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<p>The Department works closely with relevant partners such as the Joint Bio Security
Centre, Public Health England, the Department of Health and Social Care, and the Office
for National Statistics to understand regional trends in COVID-19 infection. Furthermore,
our regional REACT teams gather information about the challenges facing individual
schools and supports them to respond to their local circumstances.</p><p>The Department
collects data from schools, nurseries, and colleges detailing absences related to
COVID-19. We are also conducting research to understand the learning lost by school
aged pupils as a result of disruption caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.</p><p>The Department
recognises that pupils, including those due to sit exams and assessments next year,
will have experienced disruption to their education due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The measures announced on 3 December are the best way to ensure pupils have a fair
chance of showing their knowledge and understanding of a subject in exams. These include
grading that is more generous than previous years and adaptions to exams, such as
giving pupils exam support materials and advance notice of topic areas.</p>
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