1-20 of 105 results for subject:Software
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To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason and on what evidential basis is the Department proposing to restrict funded specialist assistive software through the Disabled Students' Allowance to exceptional circumstances only.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason and on what evidential basis is the Department proposing to restrict funded specialist assistive software through the Disabled Students' Allowance to exceptional circumstances only.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of restricting funded specialist assistive software through the Disabled Students' Allowance on the course completion and graduate employment rates of disabled students.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of restricting funded specialist assistive software through the Disabled Students' Allowance on the course completion and graduate employment rates of disabled students.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has carried out a cost-benefit analysis of the proposals to restricting funded specialist assistive software through the Disabled Students' Allowance.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has carried out a cost-benefit analysis of the proposals to restricting funded specialist assistive software through the Disabled Students' Allowance.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's consultation document entitled Assistive software funded through Disabled Students’ Allowance, published on 26 March 2026, what steps she is taking to ensure that any restrictions to access to specialist software will not be detrimental to student learning.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's consultation document entitled Assistive software funded through Disabled Students’ Allowance, published on 26 March 2026, what steps she is taking to ensure that any restrictions to access to specialist software will not be detrimental to student learning.
The department’s consultation on assistive software funded through Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) seeks to gather evidence on how best to modernise the support provided to take into account the huge advances in technology over recent years. As part of this, the consultation explores how the widespread availability of built‑in and free-to-access accessibility tools can meet some students’ needs without the use of specific specialist software products funded through DSA. The proposals in the consultation envisage that assistive software will continue to be funded through DSA where there is an additional disability-related need for it that cannot be met by any other software available to the student free of charge.
No policy decisions have yet been made. The consultation remains live until 18 June, and responses will inform final policy decisions following the consultation.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to her Department's press release entitled Government modernises exam records with new app published on 8 January 2026, what data protection guidance is given to students accessing their results via the Education Records app.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to her Department's press release entitled Government modernises exam records with new app published on 8 January 2026, what data protection guidance is given to students accessing their results via the Education Records app.
There is a full privacy statement included on the Education Record. This sets out what information the department collects, what they do with it and how it is shared. It also includes how analytics data are used and that personal data is only shared with education providers.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to her Department's press release entitled Government modernises exam records with new app published on 8 January 2026, whether her Department has any plans to abolish physical result certificates.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to her Department's press release entitled Government modernises exam records with new app published on 8 January 2026, whether her Department has any plans to abolish physical result certificates.
Results certificates are provided by awarding organisations. The department currently has no plans to abolish physical results certificates.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to her Department's press release entitled Government modernises exam records with new app published on 8 January 2026, how her Department calculated the £30 million per year saving in administrative costs by utilising the Education Records app.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to her Department's press release entitled Government modernises exam records with new app published on 8 January 2026, how her Department calculated the £30 million per year saving in administrative costs by utilising the Education Records app.
The £30 million saving is based on reducing administrative processes in further education and apprenticeships. Extensive user research with colleges identified activities that could be eliminated or streamlined, including photocopying documentation, manually matching emails with applications, and reducing data entry and correction through improved quality. Other efficiencies include removing support time for paperwork, eliminating manual searches for unique learner numbers, and reducing checks on prior attainment to simplify enrolment for mathematics and English. These changes will also reduce delays caused by missing documentation and cut follow-up activities linked to incomplete records.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to her Department's press release entitled Government modernises exam records with new app published on 8 January 2026, what estimate her Department has made of the ongoing costs of maintaining and hosting the Education Records app per year.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to her Department's press release entitled Government modernises exam records with new app published on 8 January 2026, what estimate her Department has made of the ongoing costs of maintaining and hosting the Education Records app per year.
The department estimates running costs of approximately £1 million per year, based on staff, systems used to store and manage data, and software licences.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to her Department's press release entitled 'Government modernises exam records with new app' published on 8 January 2026, what estimate her Department has made of the cost of developing the Education Record app.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to her Department's press release entitled 'Government modernises exam records with new app' published on 8 January 2026, what estimate her Department has made of the cost of developing the Education Record app.
