Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of pupils were attending (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in person on (a) 5 January 2021 and (b) 12 January 2021.

The requested data is presented in the table below. Please note that schools were not asked to complete the educational settings survey from 5 January while the survey was changed to reflect the changes in the national lockdown, Therefore, we present figures for 4 January instead.

On Monday 4 January, many schools were expected to still be on Christmas break or have planned inset days[5]. The response rate to the survey of educational settings on 4 January was low and nearly half of responding schools reported an inset day or non-COVID related closure (47%). Therefore, figures for 4 January 2021 exclude schools in areas expected to still be on Christmas break and those that reported inset days or non-COVID related closures.

Figures have not been adjusted for non-response and are therefore may not be nationally representative.

[1] Response rates are included for context.

[2] Attendance figures are for in person attendance.

[3] Includes ‘middle deemed primary’ schools.

[4] Includes ‘middle deemed secondary’ and ‘all-through schools’.

[5] The vast majority of schools in the following local authorities were expected to still be on Christmas break on 4 January: Suffolk, North East Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire, Rutland, Bury, Stockport, Wigan, Shropshire, Warwickshire, Central Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire, West Berkshire, North Yorkshire. Some schools in other local authorities were also still on Christmas break or had inset days - academies are not required to follow local authority term dates and schools can set their own inset days.