Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his policy is on the circumstances under which schools should deliver remote learning in place of face-to-face teaching to school and college pupils from September 2021.

School attendance is mandatory for all pupils of compulsory school age. However, schools are expected to provide remote education for pupils who test positive for COVID-19, where they are well enough to learn from home.

The Department issued a new remote education temporary continuity direction for the 2021/22 academic year, providing clarity about what is expected and ensuring consistency with the last academic year: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/remote-education-temporary-continuity-direction-explanatory-note. Schools affected by the temporary continuity direction must provide remote education for state funded, school aged pupils whose attendance would be contrary to local public health advice, Government guidance or law relating to COVID-19. Schools must also have regard to the expectations for remote education, published here: https://get-help-with-remote-education.education.gov.uk/statutory-obligations. These remain the same as the last academic year.

Where remote education is needed, schools are expected to offer pupils 3 to 5 hours of remote education per day, dependent on key stage. This includes either recorded or live direct teaching, alongside time for pupils to work independently to complete assignments that have been set. Online video lessons do not necessarily need to be recorded by teaching staff at the school. Oak National Academy lessons, for example, can be provided in lieu of school-led video content.

Further education (FE) students have also returned to on site provision. Where students are unable to attend in person because they have tested positive for COVID-19, but are well enough to continue learning, or where public health advice, guidance, or law restricts attendance more widely, the Department expect FE colleges to deliver as many planned hours as is feasible remotely. FE colleges should also provide students with regular feedback on their progress and, as far as possible, provide live online teaching in lieu of face to face delivery.

A comprehensive package of support continues to be available to schools and FE colleges to help them meet the remote education expectations: https://get-help-with-remote-education.education.gov.uk/. This support includes a further £2.1 million to Oak National Academy, enabling it to operate from the start of the next academic year through to Easter 2022. The purpose of this funding is to enable Oak to provide support to schools in developing the ability to switch from classroom teaching to remote provision immediately in case of COVID-19 restrictions or self-isolation.

To support access to remote education and online social care services, the Department has distributed over 1.35 million laptops and tablets to schools, trusts, local authorities and further education colleges for disadvantaged children and young people as part of a £400 million investment. The Department has also provided support for over 110,000 families to get online through uplifts in mobile data and 4G wireless routers. From Autumn 2021, grant funding will be available for schools and colleges to claim and provide internet connections to help disadvantaged pupils, where they have their education disrupted by COVID-19 during the autumn term.