To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) partial bursary places and (b) full bursary places were awarded by independent schools in (i) Edgbaston, (ii) Birmingham and (iii) the West Midlands in each of the last five years.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 3 September 2019 to Question 282372, what steps she is taking to encourage independent schools to work in partnership with state-funded schools.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 3 September 2019 to Question 282372, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of (a) full bursary places and (b) partial bursary places awarded by independent schools.

The Government has agreed a joint understanding with the Independent Schools Council to encourage more independent schools to work in partnership with state-funded schools across four key areas: governance, teaching, curriculum and targeted school improvement. The Department is supporting the growth of partnerships across these four areas, through a dedicated unit within the Department.

To further strengthen this work, the Department is calling for bids for its cross-sector partnerships grant, which opened on 9 October 2019. This grant aims to raise the ambition for what schools can achieve together, and to remove a key financial barrier to new high-impact, sustainable, and mutually beneficial partnerships forming.

The Department does not hold information on the number and type of bursaries offered by independent schools. In accordance with the joint understanding, and in addition to its work on partnerships, the Department will continue to work with the Independent Schools Council to encourage its member schools to offer a greater number of full bursary places, targeted at children from disadvantaged backgrounds.