Commenting on the latest school attendance figures, Nick Brook, deputy general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “The attendance figures have made for grim reading for a number of weeks and point to how badly the government has lost control of the situation. Yet again we have seen a further increase this week in the number of pupils absent from school as a result of Covid-19. The government’s wider narrative around relaxation of safety measures appears to be at complete odds with the reality in schools right now.

“Furthermore, simply changing the rules around self-isolation is not a proper solution. The government must take urgent action to drive down case numbers amongst school-aged children and implement alternative safety measures in key areas such as ventilation. A policy of doing nothing and hoping for the best next term not only fails to address the problem, it risks making things worse.”