Top PDF House of Commons Library: Briefing paper: Number CBP08249, 26 October 2018: Support for care leavers

[Young care leavers in England … ] leave home at a younger age and have more abrupt transitions to adulthood than their peers. Unlike their peers who normally remain in the family home, care leavers will often be living independently at age 18. Information from the Children Right’s Director’s surveys on care leavers and Children in Care Council (CICC) meetings show that many care leavers feel that they leave care too early and often feel isolated and lonely. Research and inspection reports show that the quality of support care leavers receive is patchy and that their journey through the first decade of adult life is often disrupted, unstable and troubled. They often struggle to cope and this can lead to social exclusion, long term unemployment or involvement in crime. […]

A significant number of university degree courses now include employability skills and some include compulsory careers sessions. Many institutions also offer extra-curricular schemes to help students to develop the ‘soft skills’ which are valued by employers – some of these schemes lead to awards which students can include in their CVs. Since autumn 2012 universities have had to supply information on destinations and salaries of their recent graduates as part of their Key Information Set – this information allows prospective students to compare institutions by employability rates of graduates. Also the annual survey of Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) collects data on employment of graduates and university league tables use employability rates in their rankings. The availability of data on employability and graduate destinations makes the provision of good careers advice beneficial for both students and universities.

This information is provided to Members of Parliament in support of their parliamentary duties. It is a general briefing only and should not be relied on as a substitute for specific advice. The House of Commons or the author(s) shall not be liable for any errors or omissions, or for any loss or damage of any kind arising from its use, and may remove, vary or amend any information at any time without prior notice.

Private independent schools are fee-paying schools and are not part of the state sector. The Secretary of State is responsible for keeping a register of independent schools in England. It is an offence to operate an independent school without registration. The Secretary of State is empowered to set standards that independent schools must meet in order to be registered. Registered schools are subject to inspection. Occasionally, Members are asked about sources of funding for parents who wish to send their children to private independent schools. Parents seeking financial support may wish to ask the individual school if it offers bursaries etc. The Independent Schools Council may be able to provide information about independent school scholarships and bursaries.

The pupil premium is allocated to schools for pupils who have claimed free school meals at any point in the past six years and those who are in care, or who left care through adoption or other routes. Those claiming free schools meals (FSM) form the majority and we want all parents whose children are entitled to apply for them. To support this, the Department for Education provides an electronic Eligibility Checking System that allows local authorities promptly to check data held by the Department for Work and Pensions, the Home Office and HMRC in order to establish FSM eligibility. The

• Education, Health and Care Plans - for children and young people aged up to 25 who need more support than is available through SEN support. They aim to provide more substantial help for children and young people through a unified approach that reaches across education, health care, and social care needs. The Library briefing Special Educational Needs: support in England, SN 07020, provides more detailed information on the system that is in place.

The sixth section of the analysis provided an update to the first teacher analysis compendium, which was published in May 2017 and covered 2011 to 2015, and looked at data from 2015 to 2017. It found that the overall number of entrants had remained stable in most subjects over the last three years. The overall number of leavers had also remained stable, but most EBacc subjects had seen an increase in leavers, with the largest increases in maths and geography. More teachers left than joined in every subject in 2017, except for maths and physics. 38

Young people and parents of children who have EHC Plans have the right to request a Personal Budget, which may contain elements of education, social care and health funding. A Personal Budget is an amount of money identified by the local authority to deliver provision set out in an EHC Plan where the parent or young person is involved in securing that provision. Local authorities must provide information on Personal Budgets as part of the local offer. Personal Budgets are optional for the child’s parent or the young person but local authorities are under a duty to prepare a budget when requested. 9

On 4 October 2016, the then Education Secretary, Justine Greening, announced £60 million of funding for six ‘Opportunity Areas’ to help them “address the biggest challenges they face”. The six areas were Blackpool, Derby, Norwich, Oldham, Scarborough, and West Somerset. It was stated that the areas would be given prioritised access to a wider support package, including a £75 million teaching and leadership innovation fund “focused on supporting teachers and school leaders in challenging areas to develop.” 61 £10 million of the funding is available for teachers in opportunity areas and category 5 and

At present, families with young carers may be able to get additional help through the Severe Disability Premium (SDP), worth £62.45 a week (2017-18 rate). SDP is not a benefit in its own right but is an additional amount payable with certain means-tested benefits including income- related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). SDP is intended to give additional help to those severely disabled people who, because they live independently and do not have someone caring for them who receives Carer’s Allowance, are most likely to rely on bought-in care. SDP is not payable if there are other “non-dependants” residing with the person, but for these purposes anyone under 18, or aged 18-19 and qualifying for child benefit, does not count.

