A total of 315,000 pupils were off school because of Covid last week, the latest Department for Education figures show.

The number of children out of school for Covid-related reasons in England has risen both at the end of term and again following the Christmas holidays, today’s data reveals.

The DfE estimates that 3.9 per cent of all pupils - around 315,000 children - did not attend class for Covid-related reasons on 6 January, up from 3.7 per cent (301,000)  on 16 December.

Background: How Covid cases increased in December

Covid: What did the last attendance figures for 2021 say?

Infection: Teachers more likely to catch Covid than other workers

This latest number was also 25 per cent more than in the last set of published figures for 2021, which showed that 236,000 pupils were off because of Covid (2.9 per cent) on 9 December. 

The statistics show that 2 per cent of pupils (159,000) tested positive for Covid and another 1.3 per cent (102,000) had a suspected case last week.

However, overall, some 88.6 per cent of students were in class on 6 January, which was up from 85.9 per cent on 16 December.

The department also estimates that 8.6 per cent of teachers and school leaders - around one in 12 - were absent from open schools on 6 January, up from 8.0 per cent (42,000) on 16 December.

The latest figures come amid concern that staffing absences could force some schools to transfer more learning online as the Omicron variant of the virus disrupts education.

Increasing number of teachers off because of Covid

The figures show a marked increase in the number of teachers who were off because of Covid last week compared with the end of 2021.

Some 5 per cent of teachers and school leaders were absent due to Covid in primary schools, up from 3.2 per cent on 16 December, according to the DfE data.

And 4.7 per cent of teachers and school leaders were absent due to Covid reasons in state-funded secondary schools on 6 January, up from 2.8 per cent on 16 December.

In special schools the rate doubled with 6.2 per cent of teachers and school leaders absent due to the coronavirus, up from 3.1 per cent on 16 December.

Before today the last set of published Covid attendance figures for schools from the DfE was based on data for Thursday 9 December.

However, today’s figures provide data for both the Thursday in the first week of term and for 16 December - the last Thursday before schools broke up.

These figures show a marked increase in the number of pupils off because of Covid at the end of last term.

The number of pupils off because of the virus increased from 236,000 (2.9 per cent) on 9 December to 301,000 (3.7 per cent) a week later, according to the data published today.

And the figures have increased again as pupils returned to school with 315,000 off because of the virus last week.

Today’s figures also show the regional variation of Covid rates in the last two weeks of term last year.

The data reveals that Covid-related absence among pupils in London schools more than doubled in the final week of term.

The capital had the highest rate of Covid-related pupil absence of any region in England at 5.1 per cent on 16 December, an increase from 2.4 per cent on 9 December.

The North East and Yorkshire had the lowest rate of Covid-related absence at 2.6 per cent on 16 December, up from 2.0 per cent for the North East and 2.4 per cent for Yorkshire a week earlier.

London also had the highest Covid-related workforce absences on 16 December, with 5.3 per cent of teachers and schools leaders and 3.8 per cent  of teaching assistants or other staff absent because of the virus.

This compares with 2.4 per cent of teachers and schools leaders and 2.1 per cent of teaching assistants or other staff absent for Covid-related reasons on 9 December.

Schools ‘under severe pressure’

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the figures showed that any hope that the Christmas holidays would act as a Covid firebreak for schools and colleges “have evaporated.”

He added: “Despite the fact most secondary schools were phasing the return of students for testing to take place, there is still huge disruption, with both confirmed and suspected coronavirus cases having risen since the last data was published in mid-December.

“The challenges posed by having so many staff absent will continue to put schools and colleges under severe pressure.

“The costs of bringing in the supply staff needed to maintain learning is crippling for schools and colleges, and the government needs to step in to help, as well as providing more support on ventilation.”

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union the NAHT, has warned that significant staff shortages will have a “significant impact on education”.

“Schools are doing a brilliant job to keep things going in the face of very challenging circumstances, but it is very far from business as usual,” he said. “And the concern is that the situation could worsen over the coming weeks.

“Some of our members have told us that they are already experiencing teaching staff absences of more than 20 per cent, and the government itself is planning for 25 per cent staff absence rates.

“While schools will do everything they can to manage the situation, there is a reality that needs to be acknowledged here, too.”

Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the NEU teaching union, said:  “It is now abundantly clear that the effects of Omicron on the operation of schools are highly significant. With almost one in 20 staff absent due to Covid last Thursday, there is no reason to suppose this will ease soon.

“London and the South have already seen a significant rise in December, and with the R [Covid reproduction] rate high in the North of England, there are ever more compelling arguments to protect the school community with proper mitigations to slow the spread of Covid and thereby ensure that education for children and young people is as uninterrupted as possible and the health and wellbeing of staff and students protected. 

“Government needs to act decisively and give schools the equipment they need to ensure proper ventilation in schools and colleges in an attempt to keep Covid infection as low as possible. Relying on a workforce of retired teachers appearing from thin air and in record time is just not enough to meet this challenge.”