£5.5 million has been spent over the last two years. Prior to this, this was part of a wider project looking at options to improve data sharing with the further education sector, looking at cost and burden. One of the options that came from this research was the Education Record.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to her Department's press release entitled Government modernises exam records with new app published on 8 January 2026, whether her Department has any plans to expand the Education Record app to include further and higher education-level qualifications.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to her Department's press release entitled Government modernises exam records with new app published on 8 January 2026, whether her Department has any plans to expand the Education Record app to include further and higher education-level qualifications.
The App includes qualifications data that the department receives from Awarding Bodies which form part of the Personal Learning Record. This includes general and vocational qualifications, such as QCF, A levels, GCSEs, BTEC, diplomas and Functional Skills. The department will review use of the app and look at future developments following the national pilot, which may include expanding the content of the App.
Plans for future content have not been developed or tested with Education sector stakeholders.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to her Department's press release entitled Government modernises exam records with new app published on 8 January 2026, whether she has any plans to make signing up to the Education Records app system mandatory for all schools in the next five...
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to her Department's press release entitled Government modernises exam records with new app published on 8 January 2026, whether she has any plans to make signing up to the Education Records app system mandatory for all schools in the next five...
The department currently has no plans to mandate the use of the Education Record.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to her Department's press release entitled Government modernises exam records with new app published on 8 January 2026, what data her Department holds on the impact on further education enrolment in Greater Manchester and the West Midlands by those who utilised...
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to her Department's press release entitled Government modernises exam records with new app published on 8 January 2026, what data her Department holds on the impact on further education enrolment in Greater Manchester and the West Midlands by those who utilised...
Further education (FE) providers and the Association of Colleges are supportive of the Education Record and expect this to reduce administrative burden and costs. Once MIS systems are able to read the app digitally and good uptake is reflected among Year 11 students, FE providers are expected to fully adopt the Education Record.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the press release entitled Government modernises exam records with new app, published on 8 January 2026, how the £30m savings figure was estimated; and what the average saving for a state secondary school is estimated to be.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the press release entitled Government modernises exam records with new app, published on 8 January 2026, how the £30m savings figure was estimated; and what the average saving for a state secondary school is estimated to be.
The £30 million saving in the education sector is based on reducing administrative processes in further education and apprenticeships. Extensive user research with colleges identified activities that could be eliminated or streamlined, including photocopying documentation, manually matching emails with applications, and reducing data entry and correction through improved quality. Other efficiencies include removing support time for paperwork, eliminating manual searches for unique learner numbers and reducing checks on prior attainment to simplify enrolment for mathematics and English. These changes will also reduce delays caused by missing documentation and cut follow-up activities linked to incomplete records. Due to the nature of the calculation, the department has not estimated a saving per secondary school.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the withdrawal of non-specialist spelling and grammar software for university students receiving Disabled Students' Allowance support.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the withdrawal of non-specialist spelling and grammar software for university students receiving Disabled Students' Allowance support.
I refer the hon. Member for Yeovil to the answer of 9 September 2025 to Question 71715.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the removal of funding for non-specialist spelling and grammar software, on university students in receipt of the Disabled Students' Allowance.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the removal of funding for non-specialist spelling and grammar software, on university students in receipt of the Disabled Students' Allowance.
I refer the hon. Member for Yeovil to the answer of 9 September 2025 to Question 71715.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she had discussions with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions prior to its decision to withdraw funding for non-specialist spelling and grammar software for university students receiving the Disabled Students' Allowance.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she had discussions with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions prior to its decision to withdraw funding for non-specialist spelling and grammar software for university students receiving the Disabled Students' Allowance.
