The safety of pupils and staff is vital. This is why the Department has been significantly investing in transforming schools across the country. Where there are serious safety issues with a building, the Department takes immediate and swift action to ensure the safety of pupils and school staff.

It is the responsibility of those who run schools – academy trusts, local authorities, and voluntary-aided school bodies – who work with their schools to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools. They should alert the Department if there is a concern with a building.

The Department provides these responsible bodies with significant funding targeted toward where it is most needed to help them carry out these responsibilities, alongside a package of other guidance and support that the National Audit Office (NAO) found was comprehensive and well regarded by the sector.

The Department allocates significant funding to those responsible for the school estate to improve their buildings. This is over £15 billion since 2015, including 1.8 billion committed for the 2023/24 financial year.

The School Rebuilding Programme is transforming buildings at 500 schools over the course of the next decade, prioritising schools in poor condition. The Department has announced 400 schools to date, including 239 in December 2022.

As set out by the NAO, buildings can normally be used beyond their estimated initial design life through regular maintenance and upgrades.

CDC1 and CDC2 are high level Condition Data Collection (CDC) programmes, the largest such surveys of UK public sector buildings. They allow the Department to understand the condition of the school estate over time and inform capital funding and programmes.

Individual reports are shared with every school and their responsible bodies, to help inform their investment plans alongside their own more detailed condition surveys and safety checks.

The Department is working with responsible bodies, schools, and colleges to support them through the process of investigation, assessment, and management of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC).

The Department has been communicating with schools about the potential risks of RAAC since 2018, when the Department first published a warning note with the Local Government Association.

Since then, the Department has published guidance in identifying and managing RAAC. In March 2022, the Department asked all schools to share their knowledge of RAAC, its presence in their buildings, and how they are managing it. The Department is following up rigorously to ensure as complete a response as possible.

The Department continues to urge all responsible bodies to get in touch with it immediately if they have any concerns about their school building. The Department relies on this information to enable it to take swift action.

The questionnaire is still open for responses from responsible bodies and schools, and the Department also encourages settings to update their responses if their situation changes.

The Department’s professional surveyors have already carried out over 200 assessments where RAAC is suspected to verify its presence and assess its condition. The Department is on track to complete 600 assessments by autumn, ahead of the initial forecast of December 2023.

In cases where RAAC is confirmed, the Department provides rapid support to schools on the advice of structural engineers. This could include funding capital works to remove any immediate risk and, where absolutely necessary, the provision of temporary buildings.

Longer term remediation of RAAC is supported by capital funding provided to the sector, the Department’s rebuilding programme and urgent capital support.

The safety of pupils and staff is vital. This is why the Department has been significantly investing in transforming schools across the country. Where there are serious safety issues with a building, the Department takes immediate and swift action to ensure the safety of pupils and school staff.

It is the responsibility of those who run schools – academy trusts, local authorities, and voluntary-aided school bodies – who work with their schools to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools. They should alert the Department if there is a concern with a building.

The Department provides these responsible bodies with significant funding targeted toward where it is most needed to help them carry out these responsibilities, alongside a package of other guidance and support that the National Audit Office (NAO) found was comprehensive and well regarded by the sector.

The Department allocates significant funding to those responsible for the school estate to improve their buildings. This is over £15 billion since 2015, including 1.8 billion committed for the 2023/24 financial year.

The School Rebuilding Programme is transforming buildings at 500 schools over the course of the next decade, prioritising schools in poor condition. The Department has announced 400 schools to date, including 239 in December 2022.

As set out by the NAO, buildings can normally be used beyond their estimated initial design life through regular maintenance and upgrades.

CDC1 and CDC2 are high level Condition Data Collection (CDC) programmes, the largest such surveys of UK public sector buildings. They allow the Department to understand the condition of the school estate over time and inform capital funding and programmes.

Individual reports are shared with every school and their responsible bodies, to help inform their investment plans alongside their own more detailed condition surveys and safety checks.

The Department is working with responsible bodies, schools, and colleges to support them through the process of investigation, assessment, and management of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC).

The Department has been communicating with schools about the potential risks of RAAC since 2018, when the Department first published a warning note with the Local Government Association.

Since then, the Department has published guidance in identifying and managing RAAC. In March 2022, the Department asked all schools to share their knowledge of RAAC, its presence in their buildings, and how they are managing it. The Department is following up rigorously to ensure as complete a response as possible.

The Department continues to urge all responsible bodies to get in touch with it immediately if they have any concerns about their school building. The Department relies on this information to enable it to take swift action.

The questionnaire is still open for responses from responsible bodies and schools, and the Department also encourages settings to update their responses if their situation changes.

The Department’s professional surveyors have already carried out over 200 assessments where RAAC is suspected to verify its presence and assess its condition. The Department is on track to complete 600 assessments by autumn, ahead of the initial forecast of December 2023.

In cases where RAAC is confirmed, the Department provides rapid support to schools on the advice of structural engineers. This could include funding capital works to remove any immediate risk and, where absolutely necessary, the provision of temporary buildings.

Longer term remediation of RAAC is supported by capital funding provided to the sector, the Department’s rebuilding programme and urgent capital support.

