Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the remote education support scheme being offered by mobile phone networks in partnership with his Department, how many pupils are receiving support offered by (a) EE, (b) O2, (c) Sky Mobile, (d) SMARTY, (e) Tesco Mobile, (f) Three, (g) Virgin Mobile and (f) Vodafone as of 15 February 2021.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As of Monday 15 February 2021, over one million laptops and tablets have been delivered to schools, academy trusts, local authorities and further education providers. More information can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/laptops-and-tablets-data. This data is published every week during term time.
The Department has partnered with the UK’s leading mobile operators to provide free data to help disadvantaged children get online. We will provide official statistics on the number of requests received for uplifts in mobile data in early March 2021. We will not be able to provide a breakdown of the numbers of requests received for each provider as this information is commercially sensitive for providers.
We are grateful to EE, Lycamobile, O2, Sky Mobile, Smarty, Tesco Mobile, Three, Virgin Mobile, BT Mobile, Vodafone, iD Mobile and giffgaff for supporting the mobile data offer. We are currently engaged with additional mobile network operators to provide further support through this offer.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) laptops and tablets and (b) 4G wireless routers have been delivered to (i) schools, (ii) local authorities and (iii) academy trusts as of 15 February 2021.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As of Monday 15 February 2021, over one million laptops and tablets have been delivered to schools, academy trusts, local authorities and further education providers. More information can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/laptops-and-tablets-data. This data is published every week during term time.
The Department has partnered with the UK’s leading mobile operators to provide free data to help disadvantaged children get online. We will provide official statistics on the number of requests received for uplifts in mobile data in early March 2021. We will not be able to provide a breakdown of the numbers of requests received for each provider as this information is commercially sensitive for providers.
We are grateful to EE, Lycamobile, O2, Sky Mobile, Smarty, Tesco Mobile, Three, Virgin Mobile, BT Mobile, Vodafone, iD Mobile and giffgaff for supporting the mobile data offer. We are currently engaged with additional mobile network operators to provide further support through this offer.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many school pupils (a) are eligible to take part in the mass asymptomatic covid-19 testing programme in schools, (b) have parental consent to take part in the scheme and (c) do not yet have parental consent and are unable to be tested under the scheme.
Answered by Nick Gibb
To date, all secondary and college pupils are eligible to take part in the Mass Asymptomatic Testing Programme. Regarding consent, schools and colleges are the individual data controllers responsible for processing any personal data, including obtaining and maintaining records of consent, for testing carried out on their sites. As part of testing, schools and colleges share data on tests carried out with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), at which point DHSC becomes the data controller. Therefore, the Department for Education does not hold the requested information.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the geographic variation in the uptake of funding to help schools set up remote learning platforms.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is currently working with Google and Microsoft providers to deliver the Digital Education Platforms programme. The programme provides Government funded support for schools and colleges to get set up on one of two free to use digital platforms, which includes G Suite for Education (Google Classroom), and Office 365 Education (Microsoft Teams).
The funding covers the technical set up of the platform including all staff, pupil and student accounts.
Support is available to state funded:
The funded support is for schools and colleges that:
The Microsoft and Google platforms were chosen as they are free to use to the education sector and had the unified technology and support to set up and deliver effective remote education provision.
Google and Microsoft also offer several features and functionalities that are suitable for school needs.
As of 1 February 2021, £4.8 million has been spent out of a programme budget of £14.23 million, leaving £9.43 million of remaining funding.
The numbers of schools applying to the programme by RSC region is as follows:
The Department wants to ensure all schools are set up with a remote learning platform and are keeping this under constant review.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has plans to increase the funding for technical support to enable schools to access remote education platforms.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is currently working with Google and Microsoft providers to deliver the Digital Education Platforms programme. The programme provides Government funded support for schools and colleges to get set up on one of two free to use digital platforms, which includes G Suite for Education (Google Classroom), and Office 365 Education (Microsoft Teams).
The funding covers the technical set up of the platform including all staff, pupil and student accounts.
Support is available to state funded:
The funded support is for schools and colleges that:
The Microsoft and Google platforms were chosen as they are free to use to the education sector and had the unified technology and support to set up and deliver effective remote education provision.
Google and Microsoft also offer several features and functionalities that are suitable for school needs.
As of 1 February 2021, £4.8 million has been spent out of a programme budget of £14.23 million, leaving £9.43 million of remaining funding.
The numbers of schools applying to the programme by RSC region is as follows:
The Department wants to ensure all schools are set up with a remote learning platform and are keeping this under constant review.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the cost to the public purse has been of technical support to help schools set up accounts for Google and Microsoft during lockdown; and (b) how much funding is left for that purpose.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is currently working with Google and Microsoft providers to deliver the Digital Education Platforms programme. The programme provides Government funded support for schools and colleges to get set up on one of two free to use digital platforms, which includes G Suite for Education (Google Classroom), and Office 365 Education (Microsoft Teams).
