Schools Minister quizzed on funding and ‘maths to 18’ proposals

Evidence session

Tuesday 18 July, 10:00, Committee Room 15

Watch live on parliamentlive.tv

The Schools Minister Nick Gibb will be questioned by the Education Committee on schools funding and the Prime Minister’s proposals for requiring all 16-to-18-year-olds to study maths. 

 The cross-party Committee will be interested in how the Government’s pledges to boost funding for schools have been affected by high inflation since early 2022, and the impact that the teacher pay award will have on school budgets. 

There will also be questions on the way funding is allocated to different schools around the country using the National Funding Formula. There are proposals for DfE to take over the role that local authorities have in calculating how funding should be distributed to individual schools based on factors such as geography and deprivation. 

MPs may also question the Minister and Department for Education officials on how its SEND reforms will be funded, and about the impacts that a lack of funding to deliver Education Health and Care Plans and SEND support can have on children and their families. 

The Committee will return to its examination of the Prime Minister’s proposal for all pupils up to age 18 to study maths. 

This proposal was met with scepticism about its feasibility by many in the education sector who pointed to issues such as the repeated failure to hit annual targets for recruiting specialist maths teachers; how to boost pupils’ interest and confidence in maths; and what form post-16 maths study should take, including for those who do not pass at GCSE.

As well as touching on these issues, the MPs will ask how achievement in maths can be boosted among disadvantaged pupils, and whether post-16 study could emphasise financial education and other practical skills, as suggested by the Education Secretary.

Witness schedule from 10:00 

• Rt Hon Nick Gibb MP, Minister of State for Schools, Department for Education

• Sarah Maclean, Director of Post-16 Skills and Strategy, Department for Education

• Tom Goldman, Director of Education Funding, Department for Education