Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of installing ventilation, filtration and sterilisation systems in schools to help reduce the transmission of airborne pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2.

Helping schools have healthy school environments with good ventilation is a priority for the Department. Letting fresh air into indoor spaces can help remove air that contains virus particles and other airborne contaminants and is important in reducing the spread of airborne infections, including COVID-19 and flu. Good ventilation is also associated with improved alertness and concentration.

Over the last two years, the Department has provided CO₂ monitors to every state-funded school in England to help identify poorly ventilated spaces across their estates and help manage the need for ventilation and thermal comfort. Feedback suggests that, in most settings, existing ventilation measures are sufficient. For the very few teaching spaces where maintaining good ventilation is not possible, the Department has supplied HEPA air cleaning units. All eligible applications received during the previous roll out have been fulfilled and we are current working through this year’s applications. Air cleaning units are not a substitute for ventilation and are not necessary in spaces that are adequately ventilated.

The Department has published guidance in the Building Bulletin 101 (BB101), which provides guidelines on indoor and outdoor air quality in new and refurbished schools: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-bulletin-101-ventilation-for-school-buildings. BB101 guidance promotes best practice in controlling pollutants and setting maximum standards for levels of pollutants in indoors.