The safety of pupils and staff is vital. This is why the Department has been significantly investing in transforming schools across the country. Where there are serious safety issues with a building, the Department takes immediate and swift action to ensure the safety of pupils and school staff.

It is the responsibility of those who run schools – academy trusts, local authorities, and voluntary-aided school bodies – who work with their schools to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools. They should alert the Department if there is a concern with a building.

The Department provides these responsible bodies with significant funding targeted toward where it is most needed to help them carry out these responsibilities, alongside a package of other guidance and support that the National Audit Office (NAO) found was comprehensive and well regarded by the sector.

The Department allocates significant funding to those responsible for the school estate to improve their buildings. This is over £15 billion since 2015, including 1.8 billion committed for the 2023/24 financial year.

The School Rebuilding Programme is transforming buildings at 500 schools over the course of the next decade, prioritising schools in poor condition. The Department has announced 400 schools to date, including 239 in December 2022.

As set out by the NAO, buildings can normally be used beyond their estimated initial design life through regular maintenance and upgrades.

CDC1 and CDC2 are high level Condition Data Collection (CDC) programmes, the largest such surveys of UK public sector buildings. They allow the Department to understand the condition of the school estate over time and inform capital funding and programmes.

Individual reports are shared with every school and their responsible bodies, to help inform their investment plans alongside their own more detailed condition surveys and safety checks.

The Department is working with responsible bodies, schools, and colleges to support them through the process of investigation, assessment, and management of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC).

The Department has been communicating with schools about the potential risks of RAAC since 2018, when the Department first published a warning note with the Local Government Association.

Since then, the Department has published guidance in identifying and managing RAAC. In March 2022, the Department asked all schools to share their knowledge of RAAC, its presence in their buildings, and how they are managing it. The Department is following up rigorously to ensure as complete a response as possible.

The Department continues to urge all responsible bodies to get in touch with it immediately if they have any concerns about their school building. The Department relies on this information to enable it to take swift action.

The questionnaire is still open for responses from responsible bodies and schools, and the Department also encourages settings to update their responses if their situation changes.

The Department’s professional surveyors have already carried out over 200 assessments where RAAC is suspected to verify its presence and assess its condition. The Department is on track to complete 600 assessments by autumn, ahead of the initial forecast of December 2023.

In cases where RAAC is confirmed, the Department provides rapid support to schools on the advice of structural engineers. This could include funding capital works to remove any immediate risk and, where absolutely necessary, the provision of temporary buildings.

Longer term remediation of RAAC is supported by capital funding provided to the sector, the Department’s rebuilding programme and urgent capital support.

Pupil counts by year group are published in the annual “Schools, pupils and their characteristics” statistical release. This includes pupils who are coming to the end of their secondary education in Year 11 and those in Years 12 to 14 in school sixth forms. Data relating to the 2020/21 academic year will be published in June 2021 at the following link: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics.

We are not asking schools to open over the summer holidays. Teachers, support staff and head teachers deserve a break, to recharge and rest.

We are aware that some headteachers may be considering using their catch-up premium to provide summer school activities for their pupils. Where this is the case, they have the flexibility, discretion and autonomy to decide how they want to do this. To support schools in planning how to use the catch-up premium, the Education Endowment Foundation has produced a guide which includes advice on summer schools and contains a link to a Teach First toolkit specifically focused on summer schools, for schools that choose to do this.

Holiday clubs and out-of-school clubs for children will also be able to restart over the summer, with safety measures in place. These clubs will be part of Step 3 of the recovery strategy (from 4 July). We have published guidance for the sector on how to implement the protective measures necessary to open safely:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protective-measures-for-holiday-or-after-school-clubs-and-other-out-of-school-settings-for-children-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/protective-measures-for-out-of-school-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.

It is important that young people are taught about climate change and the impact of human actions on the environment. Topics related to this are included in both the science and geography curricula and qualifications. These were developed with subject experts and reflect the latest scientific and academic understanding so that children fully appreciate the causes of climate change and what needs to be done to tackle it.

For example, in primary school science, pupils are taught about how weather changes across the four seasons and how human actions affect environments. In secondary school science, pupils are taught about the production of carbon dioxide by human activity and the effect this has on the climate. This is expanded on in GCSE science where pupils consider the evidence for additional anthropogenic causes of climate change. As part of GCSE geography, pupils look at the causes, consequences of, and responses to, extreme weather conditions and natural weather hazards. This includes understanding the interactions between people and environments.

School based counselling by well-qualified practitioners can play an effective role as part of a ‘whole school’ approach to supporting mental health and wellbeing. It is for schools to decide what support to put in place based on the particular needs of their pupils.

The Department has no plans to make a specific assessment of counselling services provided in schools. However, the Department's nationally representative survey of school provision published in 2017 indicated that 61% of schools offer counselling services, with 84% of secondary schools providing their pupils with access to counselling support.[1] To support schools to provide counselling, the Government has provided advice on how to deliver high quality school-based counselling, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/counselling-in-schools.

The Government is introducing new mental health support teams to provide additional support linked to groups of schools and colleges. The first teams are being set up in 25 areas of the country this year. The aim is for these teams to work together with existing provision, including school-based counselling. The Government will evaluate their introduction to ensure that they do not displace existing provision.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/634726/Supporting_Mental-Health_survey_report.pdf.