Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether has plans to extend free period products to primary schools.

No one should be held back from accessing education due to their period, which is why the Department launched the Period Products Scheme, providing pupils with period products when they need them. Since its launch in January 2020, 97% of secondary schools and 92% of post 16 colleges in England now provide free period products to pupils.

The Scheme already extends to all state funded primary schools with pupils in Years 5 and 6. Since its launch in January 2020, 68% of primary schools have ordered period products using the Scheme at least once.

The Department publishes statistics regarding the Scheme’s operation, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/period-products-scheme-management-information.

The Department is considering opportunities to publish further management information in the future, as well as the need for further research into the Scheme.