4,000 Hampshire students given free laptops during lockdown

During the pandemic Portsmouth City Council distributed 816 laptops and tablets to eligible students - including those with social workers and care leavers.

And in Hampshire the county council handed out a further 3,189.

Nationally the Department for Education provided 200,000 devices to local authorities and school trusts between May and July, at a cost of £100m.

Education boss at Portsmouth council, Councillor Suzy Horton, said: 'We received an allowance of 758 devices for students with a social worker from the Department for Education. All of these were ordered and distributed to eligible children and young people in Portsmouth.

'In addition, we received a further 58 devices for disadvantaged pupils in year 10 at our two local authority maintained schools to support them as they prepare for their GCSEs.

'We have also successfully applied for an additional 46 devices for our care leavers and these will be distributed this week.

'Ensuring children and young people have the digital tools they need to learn is crucial which is why we have also set up a digital inclusion group to look at how more vulnerable families in the city can be supported with access to the internet.'

It comes as the most recent annual Education Policy Institute report showed disadvantaged GCSE students in Portsmouth were 23.6 months of learning behind their better-off peers nationally in 2019.

The report also found this had grown by 2.6 months since 2012, with the education gap in Portsmouth among the largest in England.

Hampshire County Council's executive member for education and skills, Cllr Roz Chadd, added: 'We worked closely with schools to allocate laptops and tablets, as soon as they were available, to all those pupils who were eligible through the government scheme.

'We very much welcomed this scheme, which helps address the increased likelihood of disadvantaged pupils falling further behind their peers in learning. We are also pleased to hear of the intended extension of the scheme to reach more pupils, across further age ranges, and will continue to do all we can to help pupils get back on track.'

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