Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “Today’s data shows us that the disruptions schools are experiencing due to staff absence remains very significant, with almost one in ten teachers absent from school.

"It is good to see pupil absence beginning to fall, and we will all be hoping that the data continues in this direction. However, the latest figures still show more than 300,000 children absent from school for Covid reasons.

“It is very clear that we are still a long way from business as usual in schools; school leaders and their staff are still having to manage a very challenging situation. Given that, it is immensely frustrating that government seems determined to just press ahead with things such as Ofsted inspections and SATs tests as if it’s virtually a normal year.”