Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made for the implications of his policies for (a) regional variations in covid-19 infection rates, and (b) the number of days of schooling lost as a result of covid-19 restrictions on school exams in 2021.

The Department works closely with relevant partners such as the Joint Bio Security Centre, Public Health England, the Department of Health and Social Care, and the Office for National Statistics to understand regional trends in COVID-19 infection. Furthermore, our regional REACT teams gather information about the challenges facing individual schools and supports them to respond to their local circumstances.

The Department collects data from schools, nurseries, and colleges detailing absences related to COVID-19. We are also conducting research to understand the learning lost by school aged pupils as a result of disruption caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Department recognises that pupils, including those due to sit exams and assessments next year, will have experienced disruption to their education due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The measures announced on 3 December are the best way to ensure pupils have a fair chance of showing their knowledge and understanding of a subject in exams. These include grading that is more generous than previous years and adaptions to exams, such as giving pupils exam support materials and advance notice of topic areas.