Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress the Government has made on allocating funding through the Holiday Activities and Food scheme.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The Holiday Activities and Food programme are integral to our approach to provide healthy food to children over the summer. It will ensure thousands of disadvantaged children have access to healthy meals and holiday activities in summer 2020 – building on the success of the 2018 and 2019 programmes – and remaining committed to supporting children and families through the disruption caused by COVID-19.
On Monday 22 June the Department for Education published an announcement with the details of the Holiday Activities and Food programme and the areas that were successful in receiving the funding for 2020. Grant funding was allocated based on a competitive bidding process. The successful bidders and areas are:
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the quality of education for children receiving remote tuition due to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is continuing to assess the impact of school closure on children and young people’s educational attainment.
We have published a comprehensive range of advice and guidance to support schools during this time. This includes a list of high-quality online resources, which have been assessed with support from some of the country’s leading educational experts, to help pupils learn at home.
We have worked with schools to produce case studies guidance on remote education practice. This guidance provides an opportunity for schools to learn from each other's emerging practice as they develop their own approaches.
We are supporting sector-led initiatives such as the Oak National Academy. This new enterprise has been created by 40 teachers from schools across England. It will provide 180 video lessons for free each week, across a broad range of subjects, for every year group from Reception through to year 10. By 28 June, 4.1 million unique users had accessed the Oak National Academy website and 14.7 million lessons had been viewed.
Additionally, the BBC has developed resources for families as part of a comprehensive new education package, which is now available on TV and online at BBC Bitesize.
We have committed over £100 million to boost remote education, this includes: providing devices and internet access for those who need it most, ensuring every school that wants it has access to free, expert technical support to get set up on Google for Education or Microsoft’s Office 365 Education, and offering peer support from schools and colleges leading the way with the use of education technology.
We expect all pupils to return to school in the autumn, and the Department published guidance on 2 July. Given the possibility that groups of pupils need to self-isolate, such as for a local lockdown, all schools will also be expected to have remote education contingency plans in place by the end of September. The guidance sets out what is expected from schools for their remote education provision.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support people who do not have a support network to access childcare as they return to work as covid-19 restrictions are eased.
Answered by Vicky Ford
From 1 June, early years settings have been able to welcome back all children.
Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that there are sufficient childcare places and we continue to liaise with local authorities to obtain information about the supply and demand for childcare. Anyone who needs help or advice in accessing registered childcare should contact their local authorities.
Guidance for parents and carers about opening from 1 June can be found at:
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (a) financial and (b) educational support is provided to postgraduate students whose education has moved online.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
This is a difficult and uncertain time for students, but we are working with the sector to make sure all reasonable efforts are being made to enable students to continue their studies.
Eligible students studying designated postgraduate courses online are entitled to apply for a postgraduate loan. The rate of loan is the same for all students.
Higher education providers are working to ensure that learning and teaching continues and is completed through the use of online teaching and other digital delivery. Providers will contact students to tell them how this will affect their studies.
The Office for Students, the higher education regulator in England, has produced guidance on practical ways in which students can complete their studies whilst ensuring quality and standards are upheld. This covers teaching, learning and assessment during this difficult time - further details are available here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/publications/guidance-for-providers-about-quality-and-standards-during-coronavirus-pandemic/.
The government is also working closely with the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, the professional bodies and the Office for Students to ensure students continue to leave university with qualifications that have real value, reflect their hard work and allow people to progress.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support his Department is providing to (a) students who are home schooled to access exam centres for exams taking place in summer 2020 and (b) teachers at those exam centres facilitating those exams.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Following the cancellation of this year’s exams, the exam boards will be providing students with calculated grades, wherever possible. No exams will take place in summer 2020.
There will be an opportunity for students to sit exams in the autumn term, if they feel their calculated grade does not reflect their ability. There will also be a small group of students for whom there is not enough evidence for a calculated grade to be derived in the summer, including some home educated students. It is particularly important that these students are able to achieve grades through the additional exam series.
We have published guidance that sets out our expectation that the exam centre that submitted entries for students for exams in summer 2020 should enter them in the autumn if they wish to take exams, or take responsibility for ensuring that they have somewhere appropriate to sit their exams in exceptional cases where attending the original centre is not the best option for the student. This arrangement extends to all students who wish to take exams in the additional autumn series, including those who are home educated.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he has taken to ensure that (a) children from disadvantaged families and (b) other children have adequate access to food during all school holidays.
Answered by Vicky Ford
I refer the hon. Members to the answer I have given today to Question 54195.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has plans to reimburse students that have paid deposits on (a) private and (b) university housing for the 2020-21 academic year and whose education may be disrupted as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
As both my right hon. Friends, the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have made clear, the government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID-19.
