operation is clearly in both our and the EU’s interest, but world-leading scientists often explain how they need to move to and fro between different countries in order to build knowledge. Will the Minister ensure that the visa system post Brexit will enable researchers to have that flexible mobility?

The Minister mentions that we want to attract the brightest and the best but missed some of what the hon. Lady’s question was about, which is of great concern to my constituents in the University of Bristol: the free flow of researchers and scientists around the European Union and the exchange of knowledge. They, and scientific firms in my constituency, say that they are already struggling. What further clarification can he please give?

As a trustee of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, may I ask the Minister what assurances he can give me that the UK Government will provide at least as much funding, through whatever mechanism, after we leave the European Union as is now given to the universities and institutes around this country?

The Rheumatoid Arthritis Pathogenesis Centre of Excellence in Glasgow relies not only on the movement of people and talent but on the movement of medical samples across borders. What will the Minister do to ensure that medical samples can travel unfettered across the EU after Brexit?

Does my hon. Friend agree that ending freedom of movement will at long last give us control over who can come to this country, and allow us then to create an immigration system that works for science, without limitless immigration from the EU?

Can the Minister reassure me that upcoming negotiations with the EU on future migration arrangements will prioritise the needs of UK science and research, allowing the two-way flow of talent that is vital for our top universities, such as York University in my constituency?

As the UK prepares to exit the European Union, the Secretary of State has regular engagement with both EU and Non-EU partners on a range of issues relating to international collaboration on science and innovation.

As set out in our paper, as the UK leaves the EU, one of our core objectives is to continue to collaborate with European partners on major science, research, and technology initiatives.

There are a range of existing precedents for third country participation in EU scientific collaboration that the UK and the EU can build on - however, given the UK’s unique relationship with the EU and the mutual benefits from past collaboration, there may be merit in going further than this, if both parties agree.

We have been clear from the start that the Scottish Government should be fully engaged in our exit from the EU. The UK Government’s paper, Collaboration on Science and Innovation: A Future Partnership Paper, provides a basis for further discussion, including with the Scottish Government, on the future partnership the UK wants to build with the EU. This includes any future participation in both EU and Euratom research programmes. There are many areas of alignment between this paper and the Scottish White Paper on the benefits of continued research collaboration with the EU. We are committed to positive and productive engagement with the Scottish Government going forward as we seek a deal that works for the entire United Kingdom.

We have been clear from the start that the Scottish Government should be fully engaged in our exit from the EU. The UK Government’s paper, Collaboration on Science and Innovation: A Future Partnership Paper, provides a basis for further discussion, including with the Scottish Government, on the future partnership the UK wants to build with the EU. This includes any future participation in both EU and Euratom research programmes. There are many areas of alignment between this paper and the Scottish White Paper on the benefits of continued research collaboration with the EU. We are committed to positive and productive engagement with the Scottish Government going forward as we seek a deal that works for the entire United Kingdom.

We have pursued a wide-ranging programme of engagement, with both business and civil society stakeholders, since the Department was created, in order to hear and understand concerns.

As part of this, we’ve met a number of higher education institutions and groups, including Universities from Scotland and across the UK. I recently visited the University of Dundee alongside Lord Ian Duncan, and have also visited the Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow.

The Minister of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy hosts a Stakeholder Working Group on EU Exit, Universities, Research and Innovation that I attend on a regular basis.

Membership of the Group includes representatives from higher education, research and innovation funders, national academies, learned societies and business from around the UK.

The Government will work closely with the devolved administrations, including the Scottish Government, on the detail of proposals for collaboration with the EU on science and innovation, to ensure their priorities are taken into account.

We have pursued a wide-ranging programme of engagement, with both business and civil society stakeholders, since the Department was created, in order to hear and understand concerns.

As part of this, we’ve met a number of higher education institutions and groups, including Universities from Scotland and across the UK. I recently visited the University of Dundee alongside Lord Ian Duncan, and have also visited the Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow.

The Minister of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy hosts a Stakeholder Working Group on EU Exit, Universities, Research and Innovation that I attend on a regular basis.

Membership of the Group includes representatives from higher education, research and innovation funders, national academies, learned societies and business from around the UK.

The Government will work closely with the devolved administrations, including the Scottish Government, on the detail of proposals for collaboration with the EU on science and innovation, to ensure their priorities are taken into account.