In the week before pupils are due to go back to school, the Department for Education has still yet to meet the target it set to deliver 230,00 laptops to local authorities and academy trusts by the end of June.

As of 26 August, 220,494 devices - intended to help disadvantaged pupils with remote learning during the coronavirus pandemic - were delivered or dispatched by the Department for Education, according to its latest data. 

This is 9,506 laptops short of the target that the education secretary Gavin Williamson said the government was “on schedule” to deliver before the summer break, by the end of June.

Revealed: How DfE free laptops failed to match need

Related: DfE misses free laptops target by nearly 30,000

Background: Free laptops for disadvantaged pupils

The DfE announced in April that it would provide free devices for disadvantaged children in Year 10, those who receive support from a social worker, and care leavers.

In response to concerns over the delays in the delivery of the devices to disadvantaged and vulnerable students, Gavin Williamson said in early June: “We have got a further 75,000 computers that are going to be distributed to schools over the coming weeks, and we are on schedule to distribute the full 230,000 of those computers over the coming month, as on schedule.”

By the first of July, Tes reported that the DfE was behind schedule by almost 30,000.

Asked how the Department would comment on the delay, a Department for Education spokesperson said: “We provided over £100 million to support children to learn at home, and have delivered over 220,000 laptops and tablets for disadvantaged and vulnerable children who need them most - more than the level of need forecast by local authorities and academy trusts.

“In addition, we are making available an initial 150,000 laptops and tablets for disadvantaged students whose education is disrupted in the new academic year.”