We recognise that all too often family background determines success in later life, even when in a good job. We are determined that education should play a central role in reversing that by ensuring all young people have access to the right knowledge and skills, high quality, timely advice, and opportunities for challenging, life-shaping experiences. Employers also need to do more to attract and draw out the talents of employees from all backgrounds.

The Government is determined to make sure that every child, no matter where they live or what their background, has the skills they need to succeed in work and life. Strong literacy and numeracy are central to this, but other skills and qualities are essential, including the development of well-rounded and resilient individuals. It is also vital that schools provide high-quality careers guidance to pupils on their options. They have a legal requirement to inform pupils about apprenticeships and other vocational options.

Every child should be taught to read well and read widely and write with accuracy and confidence. The new English language GCSE places greater emphasis on demonstration of accurate, spelling, punctuation and grammar. Students must be able read a wide range of texts fluently, write effectively, and demonstrate sound use of Standard English.

There is a much stronger emphasis across the mathematics curriculum on the essential arithmetic knowledge that employers value and which underpins calculations with money and percentages. Children must be fluent in written and mental arithmetic by the end of primary school. At secondary school pupils are taught about functions and uses of money including about wages, taxes, credit, debt, financial risk and a range of more sophisticated financial products and services at GCSE.

The Government has introduced new “core maths” qualifications that will help students develop their mathematical skills further through real world examples from business, research or everyday life. Core maths content covers financial maths such as learning how to build a financial model to understand an investment or calculating ways to improve a process. These are the practical maths skills that are needed in a wide variety of business careers, from marketing to manufacturing and banking.

Supporting schools to develop well-rounded and resilient pupils is a high priority – we know that these skills make young people attractive to employers. The Department carries out a range of activity to develop young people in this way, working with the National Citizen Service and celebrating those organisations that are working to instil positive traits in young people through the Character Awards.

Furthermore, the Government has established the Careers & Enterprise Company to play a lead role in transforming the provision of careers, enterprise and employer engagement experiences for young people, to inspire them and prepare them for the world of work. Apprenticeships are an essential part of this, which the Company is promoting through its nationwide Enterprise Adviser Network. This network has been set up to broker strong and extensive links locally between schools and colleges and employers, focusing on areas where provision will have the most impact. The Network now has 1190 Enterprise Advisers and 78 Enterprise Coordinators, connecting over 900 schools in 37 out of 38 Local Enterprise Partnership areas in England.

The National Curriculum focuses on the essential knowledge that must be taught, but all schools are required to teach a broad and balanced school curriculum which prepares pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.

It is important that there is clarity about the roles that school nurses should, and should not, take on. That is why Public Health England (PHE) and its partners published a model specification for commissioning services for 0-19, in order to help inform decisions around the commissioning of the school nursing service and integrated services for school-aged children and young people.

PHE has also developed a number of professional pathways and guidance to support local delivery of school nursing services, including safeguarding. This guidance is currently being reviewed by partners, including National Health Service England (NHSE), and is expected to be published in early-spring 2017.

Adoption of technology is one way of addressing the burden of paperwork. Many services are now using technology and digital platforms to improve productivity and access, particularly for young people who may not usually access services through more traditional methods.

We are determined to keep children safe in and out of school and have made it very clear that it is an offence to operate an unregistered independent school. In January 2016, we announced funding for Ofsted to establish a dedicated team of specialist inspectors to investigate such settings and since that time, there has been a significant escalation of Ofsted investigations.

The Department for Education and Ofsted are working closely with local authorities to identify and tackle illegal schools, and close collaboration has resulted in the closure of many such settings.

The evidence consistently points to good returns both for graduates and for those who have completed an apprenticeship. According to the same statistical release from the Office for National Statistics, median gross hourly pay for graduate employees is £15.38, compared to £11.02 for non-graduates who have completed an apprenticeship.

