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1485437

registered interest
date	28/06/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the steps his Department has taken to help children’s education recover from the impact of the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Stretford and Urmston
tabling member printed	Kate Green
uin	900850
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/07/2022 answer text <p>Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 disruption on the attainment and progress of all students is a key research priority for the government. That is why we invested in research into academic progress over the 2020/21 and 2021/22 academic years with Renaissance Learning and the Education Policy Institute. The latest findings from this research, published 28 March, include data from the first half of the 2021-22 autumn term. The findings from this research have been published on gov.uk at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupils-progress-in-the-2020-to-2022-academic-years" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupils-progress-in-the-2020-to-2022-academic-years</a></p><p>Our latest evidence suggests recovery is happening, with primary pupils recovering around 0.1 months in reading and 0.9 months in maths since Summer 2021, and recovering 1.5 months in reading and 1.7 months in maths since Spring 2021, with pupils now only 0.8 months and 1.9 months behind in reading and maths respectively.</p><p>This is equivalent to recovering around two thirds of progress lost due to the pandemic in primary reading and around half of progress lost in primary maths since Spring 2021.</p><p>Progress for secondary pupils in key stage 3 remains a concern, with pupils now on average around 2.4 months behind in reading, having seen losses since Summer 2021.</p><p>We are making some progress in closing gaps between disadvantaged pupils and their peers, additional gaps created by the COVID-19 pandemic appear to have reduced in primary maths and secondary reading since Summer 2021. However, the gap for primary reading appears to have grown.</p><p>In line with this evidence, we have announced £1 billion to extend the recovery premium over the next two academic years. This will enable schools to provide additional support for the most disadvantaged, and will be weighted more towards secondary pupils to reflect evidence showing greater learning loss for older pupils, who also have less time left in education. This is part of the nearly £5 billion of funding we have announced for an ambitious, multi-year education recovery plan to support young people to catch up on missed learning.</p><p>Recovery funding is already making a difference. By May 2022 1.5 million courses had been started by children across England through the National Tutoring Programme, and £950 million of direct funding through the catch up and recovery premia, was helping schools to deliver evidence-based interventions based on pupil needs. In light of the success of this year’s school-led tutoring route through the National Tutoring Programme, next year we will allocate all tutoring funding directly to schools, simplifying the system and giving schools the freedom to decide how best to provide tutoring for their pupils.</p><p>In addition to this, the Schools White Paper, 'Opportunity for all: strong schools with great teachers for your child', sets out how our education system will deliver recovery, not just through our specific recovery investments, but through a wider programme of ambitious reforms that truly level up outcomes and ensure we build back better from the pandemic.</p><p>The Parent Pledge in the Schools White Paper will also make the government’s vision clear that any child who falls behind in English or maths will receive the right evidence-based targeted support to get them back on track.</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 05/07/2022 16:17:55 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
tabling member	4120 label Biography information for Kate Green

1465478

registered interest
date	24/05/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that pre-reception and post-reception children can recover their ability to speak and understand language during the covid-19 recovery.
tabling member constituency	Warrington South
tabling member printed	Andy Carter
uin	8202
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/06/2022 answer text <p>In total, the department has announced almost £5 billion for an ambitious, multi-year education recovery plan to support young people to catch up on missed learning.</p><p>As part of education recovery, the department is investing up to £180 million of recovery support in the early years sector. Strengthening understanding of speech and language development is an important part of this support.</p><p>The recovery includes investing in continuous professional development for early years practitioners, through the national expansion of the early years Professional Development Programme, which has a focus on upskilling practitioners to support the early development of literacy and language and early mathematics, alongside personal, social, and emotional development. The department is also investing over £24 million for local authorities to select and train early years practitioners in the best programmes to support parents with the home learning environment. This aims to improve children’s early language and social and emotional development, giving priority to families that will benefit the most.</p><p>Additionally, the department is investing £17 million for the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI), which is a proven programme aimed at the reception aged children needing extra support with their speech and language development. We are also increasing the number of qualified special educational needs coordinators in early years settings.</p><p>The Recovery Premium, providing £1.3 billion for the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years, is additional funding to help schools deliver evidence-based approaches to support education recovery. Recovery Premium eligibility builds on that of the pupil premium. However, school leaders have flexibility to use the funding to support any pupil where a need is identified, including those with speech and language difficulties. Schools can use their funding to assess and address immediate needs, such as those relating to speech and language difficulties, as well as longer-term strategic improvements, such as boosting the quality of oracy teaching.</p><p>The Parent Pledge in the Schools White Paper will also make the department’s vision clear that any child who falls behind in English or mathematics will receive the right evidence-based targeted support to get them back on track.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 01/06/2022 16:49:48 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4791 label Biography information for Andy Carter

