One in five secondary teachers saw their schools teach merged classes in halls or the canteen due to Covid absences in the first half of this term.
The data, shared with Tes by TeacherTapp, was collected in a survey of 6,643 teachers at the beginning of last month.
The survey revealed over one in 10 (13 per cent) of teachers at both primary and secondary had to lead a class remotely by 2 February.
Private schools were more likely to move classes to remote learning in the first half of this term, with one in five (20 per cent) of teachers at private secondaries seeing this at their school, compared to one in 10 (11 per cent) at private primary schools.
However, only 2 per cent of state teachers said their school switched to remote learning for one or more days. The proportion of schools being forced to move to online learning is likely to be much higher since half term, as headteachers report growing levels of staff absence after the requirement was lifted to carry out mandatory free Covid testing in schools.
Schools absences on the rise again
Earlier this month, government data suggested that schools were past the worst of the Omicron peak.
However, new data published yesterday, and reports of mass teacher absence and supply shortage across the country, suggest schools are struggling again amid news that a new more infectious sub-variant of Omicron is on the rise.
Almost one in 10 (8 per cent) of secondary teachers reported their school had also had to teach a whole year group remotely by 2 February, with the figure being 10 per cent at secondary and 8 per cent at primary level.
New data today from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that in the week ending 12 March, the percentage of people in England testing positive for Covid increased across all year groups.
The positive case rate was highest among primary age pupils, with 6.3 per cent of 2- to 11-year-olds testing positive last week.
South West had most classes merged
Regionally, the South West of England seemed to be most affected earlier this term, with TeacherTapp data reporting that one in five of all teachers said their schools were bringing classes together to be taught in halls or canteens.
London was the most affected for having to teach a whole class remotely at 15 per cent across all schools.
Schools struggling to get supply staff
The TeacherTapp data also shows that schools have struggled to find supply teachers this academic year, with almost half (48 per cent) of schools saying they had had “many problems” getting supply since September.
Almost a third (32 per cent) said they had “some problems” and just 6 per cent said they had “no problems”.
Teachers in the independent sector said their schools did not face the same level of issues accessing cover staff. Just 14 per cent of private primary schools had “many problems” with accessing supply, compared to over half (53 per cent) of state primaries.
The picture was similar at secondary level, where half of secondary teachers had “many problems” but just 7 per cent reported this in private secondary schools.
