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 14 December 2023
Good afternoon,
As this term comes to an end, I want to take a step back and say a huge thank you for all the work you are doing for children and young people across our schools and colleges. In October, I had the pleasure of hosting a reception to celebrate 25 years of the National Teaching Awards. It was brilliant to meet so many committed teachers and hear about the incredible work happening in our education sector. I know you see this every day, so please take the opportunity to nominate your colleagues for next year’s awards.
You should be proud of the recent results from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) rankings which are a testament to your expertise and commitment to helping your students progress in an increasingly competitive world. We have risen to 11th in maths from 17th five years ago and from 27th in 2009, and rank 13th for both reading and science, having been placed at 14th and 13th respectively in 2018 and 25th and 16th in 2009. We also want to continue supporting your ongoing development and remain committed to national professional qualifications (NPQs), where we have recently increased the range of the offer, introducing the new NPQ for leading Primary Mathematics and the NPQ for SENCOs.
I want to remind you that this is the final year to benefit from additional support provided by the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) – through which schools are delivering an incredible 4.39 million tutoring courses. If you haven’t already, I really encourage you to use NTP – especially to support disadvantaged pupils.
I know the start of term was challenging for some of you who might have been affected by the change in RAAC guidance. I have visited and spoken to many impacted schools and colleges and know we share a collective commitment to safety. There are over 22,000 schools and colleges in England and, as of 27 November, there were 231 with confirmed RAAC in some of their buildings. I want to reassure you that if you have been affected by RAAC, we will continue to support you and will fund its removal. Thank you for the way you have responded and guided your communities.
You may have seen that my department has launched two consultations in recent weeks. I’m really keen to hear from you on these topics once you return from the Christmas break so that you can help shape these important policies.
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Advanced British Standard – we are seeking views on the design and implementation of the landmark qualification framework, as well as how it will be assessed and awarded, and how to make sure the changes benefit all students. The consultation is open for 14 weeks, closing on 20 March.
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Introducing minimum service levels in education – help us design a policy to protect children and young people’s education whilst balancing an individual’s right to strike. This consultation is open until 30 January.
I want to hear from teachers, school leaders, parents, students and employers in all of these consultations, so I would be grateful if you could share the links with your wider school community so as many people as possible can have a say on these important issues.
I look forward to speaking to more of you in the new year to hear about the important work you are doing and where we can tackle shared challenges together. I want to invite you to join me for the first of what I hope will be regular live online sessions on 16 January at 4pm. I hope to see as many of you as possible to update you on my focus for the coming term, hear from you on your priorities and answer your questions on a range of topics.
As you finish the term, I know your students will be grateful for everything you have done for them. I hope you all enjoy a relaxing and well deserved break over the festive period and wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Yours sincerely,
 The Rt Hon Gillian Keegan MP
Secretary of State for Education
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