1461247

registered interest
date	10/05/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to help ensure pupils whose learning was impacted by the covid-19 pandemic are able to access post-16 catch-up support while in education and apprenticeships.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	317
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/05/2022 answer text <p>The department recognises that many young people in 16 to 19 education will have lost learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and we are therefore providing targeted support to help them to catch up.</p><p>We introduced the 16-19 Tuition Fund in 2020, giving access to one-to-one and small group tuition for students to catch up on their core subjects.  This academic year we have provided £102 million for the fund and will provide a further £222 million to continue the fund for an additional two years from the 2022/23 academic year. In addition, and to ensure that those with the least time left in education have the opportunity to progress, we have given providers of 16 to 19 education the option to offer students in year 13 (or equivalent in further education settings) the opportunity to repeat up to one more year of their studies in the 2021/22 academic year, where they had been particularly severely affected by the pandemic.</p><p>The department is also delivering an extra £1.6 billion boost for 16 to 19 year olds’ education across the next three financial years (2022/23 to 2024/25). Within this total investment, £800 million will be provided to fund 40 additional learning hours per student each year in 16 to 19 education settings to help them catch up on the vital teaching and learning they need to progress.</p><p>We also recognise that many apprentices were impacted by the pandemic, and this is why we introduced a number of flexibilities to ensure that apprenticeship training and assessments could continue. For example, where it was not possible and practicable for the apprentice to continue training, a break in learning could be used to allow the apprentice to return to learning at a future date and complete their apprenticeship. We also encouraged providers and assessment organisations to deliver training and assessments flexibly, to support apprentices in completing their apprenticeships.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 18/05/2022 11:22:55 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1460394

registered interest
date	26/04/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure pupils who have experienced detriment due to the covid-19 pandemic are able to access post-16 catch-up support in education and apprenticeships.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	160527
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2022 answer text <p>It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.</p> answering member constituency Brentwood and Ongar answering member printed Alex Burghart question first answered 28/04/2022 11:16:00 answering member 4613 label Biography information for Alex Burghart
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1420110

registered interest
date	07/02/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment his Department has made of the impact of children’s ability to catch up with learning missed during the outbreak of covid-19 on children's mental health.
tabling member constituency	Streatham
tabling member printed	Bell Ribeiro-Addy
uin	119824
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2022 answer text <p>Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 disruption on the attainment and progress of all students is a key research priority for the government. The department has commissioned an independent research and assessment agency to provide a baseline assessment of catch-up needs for pupils in schools in England and monitor progress over the course of the 2020/21 academic year. The department’s latest evidence suggests that, in summer 2021, primary pupils were on average around 1 month behind in reading and around 3 months behind in maths compared to where the department would expect them to be in a ‘normal year’. Secondary pupils were behind in their learning in reading by around 2 months.</p><p>The department is also examining the evidence on mental health wellbeing. The department's third annual state of the nation report, published on 8 February, identifies trends in children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing recovery over the course of the 2020/21 academic year, as well as their views about society and the future. The findings show that overall, children’s wellbeing has remained largely stable across previous years although increasing virus prevalence rates and changing restrictions have coincided with fluctuation in levels of wellbeing throughout the period covered by the report.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 10/02/2022 10:51:55 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4764 label Biography information for Bell Ribeiro-Addy

