Week 3 2021

Laptops and tablets data

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Introduction

Get laptops and tablets for vulnerable and disadvantaged children who cannot attend school due to coronavirus (COVID-19) 

Introduction

The government is providing over one million laptops and tablets to help schools and colleges throughout the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Following the announcement on 5th January 2021 about a national lockdown and restricting attendance in schools and colleges, the scale of deliveries increased. 

For the 2020 to 2021 academic year, the Department for Education (DfE) is providing laptops and tablets to schools, academy trusts (trusts) and local authorities (LAs) to support children access remote education during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Laptops and tablets have been made available, if there is no existing access to a device, for: 

  • disadvantaged children in years 3 to 11 whose face-to-face education is disrupted
  • disadvantaged children in any year group who have been advised to shield because they (or someone they live with) are clinically extremely vulnerable
  • disadvantaged children in any year group attending a hospital school
  • disadvantaged 14 to 16-year-olds enrolled for Key Stage 4 at sixth-form colleges and whose face-to-face education is disrupted

The number of devices available for schools and colleges to order through the Get help with technology service reflects the number of laptops and tablets DfE estimates are needed by each school or college. This calculation is based on free school meals data and an estimate of the number of devices a school or college already has and private device ownership. If a school, trust or LA requires additional devices, they can contact to the Department and more devices can be made available.

These devices are in addition to those DfE provided during the 2020 summer term to LAs and trusts for children, families and young adults most in need.

The DfE does not hold centrally recorded information on the onward distribution to families and children. DfE has advised that they are to be used to support disadvantaged children who are otherwise unable to access remote education.

Examples of this include disadvantaged children:

  • with no digital devices in their household
  • whose only available device is a smartphone
  • with a single device in their household that is being shared with more than one other family member

For information about how many devices and 4G wireless routers were delivered to local authorities and academy trusts in the summer 2020 term and other publications up to 12th January 2021 please see previous publication here.

Headline facts and figures - 2021

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Additional supporting files

All supporting files from this release are listed for individual download below:

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LA data

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Trust data

Devices (laptops and tablets) delivered or dispatched to academy trusts or directly to schools within a trust since the start of the scheme. 

For trust data please see associated files.

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Hospital schools and City Technical Colleges

Devices (laptops and tablets) delivered or dispatched to hospital schools and City Technical Colleges since the start of the scheme. 

For this data please see the associate files

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Help and support

Methodology

Find out how and why we collect, process and publish these statistics.

Official statistics

These are Official Statistics and have been produced in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

This can be broadly interpreted to mean that these statistics are:

  • managed impartially and objectively in the public interest
  • meet identified user needs
  • produced according to sound methods
  • well explained and readily accessible

Find out more about the standards we follow to produce these statistics through our Standards for official statistics published by DfE guidance.

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR).

OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.

You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.

Contact us

If you have a specific enquiry about Laptops and tablets data statistics and data:

Get help with technology

Email: annalise.halsall@education.gov.uk
Contact name: Annalise Halsall

Press office

If you have a media enquiry:

Telephone: 020 7783 8300

Public enquiries

If you have a general enquiry about the Department for Education (DfE) or education:

Telephone: 037 0000 2288

Opening times:
Monday to Friday from 9.30am to 5pm (excluding bank holidays)