Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the cost for families of mandatory 1:1 digital device programmes in schools.

The department is clear that schools cannot charge for learning resources, including laptops and other devices, where they are required for education during school hours or for national curriculum-related learning outside school hours. The department does not specify the number of IT devices for schools and it is up to the schools to determine the number of devices they need. A small proportion of schools have a parent contribution scheme or similar for digital devices, but such schemes should not be presented as mandatory. The department does not collect data on the specific costs of such schemes.