The Department for Education is providing laptops, tablets and internet access to disadvantaged families, children and young people who do not currently have access to them to enable access to remote education and social care services during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

For the 2020 to 2021 academic year, we have made more laptops and tablets available for disadvantaged children in certain year groups who are affected by disruption to face-to-face education at their school, or have been advised to shield because they are or someone in their household is clinically extremely vulnerable.

The report as of 12 January 2021 presents how many laptops and tablets we have delivered or dispatched to date.

For the summer term 2020 we ordered and delivered over 220,000 laptops and tablets and over 50,000 4G wireless routers.

Find more information about the programme and who is eligible at Get technology support for children and schools during coronavirus (COVID-19).

New students applying for DSA can choose if they want a face-to-face or an online needs assessment.

Once a student applies to SLC and we confirm their eligibility, they will be assigned to Study Tech or Capita, who will proactively contact them to arrange an assessment. This will help speed up the process for the student.

Study Tech and Capita have suitable locations and premises for face-to-face assessments across all geographical zones*. SLC conducts regular visits to these assessment centres and carries out audits to assure their suitability. The location strategy of both suppliers remains under review to ensure it meets students’ needs, and both suppliers have arrangements in place through Regus to utilise their range of facilities. The suppliers are engaging with higher education providers to identify any potential opportunities to provide needs assessment on site. Through our ongoing engagement with students, we will validate that the travel time to get to their assessment centre is convenient.

The Assessment Centre locations for Study Tech and Capita are available here.

*Study Tech will deliver DSA support for students funded by Student Finance England (SFE) and Student Finance Wales (SFW) in zones 1 and 4: Northwest England; Northeast England; Yorkshire and the Humber; South West England; South East England; and Scotland.

Capita will deliver DSA support for students funded by SFE and SFW in zones 2 and 3: East England; the Midlands; London; Wales; and Northern Ireland.