The Government recognises, however, that the benefits of further and higher education will differ between individuals, and between subjects and institutions chosen. It is important for young people to consider the available information and select a route through education that is right for them; whether that be an apprenticeship, higher education study or further education. They may also consider factors other than salary, when selecting their courses of study.

That is why the Government is introducing policies such as a Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) that will provide clear information to students on where the best outcomes from higher education provision can be found. The Department for Education will also continue to release information through websites such as Unistats and other channels to help young people make the right choices when considering whether to enter further or higher education. This includes taking advantage of the Longitudinal Education Outcomes dataset to provide better information on the potential returns from different education routes.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) research notes that the differential in average earnings between women and men remains substantial. The Office for National Statistics figures show that the gender pay gap has been virtually eliminated for women under 40 years of age working full-time, and has decreased for all women over 40 years of age working full-time, but we know that there is more to do. New regulations requiring large employers to be more transparent will take us one step closer to eliminating the gender pay gap within a generation.

The IFS research also highlighted that the gender pay gap widens once women start a family. We have extended the right to request flexible working to all employees; introduced a new system of shared parental leave; and committed to providing 30 hours of free childcare a week for working families.

As a matter of principle all children resident in the UK receive a free state-school education. We want to reassure European citizens living in the UK that there will be no immediate changes in their circumstances.

It is highly disappointing that the NUT conference took this stance towards the Prevent strategy.

The Prevent duty is entirely consistent with schools’ existing responsibilities and it is irresponsible to suggest that it requires teachers to spy on pupils or close down discussion in the classroom. Good schools will already have been safeguarding children from extremism and promoting fundamental British values long before the Prevent duty came into force. Schools provide a safe space for debate and play a key role in helping young people develop critical thinking skills, which increases their resilience to a range of risks, including extremism. We have published guidance on the Prevent duty and made a wide range of advice and materials available to schools through our Educate Against Hate website.

My officials have met representatives of the NUT to discuss Prevent and we will continue to provide school teachers and leaders with support to keep children safe and build their character and resilience.

There are a number of resources available to support computing education and schools are best placed to decide what will be most effective for their pupils.

The national curriculum in computing emphasises the academic discipline of computer science. Through studying topics such as computational logic, algorithms and data representation, pupils are obtaining insight into how the digital technologies that they use every day actually work and understanding how these technology products result from human ingenuity and rational design processes. We want young people to have the opportunity to actively create new technologies, rather than being passive consumers of them.

The Government has spent more than £4.5 million over the past three years to support schools in delivering high quality computing teaching. This includes £3 million for Computing At School to build a national network of over 350 ‘Master Teachers’ in Computer Science whom schools can commission to provide training for their teachers.

The Government recognises the importance of encouraging children to become more active. Through the Primary Physical Education (PE) and Sport Premium, head teachers have already received over £300 million of ring-fenced funding to spend on improving PE and sport provision. Our research has found that schools have already increased the amount of curricular PE they are delivering by an average of 13 minutes since the introduction of the Premium. In addition, 83% of schools reported an increase in the levels of participation in extra-curricular activities and 96% observed improvements in pupils’ physical fitness. The interim research brief, 'PE and sport premium: an investigation in primary schools', was published in September 2014, and the final report will be published in the autumn.

The Department of Health also funds Change4Life Sports Clubs in schools which target less active children. An independent evaluation reported that in 2012-13 alone, clubs had engaged over 115,000 children. In primary schools, 75,000 children are now achieving 60 active minutes on most days of the week, an increase of 57%, and 38,000 children are now achieving 60 active minutes every day, an increase of 92%.

It is right that schools look at how and when they set homework to take account of their individual circumstances and best support pupils to achieve.

Homework is an important part of a child’s education. There is no statutory obligation for schools to set homework. The government does not dictate how much homework children should have to do at any age.

The amount of time children spend on homework, and the type of homework set, varies between schools and depends on a number of factors including the ages of the pupils and their levels of ability. We expect schools to take into account the health and well-being of their pupils at all times, and they have a duty to do so.

