Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to review covid-19 measures ahead of the autumn 2021 term in the event of increased infection levels.

On 5 July 2021, it was announced that when the Government moves to Step 4 of the roadmap, most COVID-19 restrictions will be relaxed across all parts of society. As measures will be eased at Step 4, it is appropriate to relax the measures in early years, schools, colleges, and universities so that we can return to normal as far as possible.

The Department’s priority is for all schools to deliver face to face, high quality education to all pupils and students. The evidence is clear that being out of education causes significant harm to educational attainment, life chances, mental and physical health.

When we move to Step 4, the Department’s aim is to balance the risks associated with COVID-19 whilst moving to a ‘steady state’ that minimises the burden of implementing the system of controls on staff and parents, and the effect those measures have on young people’s educational experience.

Asymptomatic testing will resume in the autumn term for staff and for pupils of secondary age and above. Schools and colleges should offer pupils 2 lateral flow device tests at an on-site asymptomatic test site, 3 to 5 days apart. They may start this testing up to 3 days before the start of term and can stagger the return of pupils during the first week of term to accommodate this. Following the first two on-site tests, pupils should continue to test twice weekly at home until the end of September, when this will be reviewed.

Staff across all schools, colleges, and nurseries should also test regularly at home until the end of September, at which point this will be reviewed in line with public health advice.

All schools and nurseries should have outbreak management plans outlining how they would operate if there was an outbreak on site or in their local area. If an outbreak occurs or if they are in an enhanced response area, the local director of public health might advise a school to temporarily reintroduce some control measures. The contingency framework describes the principles of managing local outbreaks of COVID-19 in schools and nurseries: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-local-restrictions-in-education-and-childcare-settings/contingency-framework-education-and-childcare-settings.

The Department has worked closely with the Department of Health and Social Care and Public Health England to revise guidance for schools, colleges and nurseries from Step 4. We will continue to keep these measures under review in partnership with health experts and informed by the latest scientific evidence and advice. The guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus/education-and-childcare.