This change is entirely within the remit of the department. My right hon. Friends. the Secretary of State for Education and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions therefore did not meet to discuss this matter prior to the decision being made. The department has made the decision to remove non-specialist spelling and grammar software from Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) funding on the grounds that there are now free-to-access versions available with the required functionality to meet students’ disability-related support needs. It is therefore not an effective use of public money to continue to fund this type of software through DSA.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions her Department has had with students on the potential impact of the removal of non-specialist spelling and grammar software from Disabled Students’ Allowance funding.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions her Department has had with students on the potential impact of the removal of non-specialist spelling and grammar software from Disabled Students’ Allowance funding.
The department engaged with disability experts who support disabled students to gather feedback on the removal of non-specialist spelling and grammar software from Disabled Student Allowance (DSA) funding. While there have been no recent direct discussions with students, the department conducted an Equality Impact Assessment to consider potential impacts and appropriate mitigations. This policy applies to new DSA recipients only and does not affect any spelling and grammar software already awarded to existing students.
The decision followed a detailed review which found that there are now free to access versions available with the required spelling and grammar support functionality to meet students’ disability-related support needs. DSA will continue to fund such software in exceptional cases where a robust disability-related justification is provided.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of students who no longer have access to assistive software following the removal of non-specialist spelling and grammar software from Disabled Students’ Allowance funding.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of students who no longer have access to assistive software following the removal of non-specialist spelling and grammar software from Disabled Students’ Allowance funding.
The department engaged with disability experts who support disabled students to gather feedback on the removal of non-specialist spelling and grammar software from Disabled Student Allowance (DSA) funding. While there have been no recent direct discussions with students, the department conducted an Equality Impact Assessment to consider potential impacts and appropriate mitigations. This policy applies to new DSA recipients only and does not affect any spelling and grammar software already awarded to existing students.
The decision followed a detailed review which found that there are now free to access versions available with the required spelling and grammar support functionality to meet students’ disability-related support needs. DSA will continue to fund such software in exceptional cases where a robust disability-related justification is provided.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help support schools to (a) identify and (b) manage risks related to children and young people accessing gambling content through (i) websites, (ii) apps and (iii) social media.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help support schools to (a) identify and (b) manage risks related to children and young people accessing gambling content through (i) websites, (ii) apps and (iii) social media.
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The department is committed to helping schools in England protect pupils from online harms, including gambling content accessed via websites, apps, and social media.
The ‘keeping children safe in education’ guidance makes clear that schools and colleges should ensure appropriate filtering and monitoring systems are in place and their effectiveness is regularly reviewed. This limits children's exposure to harmful content, including gambling, while on school-managed computers.
To help schools meet their safeguarding obligations, the department has published filtering and monitoring standards. These standards set out how schools can effectively assign roles and responsibilities, review filtering and monitoring annually, block harmful illegal and inappropriate content, and implement monitoring strategies.
Online safety is also embedded in the curriculum through relationships, sex and health education, where pupils are taught about the risks of harmful online behaviours, including gambling.
The department continues to share best practice with counterparts across the UK.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of AI companion software on (a) children's mental health, (b) children's social skills and (c) trends in the level of children's loneliness.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of AI companion software on (a) children's mental health, (b) children's social skills and (c) trends in the level of children's loneliness.
The department is working to build evidence of the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) tools for education, both on the opportunities and the risks. We are supporting the sector to use AI safely.
We are funding the development of global guidelines for the safe and effective use of generative AI in education, in partnership with the OECD and, in January 2025, we announced that leading global tech firms had committed to making AI tools for education safer by design. Google, Microsoft, Adobe and Amazon Web Services have helped develop a set of expectations AI tools should meet to be considered safe for classroom use. These are accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/generative-ai-product-safety-expectations/generative-ai-product-safety-expectations.
The Generative AI product Safety Expectations framework was announced on 22 January 2025 and we have published online materials to help all educators. These materials can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/using-ai-in-education-settings-support-materials.
Screens are prevalent in children's lives at home and in education. It is crucial to have protections like the Online Safety Act, while using technology to benefit children. Schools play a key role in promoting balanced technology use, minimising harmful content, and teaching online safety.
The department is working across government to implement the Online Safety Act and address technology-related risks, including AI in education, while maximising opportunities for these technologies to support education.