Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of allowing students, parents and carers the choice of retaking a school year due to the effects of the covid-19 pandemic.

The Government recognises that the national lockdown has had a huge impact on children and young people’s education, which will take more than a year to catch 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.