Question to the Department for Education:

What steps his Department is taking to ensure the adequacy of education received by school pupils during the covid-19 outbreak.

All primary and secondary schools in England are now expected to provide remote education for the majority of their pupils and students, with the exception of vulnerable children and young people and the children of critical workers, who can attend school or college in person. Where vulnerable children and young people and children of critical workers do not attend school or college, we expect schools and colleges to provide them with remote education.

We have updated the remote education guidance for schools to clarify and strengthen expectations while on-site attendance is restricted, drawing on our evolving understanding of best practice in remote education. This guidance is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/952443/210114_School_national_restrictions_guidance_FINAL_14012021.pdf#page=46&zoom=100,72,76.

To ensure all pupils continue to access high-quality education, we are securing 1.3 million laptops, investing over £400 million to support access to remote education. A comprehensive package of support continues to be available to schools and colleges which can be accessed via the Get Help with Remote Education page on gov.uk, available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/get-help-with-remote-education. As part of that support, we have published a ‘Review Your Remote Education Provision’ tool to help schools to understand their remote education strategies and signpost them towards packages of support to help them meet basic requirements and go further in their strategies, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-your-remote-education-provision?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_source=53522a25-c275-4777-996d-ade6d8f11bd5&utm_content=immediately.

We have asked schools to publish information about their remote education provision on their websites by 25 January and published an optional template to support schools in setting out that information, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/providing-remote-education-information-to-parents-template.

During the spring term Ofsted will conduct monitoring inspections of schools most in need. These will have a strong focus on remote education and an emphasis on being supportive. In addition, Ofsted will inspect schools of any grade if it has any significant concerns about a school’s provision, including in relation to remote education. Where parents approach Ofsted with concerns, having first sought to resolve them with the school, Ofsted will consider and take action where appropriate. This could mean discussing the complaint with the school, or if necessary, inspecting the school.