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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.
To view and/or respond to a consultation, click on the title.
You can create your own user account by visiting the Register page. Creating a user account also allows you to partially complete your response and return to it at a later date.
This consultation sets out proposals on the new entitlement for two year olds from September 2013, including which children will be eligible. It also includes proposals on the quality and flexibility of the entitlement for two, three and four year olds.
Launch Date: Friday 11 November 2011
Closing Date: Friday 3 February 2012
In the Schools White Paper, The Importance of Teaching, published in November 2010, the Government made the commitment to consult on a ‘simplified and less prescriptive' Admissions Code. We now propose to reduce and align the associated regulations - so that, wherever possible, the Codes are the single point of reference on admissions accompanied by concise and consistent regulations.
The Department would welcome views on the following draft regulations:
Launch Date: Thursday 10 November 2011
Closing Date: Monday 5 December 2011
This consultation asks for views on new regulations to set out the information that may be required in order to inform and underpin any potential transfer schemes that the Secretary of State may make under existing legislation set out in the Academies Act 2010. These schemes would allow local authority owned land that is no longer used for maintained schools to be transferred for the use of an Academy or Free School.
Launch Date: Wednesday 9 November 2011
Closing Date: Wednesday 18 January 2012
This consultation aims to seek views on revisions to the regulations governing school premises, and on a reduction in the amount of guidance produced by the Department.
Launch Date: Thursday 3 November 2011
Closing Date: Thursday 26 January 2012
Professor Cathy Nutbrown has been asked by the Minister of State for Children and Families, Sarah Teather MP, to conduct an independent review into qualifications in the early education and childcare sector. Details of this review are set out in the Terms of Reference. As a first step in her review, Professor Nutbrown would like to hear the views of parents and families, and all those involved in the delivery of early education and childcare. Please help us by responding to the consultation questions.
Launch Date: Friday 28 October 2011
Closing Date: Friday 23 December 2011
This is a joint consultation by the Department for Education, the Scottish Government Children and Families Directorate and the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety in Northern Ireland in relation to proposed changes to the Adoption (Designation of Overseas Adoptions) Order 1973 ("the 1973 Order") also known as the 'Designated List'. The 1973 Order lists the countries whose adoptions are classified as ‘overseas adoptions' for the purposes of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 ("the 2002 Act"), the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007("the 2007 Act") and the Adoption (Northern Ireland) Order 1987 ("the 1987 Order") and are recognised as adoptions in the United Kingdom under that legislation. The 1973 Order applies to England and Wales only. However, this consultation is UK wide as the 1973 Order is incorporated into the law of Scotland and Northern Ireland, and the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man have their own similar legislation.
Launch Date: Tuesday 11 October 2011
Closing Date: Tuesday 3 January 2012
This consultation seeks the views of the Catholic Education Service, the Church of England Board of Education, the Foundation and Aided Schools National Association, foundation and voluntary schools, parents, other stakeholders and interested parties on amendments to clarify The School Governance (Constitution) (England) Regulations 2007 regarding the appointment of foundation governors.
Launch Date: Friday 7 October 2011
Closing Date: Friday 18 November 2011
We need to ensure that all young people are able to gain real experience and knowledge of the workplace. Genuine work experience is an important part of a student's programme of study while remaining in education and Government is committed to supporting schools and colleges in achieving this aim.
Local authorities are already under a duty to encourage work experience for students 16-19 and we have begun working with partners to promote this. A group of local areas and training providers are also developing Work Pairings models, which offer young people training and intensive work experience with local employers. These will help to inform thinking on future work experience models for all 16-19 year olds. The review of lower attaining pupils will consider how work experience and internships can support progression for these young people. We will consider how local employers could be reimbursed as part of the 16-19 funding formula consultation.
In line with the changes that are being made around work experience for students post -16, Government will seek to remove the statutory duty to provide every young person at Key Stage 4 (14-16 year olds) with work-related learning. However, schools will still be free to determine whether and how work experience for young people at Key Stage 4 is provided.
This particular consultation is seeking views from the public about the Government's intention to remove the statutory duty to deliver work related learning at Key Stage 4. The consultation will last for 12 weeks .
The consultation is open to all members of the public, including schools, governing bodies, local authorities, teacher unions and other representative organisations for those in the education sector, voluntary groups, parents and young people.
Launch Date: Thursday 6 October 2011
Closing Date: Wednesday 4 January 2012
The Secretary of State announced the intention to review the 16-19 Funding Formula in the Young People's Learning Agency's 16-19 Funding Statement published in December 2010.
Proposals in the consultation include moving away from the current complex system of funding on the basis of ‘payment per qualification' to introduce a much simpler system of funding at the level of the learner. Such a change is essential if we are to make a reality of the proposals in Professor Alison Wolf's groundbreaking report on vocational education. It also supports the Government's aims of reducing bureaucracy for education providers and making the funding system simpler, more transparent and readily understood by all.
