Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support her Department offers to (a) primary and (b) secondary schools to ensure that they understand the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

We know how important it is that children with medical conditions such as diabetes are supported to enjoy a full education. That is why we introduced the duty to require governing bodies to make arrangements to support pupils with medical conditions and have provided statutory guidance outlining schools’ responsibilities in this area.

As part of this guidance, we have provided a collection of links to useful resources to help schools support their pupils with medical conditions. This includes a link to the ‘diabetes in schools’ section of the Diabetes UK website. As of 15 June 2016, Diabetes UK estimate that 95% of under 19s with diabetes in the UK have Type 1 diabetes.

We also continue to work with organisations such as the Health Conditions in Schools Alliance to help raise further awareness of the duty on schools, and have recently promoted the duty through the department’s social media channels.