Department for Education: Telephone Services

(asked on 14th December 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, in respect of his Department's general helpline 0370 000 2288, what the average (a) waiting time for callers was before the call was answered and (ii) call duration was, in each of the last eighteen months.


Answered by
Michelle Donelan Portrait
Michelle Donelan
Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
This question was answered on 5th January 2022

Table A details the average wait times for the department for the 0370 000 2288 helpline. Table B details the average call duration.

We are only able to provide this data for the last 12 months as the system data retention policy deletes data older than 1 year.

Table A: Average waiting time for callers before call answered

Month

Average waiting time for callers before call answered (seconds)

November 2020

115.93

December 2020

79.75

January 2021

88.43

February 2021

92.26

March 2021

72.64

April 2021

54.5

May 2021

73.95

June 2021

91.56

July 2021

61.08

August 2021

49.55

September 2021

112.6

October 2021

143.79

November 2021

101.69

December 2021

100.2

TABLE B: Average call duration for inbound calls

Month

Average call duration for inbound calls (seconds)

November 2020

481.05

December 2020

466.55

January 2021

403.76

February 2021

484.29

March 2021

491.8

April 2021

485.68

May 2021

522.83

June 2021

526.29

July 2021

488.79

August 2021

444.82

September 2021

564.77

October 2021

642.04

November 2021

579.38

December 2021

596.73

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