1416847

registered interest
date	26/01/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the impact on the education of children with covid-19 symptoms who cannot undergo PCR testing due to sensory issues and who have to isolate regardless of whether or not they have covid-19.
tabling member constituency	Nottingham East
tabling member printed	Nadia Whittome
uin	112724
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/02/2022 answer text <p>The decision on whether to admit a child with symptoms lies with the school. In the schools COVID-19 operational guidance and in the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) COVID-19 operational guidance it says: ‘‘In most cases, parents and carers will agree that a pupil with symptoms should not attend the school, given the potential risk to others. If a parent or carer insists on a pupil attending your school, you can take the decision to refuse the pupil if, in your reasonable judgment, it is necessary to protect other pupils and staff from possible infection with COVID-19. Your decision would need to be carefully considered in light of all the circumstances and current public health advice.’’</p><p>Where a pupil or student is unable to attend their education provider because they are complying with clinical or public health advice, we expect their education provider to be able to offer them access to high quality remote education. It is important that systems are put in place to keep in contact with them and regularly check if they are accessing remote education. If they have a social worker, they should also agree the best way to maintain contact and offer support.</p><p>Teachers are best placed to know how to most effectively meet pupil and student needs, ensuring they continue to make progress if they are not in face to face education because they are following public health advice. We recognise that some pupils and students with SEND may not be able to access remote education without adult support, and expect schools and colleges to work collaboratively with families and implement reasonable adjustments so that pupils with SEND can successfully access remote education appropriate for their level of need.</p><p>Where children and young people with education, health and care plans (EHCPs) are not attending their education provision because they are following public health advice, multi-agency professionals should collaborate to agree how to meet their duties to deliver the provision set out in the EHCP. This may include face to face visits to the home, or virtual support by means of video or telephone calls, or via email.</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 02/02/2022 16:14:53 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
tabling member	4869 label Biography information for Nadia Whittome

1416340

registered interest
date	25/01/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on increasing covid-19 vaccination uptake among school pupils.
tabling member constituency	Crewe and Nantwich
tabling member printed	Dr Kieran Mullan
uin	111753
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/02/2022 answer text <p>Vaccines are the best way we can protect ourselves and keep children and young people in face-to-face education. On 22 December, the government accepted advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation that a primary course of vaccination should be offered to children aged 5 to 11 years old who are in a clinical risk group, or who are a household contact of someone (of any age) who is immunosuppressed. On 24 January, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced that the department will distribute a total of £8 million in funding to NHS England to support secondary schools with the vitally important in-school vaccination programme for young people. This comes as over 50% of 12 to 15-year-olds, over 1.5 million people, have now had at least one dose of the vaccine.</p><p>To accelerate the COVID-19 programme in schools, the NHS has bolstered the in-school offer to make it more efficient and increase the scale and pace of delivery, as well as target communications to parents, young people and the public to improve uptake and increase overall confidence in the programme.</p><p>To ensure even more young people can get the vaccine as quickly as possible, the national booking service is open for vaccination bookings for young people. This service is available at: <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/book-coronavirus-vaccination/" target="_blank">https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/book-coronavirus-vaccination/</a>.</p><p>To support schools, and based on feedback we gathered, we have published a new ‘how to’ guide which is available here: <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1cT6adcSVsLer0kvcSuI4QcBYdlmdgb5x" target="_blank">https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1cT6adcSVsLer0kvcSuI4QcBYdlmdgb5x</a>. This includes useful information and resources for schools, including a template letter that can be used to communicate with parents. The COVID-19 vaccination guidance and leaflets for parents, children and young people are being translated by Public Health England. The accessible versions include braille and British Sign Language, as well as web and print versions in 27 languages.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 02/02/2022 12:16:42 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
tabling member	4860 label Biography information for Dr Kieran Mullan

1415989

registered interest
date	24/01/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what measures he is putting in place to support pupils with long covid who are taking exams in 2021-22.
tabling member constituency	Batley and Spen
tabling member printed	Kim Leadbeater
uin	110645
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/02/2022 answer text <p>Exams are the best and fairest way of judging students’ performance. Exams give students a fair chance to show their knowledge and understanding of a subject. It is the government’s firm intention that exams and assessments should go ahead this year. The department recognises the disruption many students have experienced and has worked with Ofqual, exam boards, and representatives of the sector to review existing arrangements for exams. This is to ensure they appropriately reflect scenarios arising from the COVID-19 outbreak.</p><p>Together with Ofqual, the department has confirmed a package of measures, including adaptations to exams and assessments and changes to grading, to ensure fairness and help mitigate the disruption to students’ education.</p><p>Pupils or students absent from their education for a prolonged period due to long COVID-19 should be supported in the same manner as those absent due to other medium to long-term illnesses or medical conditions.</p><p>Students with any long-term health conditions, such as long COVID, may be eligible to apply for reasonable adjustments under the existing exam arrangements. Reasonable adjustments are changes made to an assessment or to the way an assessment is conducted that reduce or remove a disadvantage caused by a student’s disability. An example of this could be supervised rest breaks or extra time for assessments. They are needed because some conditions can make it harder for students to show what they know and can do in an assessment than it would have been had the student not been disabled. The Joint Council for Qualification (JCQ) has published detailed guidance on reasonable adjustments.</p><p>Furthermore, where students miss an assessment in a subject, for example due to illness, but have completed other exams or non-exam assessments in that subject, they may be able to use the existing special consideration process to apply to receive a grade based on the assessments they did complete. The JCQ has also published guidance on when students may be eligible for special consideration and how it works.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 01/02/2022 10:54:40 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
tabling member	4923 label Biography information for Kim Leadbeater

