Schools: Coronavirus

(asked on 23rd June 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect on educational attainment of the need for whole class quarantine where a covid-19 outbreak occurs in school.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 2nd July 2021

Tracing close contacts of those who test positive for COVID-19 remains important for preventing the transmission of COVID-19. The Department’s priority is to keep as many children as possible in face to face education. While in some cases a whole class might be required to self-isolate, many schools are using seating plans and other means to minimise the number of individuals that need to isolate.

Where pupils are required to self-isolate, schools are still required to provide 3 to 5 hours of remote education per day depending on their Key Stage. This includes either recorded or live direct teaching as well as time for pupils to work independently to complete assignments that have been set.

To support schools in delivering remote education throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, the Department has delivered over 1.3 million laptops and tablets to schools, local authorities and academy trusts for disadvantaged children and young people.

The Department remains committed to helping all pupils make up education lost as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. That is why we have announced an extra £1.4 billion to support education recovery for children aged 2 to 19 in schools, colleges and early years, in addition to the £1.7 billion already announced.

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