Guidance Critical workers who can access schools or educational settings
Critical workers
Parents whose work is critical to the COVID-19 response include those who work
in health and social care and in other key sectors outlined below. Many
parents working in these sectors may be able to look after their child at
home, but attendance is strongly encouraged.
Please, therefore, also follow these key principles:


If a child needs specialist support, is vulnerable or has a parent who is a critical worker, then educational provision will be available for them.


Parents should not rely for childcare upon those who are advised to be in the stringent social distancing category such as grandparents, friends, or family members with underlying conditions.


Parents must do everything they can to ensure children are not mixing socially outside of school. They must observe the same social distancing principles as adults, as far as possible.


Residential special schools, boarding schools and special settings continue to care for children wherever possible.


If your work is critical to the COVID-19 response, or you work in one of the
critical sectors listed below, then your children will be prioritised for
education provision and are strongly encouraged to attend.
Health and social care
This includes, but is not limited to, doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics,
social workers, care workers, and other frontline health and social care staff
including volunteers; the support and specialist staff required to maintain
the UK’s health and social care sector; those working as part of the health
and social care supply chain, including producers and distributors of
medicines and medical and personal protective equipment.
Education and childcare
This includes:

childcare
support and teaching staff
social workers
specialist education professionals who must remain active during the COVID-19 response to deliver this approach

Key public services
This includes:

those essential to the running of the justice system
religious staff
charities and workers delivering key frontline services
those responsible for the management of the deceased
journalists and broadcasters who are providing public service broadcasting

Local and national government
This only includes:

those administrative occupations essential to the effective delivery of the COVID-19 response
or delivering essential public services, such as the payment of benefits, including in government agencies and arms length bodies

Food and other necessary goods
This includes those involved in food:

production
processing
distribution
sale and delivery
as well as those essential to the provision of other key goods (for example hygienic and veterinary medicines)

Public safety and national security
This includes:

police and support staff
Ministry of Defence civilians
contractor and armed forces personnel (those critical to the delivery of key defence and national security outputs and essential to the response to the COVID-19 outbreak)
fire and rescue service employees (including support staff)
National Crime Agency staff
those maintaining border security, prison and probation staff and other national security roles, including those overseas

Transport
This includes those who will keep the air, water, road and rail passenger and
freight transport modes operating during the COVID-19 response, including
those working on transport systems through which supply chains pass.
Utilities, communication and financial services
This includes:

staff needed for essential financial services provision (including but not limited to workers in banks, building societies and financial market infrastructure)
the oil, gas, electricity and water sectors (including sewerage)
information technology and data infrastructure sector and primary industry supplies to continue during the COVID-19 response
key staff working in the civil nuclear, chemicals, telecommunications (including but not limited to network operations, field engineering, call centre staff, IT and data infrastructure, 999 and 111 critical services)
postal services and delivery
payments providers
waste disposal sectors

If your school is closed, then please contact your local
authority, who will seek to redirect
you to a local school in your area that your child, or children, can attend.
We are grateful for the work of teachers and workers in educational settings
for continuing to provide for the children of the other critical workers of
our country. It is an essential part of our national effort to combat this
disease.