1400348

registered interest
date	06/01/2022
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children and young people in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools have been confirmed with covid-19 in Wansbeck constituency since September 2021.
tabling member constituency	Wansbeck
tabling member printed	Ian Lavery
uin	98944
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/01/2022 answer text <p>The department collects data on the total number of pupils that are absent each day from school with confirmed COVID-19, as opposed to the total number of positive test results in an area. As we collect the total number of pupils absent from school, we are unable to determine if the same pupil is absent on consecutive days, so are unable to provide a total for the number of pupils absent in this period.</p><p>The proportion of pupils in state-funded primary and secondary schools absent due to COVID-19, since the start of the academic year, can be found on Explore Education Statistics. The lowest geographical level the data is split to is local authority level. Published data for Northumberland is available at: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/3d84bca3-0d0c-4c10-9163-a37d888dc624" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/3d84bca3-0d0c-4c10-9163-a37d888dc624</a>.</p><p>The latest set of published data is from 11 January, available at this link: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic--6" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic--6</a>.</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 14/01/2022 11:23:14 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
tabling member	4139 label Biography information for Ian Lavery

1383856

registered interest
date	01/12/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has been made on the potential impact of covid-19 on access to education for child aged under 12 who are clinically extremely vulnerable.
tabling member constituency	Ellesmere Port and Neston
tabling member printed	Justin Madders
uin	85309
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/12/2021 answer text <p>Our priority is to maximise the number of children in face-to-face education or childcare.</p><p>The latest evidence suggests that children and young people face a very low risk of serious illness from COVID-19. This includes children previously considered clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV).</p><p>Children and young people previously considered CEV were advised to return to childcare, nurseries, schools and colleges when shielding paused on 1 April 2021, and on 19 July 2021 people previously identified as CEV, including children and young people, were advised to follow the same guidance as the rest of the population. Schools should continue to support pupils who were formerly considered CEV so that they can attend school, in line with the wider population. The guidance can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19</a>.</p><p>If a child has been advised to isolate or reduce their social contact by their specialist, due to the nature of their medical condition or treatment, they should continue to follow the advice of their specialist.</p><p>The department’s published operational guidance for nurseries, schools and colleges provides details on the testing, ventilation and hygiene measures that all should have in place to manage the transmission of COVID-19 day to day. The guidance is available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/guidance-for-schools-coronavirus-covid-19" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/guidance-for-schools-coronavirus-covid-19</a>.</p><p>The contingency framework includes the additional measures nurseries, schools and colleges should include in their contingency plans in case they are advised to take extra steps because of a spike in infections: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-local-restrictions-in-education-and-childcare-settings/contingency-framework-education-and-childcare-settings" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-local-restrictions-in-education-and-childcare-settings/contingency-framework-education-and-childcare-settings</a>.</p><p>If parents, carers or pupils are anxious about attendance, they should speak to the education setting about their concerns and discuss the measures that have been put in place to reduce the risk. Nurseries, schools and colleges should continue to conduct risk assessments for their particular circumstances and take appropriate action in line with our guidance.</p><p>The department is committed to protecting education, which is why the safety measures are based on the latest scientific advice and strike a balance between managing transmission risk with measures such as regular testing, enhanced ventilation and hygiene and reducing disruption to face-to-face education.</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 07/12/2021 16:29:20 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
tabling member	4418 label Biography information for Justin Madders