Secretary of State for Education’s statement on coronavirus

Secretary of State for Education, Gavin Williamson, spoke at the daily press conference on Saturday about the Government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak and plans for schools safely opening to more pupils.

The transcript of the speech can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/education-secretarys-statement-on-coronavirus-covid-19-16-may

Guidance on supporting vulnerable children and young people during the coronavirus outbreak

We have updated our guidance for education settings and local authorities on supporting vulnerable children and young people. This now reflects plans for more year groups to return to education settings and confirms that vulnerable children and young people remain a priority and are expected to attend if appropriate.

This guidance can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-vulnerable-children-and-young-people

Updated guidance on the actions for early years and childcare providers during the coronavirus outbreak

We have updated our guidance on the actions for early years and childcare providers during the coronavirus outbreak. This includes confirmation that we are asking childcare providers to prepare for wider opening from 1 June, at the earliest, information on the provision that childminders can currently provide and when they can reopen to more children, and information for parents on the temporary changes to the 30 hours free early education entitlements.

The guidance can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures

Guidance on awarding qualifications in summer 2020

Ofqual has published additional information for heads of centre, heads of department and teachers on objectivity in grading and ranking when awarding grades for GCSE, AS and A levels in summer 2020.

The guidance can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/awarding-qualifications-in-summer-2020

Updated guidance on providing free school meals during the coronavirus outbreak

We have updated our guidance on the provision of free school meals during the coronavirus outbreak to reflect the plans for the wider opening of schools from 1 June, at the earliest.

The guidance can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance