Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department provides to local authorities on support for schools in cases of (a) snow and (b) other extreme weather.

It is for individual settings and responsible bodies to decide on closures based on their own risk assessment. Closures should be a last resort, and the priority is to keep settings open where it is safe to do so.

The department’s emergency planning guidance outlines how schools should provide remote education when schools are closed due to snow and other forms of extreme weather, such as extreme heat, flooding and storms. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/emergency-planning-and-response-for-education-childcare-and-childrens-social-care-settings/emergency-planning-and-response-for-education-childcare-and-childrens-social-care-settings#exam-and-assessment-disruption.

We have also issued non-statutory guidance on providing remote education guidance for schools, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/providing-remote-education-guidance-for-schools/providing-remote-education-guidance-for-schools. Both sets of guidance are available online for local authorities to use.

All schools and colleges must also have contingency plans to ensure exams and assessments proceed during disruption. Detailed guidance on managing exam or assessment disruption can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/exam-system-contingency-plan-england-wales-and-northern-ireland/what-schools-and-colleges-should-do-if-exams-or-other-assessments-are-seriously-disrupted.