The response confirmed that the induction period for NQTs would be lengthened to two years as proposed, but that QTS would continue to be awarded at the end of ITT. It was clear from the feedback received, the response said, that the award of QTS did not need to be moved to deliver the intended benefits. “A well-designed two-year induction period with enhanced support”, it said, “will have a more substantial impact on improving the quality of teaching than moving the point at which QTS is awarded.”

The parents of children involved in an allegation should be told as soon as possible, but where a strategy discussion is required or social care services or the police are involved, the case manager should not do so until those agencies have agreed what information can be disclosed to the parents. Parents should additionally be kept informed of progress and informed of the outcome. Deliberations of a disciplinary hearing cannot normally be disclosed, but the parents should be told the outcome in confidence. The guidance additionally states that parents should be made aware of the requirement to maintain confidentiality while investigations are ongoing. 85

The premium has enabled schools to enhance both the quality and range of PE teaching and sports provision. As a result of this investment, schools reported a range of positive impacts on pupils including increased pupil engagement and participation in PE and sports as well as impacts on social and inter-personal skills, behaviour, and PE skills and fitness. Schools also perceived positive impacts on the skills and confidence of teachers to deliver PE. The findings of this study have also highlighted challenges for the future of PE and sport in primary schools. To sustain the impact of the premium, schools have used it to invest in training for existing staff. However, a question remains over how to maintain this investment in CPD for new teachers entering the profession, once premium funding ends. Schools also raised issues related to sourcing good quality provision in their local area, and may need further support to robustly assess the quality of the provision available. The survey also found that monitoring and evaluation of the premium was not consistent and schools may require further advice and guidance to support them to first assess impacts and then put in place strategies for continuing quality improvement. 27

The Department has missed its recruitment targets for the last 4 years and there are signs that teacher shortages are growing. By taking a national view of the number of teachers required, the Department risks paying too little attention to clearly meaningful local patterns of supply and demand. The Department does not yet have the information it needs to understand how different routes into teaching impact on schools’ ability to recruit and retain newly qualified teachers, and cannot yet demonstrate how new arrangements are improving the quality of teaching in classrooms. The Department has plans to analyse existing data further. However, until the Department meets its targets and addresses the remaining information gaps, we cannot conclude that the arrangements for training new teachers are value for money. The Department will also need to show that the arrangements are more cost-effective than alternative expenditure, for instance on improving retention. 143

This paper replaces Entrants to higher education and HE in England from 2012: Student numbers which looked in detail at policy around student number control and focussed on annual changes in student numbers, especially in the period leading up to and just after the 2012 higher education funding reforms. Those papers will no longer be updated. The data in this paper will be regularly updated and its coverage expanded over time.

There are also now a limited number of undergraduate degrees that allow the student to incorporate teacher training partway through the degree course, after an experience of classroom teaching. Successful students graduate with both a degree in their chosen subject and a recommendation for QTS. The length of the degree course is unaffected as the school placements are incorporated within the original course length. Degrees with QTS opt-in all focus on secondary school teaching and BA, BSc and Integrated Masters courses are available. A list of universities offering these courses is available on the Get Into Teaching website.

Some universities however such as the Universities of Oxford (see Box 1), Loughborough, Cambridge, West of England, have implemented specific policies and procedures on sexual harassment and assault. In October 2016 Goldsmiths, University of London introduced a 10 point plan to address Sexual Harassment; this strategy was put in place following a series of complaints of sexual harassment and violence against staff. 32 The policy includes the creation of a new post to

1996 – introduction of two pilot support projects in numeracy and literacy. These were carried forward – as the National Literacy and National Numeracy Strategies by the incoming Labour Government. 1999 – major review of the curriculum overseen by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) resulting in the further slimming down of prescribed content, and the introduction of a statement of aims and purposes.

If you have a child who is due to start primary school or who will be transferring to secondary school soon, your council will probably suggest that you should use the local school designated by them. Of course most people are happy to do so, but the council must also tell you of your right to choose a different school. It can give you a contact address where you can get information to help in making up your mind. If you write to a council and request a place in a particular school, this is known as a placing request. The council has a duty to grant such a request wherever possible. However, the size of the school, the current roll and number of children who already live in the catchment area and other factors will affect the council's ability to grant a placing request. 9

It is no surprise, therefore, that there is low take-up in these subjects at GCSE. Some pupils told inspectors that they were not taking these [English Baccalaureate] EBacc subjects at Key Stage 4 because they did not enjoy them or had found them difficult at Key Stage 3, particularly MFL. A small number made an explicit link between their choices and the quality of teaching that they had received at Key Stage 3. This is a serious concern given the government’s ambition for all pupils starting Year 7 in September 2015 to take the EBacc subjects when they reach their GCSEs in 2020. Improving the Key Stage 3 provision in these subjects will be crucial to raising the EBacc success rate in the coming years. 7