Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of all children repeating a full academic year as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

The Government recognises that extended school and college closures have had a huge effect on children and young people’s education, which will take more than a year to make up. On 27 January 2021, the Government announced a further £300 million of new funding for high quality tutoring to help children and young people catch up. The Government will be working in collaboration with the education sector to develop specific initiatives for summer schools and a COVID-19 premium to support catch up, alongside developing a long-term plan to support pupils to catch up over the course of this Parliament. Further detail on this funding and support will be confirmed in due course.