Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what is her estimate of the number of days of education lost during 2025 as a result of water leaks in school buildings.

Schools and their responsible bodies are not obliged to report school closures to the department and therefore the department does not hold the information requested. Many responsible bodies manage school closures locally and without central government support.

Where the department is notified of a significant event or issue with a school or college building that cannot be managed with local resources, we consider additional support on a case-by-case basis. We work closely with these responsible bodies and schools to minimise the impact of any closures and ensure continuity of education for pupils.

Effective and proactive estate management is key to maintaining a high-quality estate and preventing issues materialising that can disrupt education, like leaks. We already set out clear expectations in our School Estate Management Standards and, in February, launched a new digital service to bring together estates-related guidance, data, tools, programmes and funding in one place. From this autumn, we will ask responsible bodies to make an annual return to confirm they are meeting those standards. For those that are not, we will put in place an estate management capability support plan in agreement with the responsible body.