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<p>The Government is investing over £400 million to support access to remote education
and online social care services, including securing 1.3 million laptops and tablets
for disadvantaged children and young people.</p><p>From June to September 2020, the
Department ran a pilot in partnership with BT to provide children and young people
with free access to a BT Wi-Fi hotspot. Through the pilot, 10,000 BT codes were sent
to local authorities and trusts for them to pass on to families so that they could
access a BT Wi-Fi connection until 31 December 2020.</p><p>This offer was not extended
to schools, local authorities or trusts outside of the pilot because following testing
it did not suitably meet children and young people’s needs for a reliable and consistent
internet connection to access remote education.</p><p>We are grateful to BT for partnering
with the Department in order to help disadvantaged children continue to access remote
education in the event of local disruptions, and we are grateful for their continued
support with our mobile data uplift offer.</p><p>We have already provided 4G wireless
routers, with free data for the academic year, and continue to provide 4G wireless
routers where children need to access remote education.</p><p>We have partnered with
the UK’s leading mobile operators to provide free data to help disadvantaged children
get online as well as delivering 4G wireless routers for pupils without connection
at home.</p><p>We continue to invite a range of mobile network providers to support
the offer.</p>
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