Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending the Period product scheme for schools and colleges in England to also include higher education institutions.

The Period Products Scheme launched in January 2020 and has recently been extended until July 2024. Within the first two years of the scheme, 94% of secondary schools and 90% of post-16 organisations had ordered products at least once. Higher Education providers are autonomous bodies, and it is up to them how they meet their students’ needs. This can include providing discretionary financial support where required, which can be used to cover the purchase of period products.