Responses to the consultation are sought from 16-19 education and training providers in general and specialist further education colleges, sixth form colleges, maintained schools and Academy sixth forms as well as commercial and charitable providers, and Apprenticeship providers.
Launch Date: Thursday 6 October 2011
Closing Date: Wednesday 4 January 2012
Professor Wolf's Review of Vocational Education published in March 2011 recommended that, in order to meet the needs of the modern labour market, the overall study programmes of all full time students following largely vocational programmes in state-funded provision should be governed by a set of general principles relating primarily to content, general structure, assessment arrangements and contact time. Provided these principles are met, institutions should be free to offer any qualifications they please from a recognised awarding body. In addition, all students, regardless of the course the are on, who are under 19 and do not have GCSE A*- C in English and/or maths should be required as part of the programme to take a course which either leads directly to these qualifications, or which provide significant progress towards GCSE entry and success.
Professor Wolf also recommended that schools and colleges be encouraged to prioritise longer high quality internships or placements for 16-19 year olds, reflecting the fact that almost no young people move into full-time employment at 16.
The Government response, published in May 2011, accepted these recommendations in full. This consultation paper sets our proposals to ensure that all 16-19 year olds study coherent, well thought out programmes which offer them breadth and depth and do not limit their options for future study or work. This new approach, planned to be introduced at the same time as a new funding formula in 2013, will give providers substantially more freedom in designing full time course provision for students between the age of 16 and 19.
Launch Date: Thursday 6 October 2011
Closing Date: Wednesday 4 January 2012
The Children Act 2004 requires local authorities to appoint a Director of Children's Services (DCS) and Lead Member for Children's Services (LMCS) for the purposes of discharging the education and children's social services functions of the local authority. This consultation seeks views on revised statutory guidance for local authorities on the roles and responsibilities of the DCS and LMCS. Following consultation, the guidance will be revised and will replace the version issued in 2009.
Launch Date: Friday 30 September 2011
Closing Date: Friday 6 January 2012
We want to give schools greater freedom to appoint the right teachers for their pupils. This consultation sets out changes to the qualifications regulations and induction regulations for teachers in England. The changes will give qualified teacher status to QTLS holders and fully qualified teachers from the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Launch Date: Thursday 22 September 2011
Closing Date: Friday 16 December 2011
This consultation document provides details of the proposed changes to the NQT induction regulations for teachers in England. The current system for NQT induction is set out in The Education (Induction Arrangements for School Teachers) (England) Regulations 2008.
The White Paper "The Importance of Teaching" sets out a vision of the teacher as society's most valuable asset. We know that nothing matters more in improving education than giving every child access to the best possible teaching. The first, and most important, lesson is that no education system can be better than the quality of its teachers. The Government is therefore committed to raising the quality of new entrants to the profession. Reviewing the arrangements for supporting and challenging new entrants to improve their teaching in their first year of practice is a key element of securing this goal.
Current arrangements for the induction of newly qualified teachers are generally working well, but could be improved to ensure that they are less burdensome and reflect the needs of all schools, including academies and free schools. These proposals aim to reduce prescription and provide appropriate bodies and schools with the flexibility to exercise their professional judgement in relation to their own induction arrangements. This consultation invites comments on a number of specific proposals. These changes apply to England only.
Please also note the forthcoming consultation on proposed changes to the qualifications regulations for teachers. It is intended that these proposals will include consequential amendments to the induction regulations from April 2012 in respect of exemptions from statutory induction, which are additional to the amendments set out in this consultation.
Launch Date: Wednesday 14 September 2011
Closing Date: Thursday 1 December 2011
A consultation on implementing the requirement for schools and local authorities to make reasonable adjustments to provide auxiliary aids for disabled children under the Equality Act 2010. Although the Equality Act covers England, Scotland and Wales, this consultation covers England only as parallel consultations will be taking place in Scotland and Wales.
Launch Date: Monday 12 September 2011
Closing Date: Monday 5 December 2011
The Government said in the Schools White Paper, The Importance of Teaching, that it would conduct an internal review to determine how to support schools to improve the quality of teaching of personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education, including giving teachers the flexibility to use their judgement about how best to deliver PSHE education
This request for representations seeks your views on the core body of knowledge that pupils need to learn through PSHE education teaching and ways to improve the quality of teaching.
Launch Date: Thursday 21 July 2011
Closing Date: Wednesday 30 November 2011
The Department has launched the new Schools Financial Value Standard (SFVS) which replaces the Financial Management Standard in Schools (FMSiS). You can access the new policy by clicking here
