Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the indicative thresholds for numbers of infection set by his Department in its contingency framework, in the context of the latest data on transmission of covid-19 in schools and other educational settings.

The department has worked with the UK Health Security Agency (UKSHA) to develop the thresholds outlined in the contingency framework. These are designed to help schools identify when it might be sensible to seek public health advice. It is not mandatory to seek public health advice when these thresholds are reached, and the thresholds alone do not guarantee that there is an ‘outbreak’ in the school. They are intended as a guide to indicate where there may be a substantial increase in transmission within the school.

Schools should continue to use their reasonable judgement when it appears that COVID-19 might be spreading between people who closely mix and seek advice from the department’s helpline or through locally agreed support if they have any concerns. We believe that the protective measures in place in schools continues to strike the right balance between managing the transmission risk and reducing disruption to education.

The department remains prepared to step measures up or down in response to the latest epidemiological data. The department will continue to monitor it closely and will not hesitate to amend or update policy and guidance if it is necessary to help protect people’s health and support maximising face-to-face education.