Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what Government funding has been allocated to Oak National Academy to provide online learning resources and digital lessons; and for what period of time that funding has been so allocated.

The Department has made £4.84 million available for the Oak National Academy for the summer term of this academic year and for the 2020-21 academic year to provide video lessons for Reception up to year 11.

The purpose of this funding is to enable Oak to provide support to schools in developing the ability to switch from classroom teaching to remote provision immediately in case of local lockdowns or self-isolation. This is time-limited funding which is being made available to Oak National Academy as an emergency response to the COVID-19 outbreak and recovery period.

We have also published an updated list of high quality online educational resources, which have been assessed with the support of some of the country’s leading educational subject experts to help pupils to learn at home while they may not be able to attend their normal setting. The list includes resources in six priority areas including maths, English, science, PE, mental wellbeing and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), from early years to key stage 5, and which are currently available for free.

Resources published can be found using the link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-online-education-resources.