Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to incentivise or mandate schools to commission online education from providers accredited under the Department's online education accreditation scheme, and what financial or procurement barriers her Department has identified to schools doing so.

The department's voluntary online education accreditation scheme provides schools and local authorities with confidence that accredited providers have met a robust set of quality standards. The scheme is intended to support informed commissioning decisions and help schools and local authorities identify suitable online education provision where it is appropriate. The department does not currently require schools or local authorities to commission online education from accredited providers.

The department has not identified any specific financial or procurement barriers relating to the commissioning of accredited online education providers. Decisions on commissioning provision are made locally by schools and local authorities, taking account of individual circumstances and local needs.