Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of school closures during the covid-19 outbreak on the educational attainment of pupils in the long term.

The Department is committed to ensuring that children can continue to learn in these very difficult circumstances. We issued guidance on 7 April which signposts to an initial list of free online resources for schools and parents to help children to learn at home. This is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-online-education-resources.

In addition, some leading state schools have collaborated to open The Oak National Academy, which was launched online on 20 April. This new initiative is led by 40 teachers who have assembled video lessons and resources for any teacher in the country to make use of if they wish to do so. 180 video lessons will be provided each week, across a broad range of subjects, for every year group from Reception through to Year 10. The BBC has also developed resources for families as part of a comprehensive new education package, which are now available on TV and online.

On 19 April, the Department issued information, guidance and support to parents and carers of children who are continuing their education from home, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/supporting-your-childrens-education-during-coronavirus-covid-19.

On the same day, we also published information on the Department’s work in partnership with suppliers to provide technology to support remote education, which is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/get-help-with-technology-for-remote-education-during-coronavirus-covid-19.

Devices will be ordered for the most disadvantaged children who would otherwise not have access and are preparing for examinations in Year 10, for those who receive support from a social worker, and for care leavers.

Where care leavers, children with a social worker at secondary school and children in Year 10 do not have internet connections, we are working to provide 4G connectivity to them so that they can learn at home.