Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their guidance to keep windows in classrooms open to improve ventilation, what assessment they have made of (1) the amount of extra carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere because of higher energy use in all schools, and (2) the average increase in carbon dioxide emissions in (a) primary schools, and (b) secondary schools.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the department has provided guidance to settings on how to manage ventilation, in addition to providing over 360,000 CO2 monitors to state-funded education providers in England. As well as helping to identify areas that are poorly ventilated, CO2 monitors can be useful to help education providers balance good ventilation with keeping classrooms warm.

Ensuring adequate ventilation does not need to be at the expense of keeping classrooms warm. Education providers do not need to keep windows fully open at all times. Opening windows regularly for 10 minutes, or a small amount continuously, can still improve ventilation substantially. The department’s guidance has also been clear that when CO2 monitors indicate good ventilation, there is no need to open additional windows. The guidance can be found in full here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-ventilation-of-indoor-spaces-to-stop-the-spread-of-coronavirus.

Maintaining adequate ventilation remains the responsibility of individual education providers. The department does not hold the information requested on the increase in energy usage or carbon emissions due to opening windows. This will vary according to a range of factors, including how individual education providers manage ventilation in their estate.