Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Department's coronavirus helpline, advertised as at 0800 046 8687, how many calls have been (a) made to that number, (b) answered, (c) answered within five minutes, (d) answered within ten minutes, (v) abandoned by the caller before being answered, in each of the last 18 months.

The average wait times for the COVID-19 helpline for each month of the last eighteen months are contained in the attached table (row 7).

The average call duration for the COVID-19 helpline for each month of the last eighteen months are contained in the attached table (row 8).

The number of calls made to the COVID-19 helpline are contained in the attached table (row 4, calls offered). The number of calls answered are contained (row 5), as well as the number of calls abandoned (row 6).

It is not possible to provide the number of calls answered within five and ten minutes as this is not a reporting requirement of the contract, the average wait times are included, all of which are under five minutes, with the longest being just under three minutes in September 2020.