Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Turing Scheme: Disadvantaged Students

Monday 26 April 2021 · 4 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The Turing scheme provides additional financial support to make opportunities accessible for disadvantaged students.
  • Craig Williams inquired about support for agricultural and technical education through the Turing scheme.
  • Matt Western criticized the Turing scheme for offering less financial support compared to Erasmus, to which the Minister responded with clarification and correction of inaccuracies.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Craig Williams Con
Education
Context

The Turing scheme aims to support disadvantaged students in accessing international educational opportunities. The question addresses the need to encourage take-up among this group.

Question

What steps his Department is taking to encourage take-up of the Turing scheme by disadvantaged students?

Answer from Gavin Williamson (Secretary of State for Education)

The Turing scheme encourages take-up among students from disadvantaged backgrounds, with additional financial support to make this opportunity accessible to all. Disadvantaged students can receive increased grants towards living costs and funding for travel-related costs such as passports, visas and insurance. We have actively targeted and promoted the scheme in areas of disadvantage, helping to level up the country.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not provide specific details on targeting and promoting the scheme in disadvantaged areas

Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)

Q2 Craig Williams Con
Education Agriculture & Rural Affairs
Context

The question pertains to the support for agricultural and technical education within the framework of the Turing scheme, highlighting its importance in international learning.

Question

Can I ask my right hon. Friend particularly about agricultural and technical education? Across the United Kingdom, young farmers clubs and our agricultural colleges are doing a terrific job and have built a global network, and have often been let down by previous schemes. What can we do to support the technical and agricultural aspects of this scheme?

Answer from Gavin Williamson (Secretary of State for Education)

I think we all know in this House that my hon. Friend is a great champion of agricultural interests in his Montgomeryshire constituency. He is right. This is an incredibly international business and it is important to learn on an international level, whether it is from our friends in Australia, in New Zealand or in many other countries. I would be happy to meet him to discuss how this could be done more, maybe through the agricultural colleges and universities that serve our agriculture industry so very well.

Not addressed: Did not provide specific details on supporting technical and agricultural education under Turing scheme

How: Would Meet To Discuss Further

Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)

Q3 Carol Monaghan SNP
Education Brexit
Context

The question addresses the need for assessing the success of the Turing scheme specifically among disadvantaged students and asks for a commitment to an annual report.

Question

The Government have stated that they want more disadvantaged students to participate in Turing, so how does the Secretary of State assess the success of this scheme for disadvantaged students, and will he commit to an annual report to Parliament on these figures?

Answer from Gavin Williamson (Secretary of State for Education)

We have already seen a really high level of interest from both institutions and, most importantly, students in the new Turing scheme. They recognise that they want to seize the opportunities on a global scale as against being constrained by the European Union. That is why I have every confidence that we will have such an enormous success with the Turing scheme and it will be truly transformative to young people's lives.

Not addressed: Did not commit to annual report or provide concrete assessment criteria

How: High Level Of Interest, Confidence In Success

Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)

Q4 Matt Western Lab Warwick and Leamington
Education Brexit
Context

The question highlights discrepancies between the Erasmus scheme and the newly introduced Turing scheme, focusing on areas such as cost of living support, travel costs, and tuition fees.

Question

This is a Government of illusion. The Prime Minister said that there was no risk to Erasmus, then it was gone, replaced with the Turing scheme, which Ministers said would improve opportunities. But a quick look at the scheme shows that for cost of living, Turing offers just £490 of support—£140 less than Erasmus—while for travel costs, only a fraction of students are now eligible whereas under Erasmus+ all students were eligible for up to £1,300. In tuition fees, there is no support, whereas it was guaranteed under Erasmus for free. Could the Secretary of State just be straight with students and confirm that Turing equals Erasmus minus?

Answer from Gavin Williamson (Secretary of State for Education)

I am afraid the hon. Gentleman obviously is not very familiar with the scheme. Actually, there are a number of slight inaccuracies in what he stated. I would be happy to send him the details so that he can undertake some homework and understand it a little bit better in future.

Not addressed: Did not confirm or deny the comparison between Erasmus and Turing schemes

How: Gentleman Is Not Familiar, Slight Inaccuracies

Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)