Schools: Social Distancing

(asked on 2nd June 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer on 28 May 2020 to Question 48615 on Schools: Coronavirus, what estimate he has made of the number of pupils that will attend a different school as a result of their school being unable to implement appropriate social distancing after 1 June 2020.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 10th June 2020

We are expecting the majority of schools and nurseries to open for children and young people who are eligible so that they can continue to attend their usual school. We recognise that schools need time to plan and to implement the guidance to open more widely, and that some will not have been able to do so by 1 June. We are committed to continuing to work with the sector to ensure any schools experiencing difficulties are able to open more widely as soon as possible.

Where a school is unable to stay open, we will work with local authorities, regional school commissioners and neighboring providers to find an alternative setting for their students.

We have made temporary changes to the law to allow children to attend another school on a temporary basis if their school is closed. The changes ensure they can return to their normal school once it reopens.

Reticulating Splines