Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to prepare for the future role of remote learning in the education system.

Technology in education has been essential for continuing to teach remotely during the COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent school and college closures. In the long term, it also has the potential to support teacher workload reductions, flexible working, cost savings, inclusive teaching practice and improved pupil outcomes.

A number of programmes which have been in place across the COVID-19 outbreak are providing valuable intelligence on the most impactful uses of remote education to deliver the curriculum to all pupils. The EdTech Demonstrator programme, which supports schools and colleges to use technology to strengthen remote education arrangements and develop a sustainable digital strategy, will provide an important evaluation of the impact of effective use of digital technology to improve outcomes for pupils. The Department’s digital platforms offer allows schools to provide remote online education and develop blended learning approaches for the longer term.

The Government has invested over £400 million in support for remote education, including securing over 1.3 million laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children. We will build on the foundations of this significant investment in technology and explore options for a strategy to create a more resilient digitally enabled education system which improves outcomes for all children and adults in education.