The funding covers the technical set up of the platform including all staff, pupil and student accounts.
Support is available to state funded:
The funded support is for schools and colleges that:
The Microsoft and Google platforms were chosen as they are free to use to the education sector and had the unified technology and support to set up and deliver effective remote education provision.
Google and Microsoft also offer several features and functionalities that are suitable for school needs.
As of 1 February 2021, £4.8 million has been spent out of a programme budget of £14.23 million, leaving £9.43 million of remaining funding.
The numbers of schools applying to the programme by RSC region is as follows:
The Department wants to ensure all schools are set up with a remote learning platform and are keeping this under constant review.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he is taking steps to ensure that the list of suggested digital education platforms in the Constituency framework: education and childcare setting (excluding universities) guidance includes the full range of common platforms used by schools beyond Microsoft and Google.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is currently working with Google and Microsoft providers to deliver the Digital Education Platforms programme. The programme provides Government funded support for schools and colleges to get set up on one of two free to use digital platforms, which includes G Suite for Education (Google Classroom), and Office 365 Education (Microsoft Teams).
The funding covers the technical set up of the platform including all staff, pupil and student accounts.
Support is available to state funded:
The funded support is for schools and colleges that:
The Microsoft and Google platforms were chosen as they are free to use to the education sector and had the unified technology and support to set up and deliver effective remote education provision.
Google and Microsoft also offer several features and functionalities that are suitable for school needs.
As of 1 February 2021, £4.8 million has been spent out of a programme budget of £14.23 million, leaving £9.43 million of remaining funding.
The numbers of schools applying to the programme by RSC region is as follows:
The Department wants to ensure all schools are set up with a remote learning platform and are keeping this under constant review.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he made of the potential merits of different platforms prior to including (a) Microsoft and (b) Google and not other commonly used platforms in the Constituency framework: education and childcare setting (excluding universities) guidance.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is currently working with Google and Microsoft providers to deliver the Digital Education Platforms programme. The programme provides Government funded support for schools and colleges to get set up on one of two free to use digital platforms, which includes G Suite for Education (Google Classroom), and Office 365 Education (Microsoft Teams).
The funding covers the technical set up of the platform including all staff, pupil and student accounts.
Support is available to state funded:
The funded support is for schools and colleges that:
The Microsoft and Google platforms were chosen as they are free to use to the education sector and had the unified technology and support to set up and deliver effective remote education provision.
Google and Microsoft also offer several features and functionalities that are suitable for school needs.
As of 1 February 2021, £4.8 million has been spent out of a programme budget of £14.23 million, leaving £9.43 million of remaining funding.
The numbers of schools applying to the programme by RSC region is as follows:
The Department wants to ensure all schools are set up with a remote learning platform and are keeping this under constant review.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what framework he used to determine which digital platforms are included in the Department’s Constituency framework: education and childcare setting (excluding universities) guidance.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is currently working with Google and Microsoft providers to deliver the Digital Education Platforms programme. The programme provides Government funded support for schools and colleges to get set up on one of two free to use digital platforms, which includes G Suite for Education (Google Classroom), and Office 365 Education (Microsoft Teams).
The funding covers the technical set up of the platform including all staff, pupil and student accounts.
Support is available to state funded:
The funded support is for schools and colleges that:
The Microsoft and Google platforms were chosen as they are free to use to the education sector and had the unified technology and support to set up and deliver effective remote education provision.
Google and Microsoft also offer several features and functionalities that are suitable for school needs.
As of 1 February 2021, £4.8 million has been spent out of a programme budget of £14.23 million, leaving £9.43 million of remaining funding.
The numbers of schools applying to the programme by RSC region is as follows:
The Department wants to ensure all schools are set up with a remote learning platform and are keeping this under constant review.
Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria the Department used to include (a) Microsoft and (b) Google but not other commonly used platforms in its list of suggested providers in the Constituency framework: education and childcare setting (excluding universities) guidance.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is currently working with Google and Microsoft providers to deliver the Digital Education Platforms programme. The programme provides Government funded support for schools and colleges to get set up on one of two free to use digital platforms, which includes G Suite for Education (Google Classroom), and Office 365 Education (Microsoft Teams).
The funding covers the technical set up of the platform including all staff, pupil and student accounts.
Support is available to state funded:
The funded support is for schools and colleges that:
The Microsoft and Google platforms were chosen as they are free to use to the education sector and had the unified technology and support to set up and deliver effective remote education provision.
Google and Microsoft also offer several features and functionalities that are suitable for school needs.
As of 1 February 2021, £4.8 million has been spent out of a programme budget of £14.23 million, leaving £9.43 million of remaining funding.
The numbers of schools applying to the programme by RSC region is as follows:
The Department wants to ensure all schools are set up with a remote learning platform and are keeping this under constant review.