The government encourages universities and private hall providers to be fair in their decisions about accommodation charges for this period.
Information published by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) gives guidance (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cma-to-investigate-concerns-about-cancellation-policies-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic/the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic-consumer-contracts-cancellation-and-refunds) on the COVID-19 outbreak’s effects on consumer contracts and may be helpful to students, including those who have already paid deposits for accommodation.
The guidance sets out the CMA’s view on how the law operates to help consumers understand their rights and to help businesses treat their customers fairly. Students may be entitled to refunds from certain accommodation providers depending on the terms of their contract and their particular circumstances. If students need help, organisations such as Citizens Advice offer a free service, providing information and support.
Students who have already signed an accommodation contract for next year and, because of COVID-19, think it may no longer fit their requirements, should talk directly to their housing provider.
If a student thinks that their accommodation provider is treating them unfairly, they can raise a complaint under the accommodation codes of practice as long as their provider is a code member. The codes can be found at: https://www.thesac.org.uk/; https://www.unipol.org.uk/the-code/how-to-complain and: https://www.rla.org.uk/about/nrla-code-of-practice.shtml.
We have worked closely with the Office for Students to enable higher education (HE) providers to draw on existing funding to increase hardship funds and support disadvantaged students impacted by COVID-19. As a result, providers will be able to use the funding worth around £23 million per month for June and July, towards student hardship funds.
We have also asked that HE providers pay particular attention to the additional financial hardships that are being faced by student staff who have been reliant on income from campus-based jobs at this time.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that (a) vulnerable pupils and (b) pupils living with vulnerable relatives are supported when schools re-open following covid-19 lockdown measures.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Keeping people safe continues to be the government’s main priority. We have been clear that the wider opening of schools must be done in a way that is measured, reduces risk, is guided by science, and ensures that safety remains the absolute priority. We published guidance for parents and carers to help them prepare for the opening of schools and educational settings to more pupils from 1 June.
The guidance is clear that children and young people who are considered extremely clinically vulnerable and shielding should continue to shield and should not be expected to attend. Clinically vulnerable (but not clinically extremely vulnerable) people are those considered to be at a higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19. A minority of children will fall into this category, and parents should follow medical advice if their child is in this category. Children and young people who live in a household with someone who is extremely clinically vulnerable and shielding should only attend school if stringent social distancing can be adhered to, and where the child or young person is able to understand and follow those instructions. If a child or young person lives with someone who is clinically vulnerable (but not clinically extremely vulnerable), including those who are pregnant, they can attend their education or childcare setting. The guidance for parents and carers is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers/reopening-schools-and-other-educational-settings-from-1-june#should-i-keep-my-child-at-home-if-they-have-an-underlying-health-condition-or-live-with-someone-in-a-clinically-vulnerable-group.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans there are for integration of key worker children and other children when they return to school after the covid-19 lockdown measures are eased.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As a result of the huge efforts everyone has made to adhere to strict social distancing measures, the transmission rate of COVID-19 has decreased and the Government’s five tests have been met. Based on all the evidence, the Department asked primary schools to welcome back children in nursery, reception, year 1 and year 6, alongside priority groups (vulnerable children and children of critical workers), from 1 June. From 15 June, secondary schools can invite year 10 and 12 pupils (years 10 and 11 for alternative provision schools) back into school for some face-to-face support with their teachers, to supplement their remote education, which will remain the predominant mode of education for these pupils this term. Priority groups can continue to attend full-time.
The Department has published a range of guidance for schools and nurseries to help them prepare for wider opening, including guidance on implementing protective measures and a planning guide for primary schools. These are available on GOV.UK:
This guidance sets out a range of principles for creating small, consistent groups to lower the risk of transmission. Children of critical workers and vulnerable children who are in reception, year 1 or year 6 should be included in groups with their own year group, up to a maximum size of 15 pupils. Vulnerable children and children of critical workers in other year groups should also be split into small groups of no more than 15.
Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to ensure university students are not financially penalised due to a delay to the academic year as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
Students will continue to receive payments of maintenance loans for the remainder of the current academic year.
Universities offering good tuition online will continue to charge fees. However, the government has been clear that if universities want to charge full fees, they will have to ensure that good-quality courses are delivered which are fit for purpose and help students progress towards their qualifications.
The government’s clear expectation is that providers should make all reasonable efforts to enable students to complete their studies. If institutions are unable to facilitate adequate online tuition then they should seek to avoid charging students for any additional terms they may need to undergo as a consequence – therefore avoiding effectively charging them twice.
If students are concerned, there is a process in place. They should first raise this with their university. If their concerns are unresolved, students can contact the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education.