The research cited, in the letter to The Times, was the Varkey GEMS Global Teacher Status Index, which was published in 2013. The index surveys public opinion on the status of teachers and contained several positive findings in relation to the UK.

For example, teachers’ status was ranked higher in the UK than in many other countries, including France, Finland and Germany. Respect for headteachers in the UK was ranked highest of all the countries in the study. When respondents were asked to assess ‘how good is the education system?’ the UK ranked seventh out of all countries surveyed – a higher score than the USA, South Korea and Germany.

To help raise the status of teaching further still, our manifesto set out our commitment to supporting the establishment of a new, independent College of Teaching. Teaching is unique amongst the professions in this country in not having a membership body to champion high standards of practice.

The recognition of teaching as a respected and high-status profession is reflected in the calibre of those joining. Almost three quarters of new teachers now have an upper-second or first class degree, 10% higher than in 2010. We have a record proportion of new teachers (17%) with first class degrees and, for several years running, teaching has remained the most popular career destination for graduates from Oxford University.

Whilst perceptions of teachers and teaching in this country are positive, the government remains committed to doing all we can to support the profession to develop and improve.

We are determined to ensure that every child, regardless of background is given an education which allows them to realise their potential. That is why our reforms place high expectations at the heart of our school system, with a rigorous new curriculum, world class exams and a new accountability system which rewards those schools that encourage every child to achieve their best. In addition, with the new Education and Adoption Bill, we will speed up the process for tackling failing schools and extend our powers into coasting schools. With these measures, we want all schools to be good or outstanding, certainly as good as the best in the independent sector.

The government recognises that work-related stress is an important issue to address.

School employers are responsible for the health of their workforce. It is vital that they have systems in place that identify and tackle the cause of stress in their staff and provide appropriate support for them. Headteachers also have a duty to lead and manage a healthy workforce with a proper regard for their wellbeing. This includes the expectation of achieving a sensible balance between work and other commitments outside the school.

We are introducing new performance measures for primary and secondary schools in 2016. The reforms were announced in March 2014 for primary and October 2013 for secondary schools to give sufficient time to respond to the new measures.

The new measures will make the school accountability system fairer by using progress to measure performance. By focusing on progress, we will be able to identify high and low performing schools more accurately; coasting schools will be identified and schools making good progress with more challenging intakes will be recognised. This will ensure every child can reach their potential.

The speed of reforms has been carefully managed. The department consulted on both primary and secondary accountability reforms before finalising plans and notified schools of the changes in advance to give them time to prepare. The department plans to provide primary schools with the information they need to complete teacher assessments before September and has made guidance and information available to secondary schools on Progress 8 to help them prepare for the reforms.

The Government response to the Primary Assessment and Accountability Consultation was published on 27 March 2014. This is published online at:

www.gov.uk/government/consultations/new-national-curriculum-primary-assessment-and-accountability

The Government response to the Secondary Accountability Consultation was published on 14 October 2013. It is published online at:

www.gov.uk/government/consultations/secondary-school-accountability-consultation

The Department for Education recognises the need to continue to improve funding and support for children’s social care, supporting local authorities to improve the provision of their services and get better value for money. Although local authorities are responsible for the vast majority of the expenditure in children’s social services, the Department’s investment and support has been focused across four key areas: innovation; direct support to underperforming authorities; improvements to the social work force; and leadership. There are also a number of areas of specific support, such as the Department’s response to adoption, child sexual exploitation, and children in care.

The Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme has allocated an additional £100 million funding for 2014-15 and 2015-16, targeted at supporting vulnerable children and those on the edge of care. The programme was launched in order to enable local authorities, charities, social enterprises and private organisations to test new methods of delivery in order to achieve higher quality and better value for money. The programme covers 50 projects and involves 72 local authorities. The Department will be working closely with all projects to support implementation and build a strong evidence base. Further information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childrens-services-innovation-programme

The Department regularly intervenes to provide effective support to local authorities which are failing to provide safe children’s social care services. We have recently strengthened underperforming authorities by appointing six experts in children’s social care to support them.

