Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the covid-19 outbreak, whether children returning to school in June 2020 will follow the National Curriculum.

Schools and colleges continue to be best placed to make decisions about how to support and educate all their pupils during this period, based on the local context and staff capacity.

Where year groups are returning to school, we would expect school leaders and teachers to assess the stage pupils have reached in the school curriculum and the adjustments that may need to be made.

Schools should do all they can to support pupils attending school as well as those remaining at home, making use of the available remote education support such as Oak National Academy.

No school will be penalised if they are unable to offer a broad and balanced curriculum to their pupils during this period.

These are rapidly developing circumstances; we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.