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Welcome to the Department for Education e-consultation website. From here you can access all of our live and archived consultations, or view the results of consultations.
Consultations are listed in date order – the most recent at the top of the list. You can also use the search facility to find a consultation by title or keyword.
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The purpose of this consultation is to gather views on a Department for Education draft advice document intended to explain the legal duties schools and colleges have if they use automated biometric recognition systems.
Launch Date: Tuesday 15 May 2012
Closing Date: Friday 3 August 2012
From this September, the Education Act 2011 will place schools under a duty to secure access to independent and impartial careers guidance for pupils in years 9-11. The new duty is informed by clear international evidence that teachers should be trusted to make decisions in the interests of their pupils, in order to raise standards. The purpose of this consultation is to gather views on whether the new duty should be extended down to pupils in year 8 and upwards to young people up to the age of 18 studying in schools, sixth form colleges and further education institutions. Subject to this consultation and to the parliamentary process, we are aiming to amend the age range by regulations from September 2013.
Launch Date: Wednesday 9 May 2012
Closing Date: Wednesday 1 August 2012
This consultation seeks views on amendments to the regulations governing standards to be met by independent schools. The target date for amendments to come into force is 1 September 2012, subject to satisfactory completion of regulatory and Parliamentary procedures. The consultation will last six weeks closing on 5 June. This is a shorter period than normal, but would enable the Department to publish - subject to the results of consultation - the finalised regulations in sufficient time to inform independent schools of the new requirements to apply from the start of the academic year.
Launch Date: Wednesday 25 April 2012
Closing Date: Tuesday 5 June 2012
The purpose of the consultation is to gain views on amended Regulations and National Minimum Standards (NMS) that govern Residential Family Centres. The Regulations and NMS have been altered to increase the focus on the quality and effectiveness of the service provided to families, supporting ongoing improvement and development of the Centres; and to decrease the focus on the organisation and management of the Centres, removing prescription and increasing professional flexibility.
Launch Date: Tuesday 10 April 2012
Closing Date: Tuesday 3 July 2012
This consultation concerns the proposal to amend regulations to recognise ITT in PRUs including allowing trainee teachers to carry out practical teaching experience for the purposes of an ITT course and for trainees on an employment-based teacher training scheme to be employed to teach in this setting from September 2012.
This will require minor amendments to the Education (School Teachers' Qualifications) (England) Regulations 2003. Subject to this consultation and to the parliamentary process, we are aiming to bring amending regulations into force from September 2012. The consultation also covers the closer involvement of PRUs and AP Academies in ITT through School-Centred Initial Teacher Training (SCITT) and School Direct and asks for feedback on how to encourage PRUs and AP Academies to apply to become teaching schools.
Launch Date: Friday 30 March 2012
Closing Date: Friday 25 May 2012
School funding reform: Next steps towards a fairer system explains how we plan to proceed with reform until the end of the current Spending Review period. It contains a number of important announcements and invites views on areas where there are different options. Key points from the document include: confirmation that we will work towards introducing a national funding formula in the next Spending Review period; setting the Minimum Funding Guarantee at minus 1.5% for 2013-14 and 2014-15; local funding arrangements will be simplified and Schools Forums' reformed; the EFA will play a strong role in ensuring fairness within the new system; we will introduce a new methodology for funding high need pupils, and the funding of early years provision will be simplified and made more transparent. The deadline for responses to the questions is Monday 21 May 2012
Launch Date: Monday 26 March 2012
Closing Date: Monday 21 May 2012
We want to give schools greater freedom to appoint the right teachers for their pupils. This consultation proposes changes to the Education (Specified Work) (England) Regulations 2012, which sets out the conditions to be satisfied by those without qualified teacher status who want to teach in England. The changes will give head teachers greater freedom to appoint industry experts, who are not qualified teachers, to work as instructors teaching and supporting the teaching of appropriate vocational courses. We believe these changes will help to drive up the quality of vocational education and enable pupils to meet the standards that industry requires.
Launch Date: Monday 26 March 2012
Closing Date: Friday 18 May 2012
The Government has confirmed that it will retain the duty on local authorities set out in section 507B of the Education 2006 to secure sufficient educational and recreational leisure-time activities for the improvement of the wellbeing of 13 to 19 year olds, so far as is reasonably practicable. This duty also requires local authorities to ascertain and take into account young people's views and to publicise information about the local offer of all available provision. The purpose of this consultation is to gather views on draft revised statutory guidance to which local authorities must have regard in fulfilling their obligations under this duty.
Launch Date: Monday 5 March 2012
Closing Date: Friday 25 May 2012
The Department has revised the Sure Start Children's Centres Statutory Guidance for local authorities, commissioners of local health services and Jobcentre Plus when exercising their functions under the Childcare Act 2006. This consultation invites views on the revised statutory guidance. The revised guidance seeks to make it clearer what local authorities and statutory partners must do because it is required by legislation, and what local authorities and partners should do when fulfilling their statutory responsibilities.
Launch Date: Monday 5 March 2012
Closing Date: Friday 1 June 2012