With regard to strengthening the social work workforce, by the end of the current Parliament, the Department will have invested more than £680 million in social work training and improvement, mostly in bursaries to social work students. We are also committed to improving the quality of social worker recruitment through the Frontline and Step Up to Social Work entry training programmes for high calibre recruits.

With regard to leadership, the Department is committed to strengthening the quality of those in positions of leadership. The Department has funded the Virtual Staff College with over £8.4 million since 2012-13 in order to provide leadership development for Directors of Children’s Services and Assistant Directors.

We are taking action to build capacity and expertise in local areas in order to respond to recent reports exposing the level of child sexual abuse and exploitation. The Government responded to the Rotherham reports by announcing a range of action to improve accountability and target prevention. Further information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tackling-child-sexual-exploitation--2

As a result of our education reforms thousands more pupils are taking the core academic GCSEs. We want all young people to have access to these rigorous subjects regardless of where they live. Recent GCSE performance tables showed that 90,000 more pupils took the challenging EBacc compared to 2010, an increase of 71% in four years. These are the core subjects most valued by employers and universities.

From 2016, we are replacing the existing 5 A*-C including English and mathematics headline secondary accountability measure with Progress 8. Focusing on performance across eight qualifications rather than five will incentivise schools to offer a broad and balanced curriculum, and ensure that the progress made by pupils is fully recognised.

The Department for Education has not made any assessment on the findings in the Sutton Trust report on gifted and talented pupils. In my response to this issue raised in question HL3435 last December, I stated that the department has no plans to replace the gifted and talented programme.

The government’s plan for education will mean that any child, regardless of ability, can reach their full potential and schools have a responsibility to make sure that highly able pupils are stretched.

From 2016, our new headline secondary accountability measure, Progress 8, will ensure schools are held to account for the progress made by all pupils, including the most able. In addition, from 2017, the introduction of the new top ‘grade 9’ for GCSE set at a level above the current grade A*, will ensure that the achievements of the very highest performers are recognised.

Secure Children’s Homes provide specialist care in a secure environment for some of the most vulnerable children and young people in England in order to protect them, and those around them, from harm.

To support secure homes in maintaining and up-grading their facilities as well as ensuring that they can continue to provide high quality care, the Department for Education has made available £45.2m in capital grant funding over the current spending review period. £5.06m will be available in 2015-16.

In order to encourage improvements in the supply of places, the Department has also worked closely with the Youth Justice Board to ensure that there is a clear and efficient process for releasing places normally reserved for youth justice placements when a secure placement is needed for a local authority child.

The Department recognises, however, that the pressure on places in secure homes has grown over the last 18 months. In October 2014, the Department commissioned a more detailed examination of the issue. The review sought to provide evidence and offer the Department advice on the current and likely future need for places. It also identified changes or improvements that might be required to ensure that the needs of these young people are met.

Based on the advice provided, the Department concluded that the commissioning and supply of welfare placements in secure children’s homes would benefit from improved co-ordination at national level.

This view is very much shared by local authorities. The Department will now undertake further development work on the issue with the Association of Directors of Children’s Services and the Local Government Association. The work will explore how greater co-ordination at national level might work in practice, including whether it could, and should, involve a more centralised national commissioning process. A copy of the Ministerial letter announcing the next stage in the work is available through the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/letter-from-edward-timpson-about-secure-childrens-homes.

We do not want to prescribe to schools how careers guidance is delivered or by whom. Teachers may have a role in coordinating or providing careers advice within a school but there is no requirement for teachers to hold specific qualifications for careers advice. The very best schools will be giving teachers exposure to employers, industry and enterprise as part of their continuing professional development.

The statutory duty on schools focuses on independent careers guidance. Schools can retain in-house arrangements for providing careers guidance but must combine this with support from external sources to meet their legal requirements. This might include support from careers advisers, employers, mentors or coaches.

We will soon be publishing updated statutory guidance on careers guidance and inspiration that sets out this approach.