Most teachers do not believe it is safe to reopen schools next week, a survey of more than 24,000 has found.

The EIS union, which opened the ongoing survey on Tuesday afternoon, said that “the overwhelming message from the interim results is that, while teachers want to see schools reopen, they remain unconvinced that sufficient measures have been put in place to ensure safety”.

Key data from the survey - which will remain open until Monday, the day before the new school year starts in Scotland - includes:

• 24,354 teachers completed the survey between its launch on Tuesday 4 August and the morning of Thursday 6 August.

• 64 per cent support the decision to reopen schools, but only 18 per cent have confidence that schools are currently safe.

• A minority of teachers believe that sufficient safeguards have been put in place to support the safe reopening of schools.

• 3 per cent are “very confident” that there is sufficient evidence that Covid-19 is sufficiently under control to support a safe return to school.

• 23 per cent of teachers are “confident or very confident” that an established capacity to test, trace and isolate is in place to support a safe return, with 58 per cent expressing a lack of confidence.

• Under 26 per cent are confident that enough operational changes - such as effective social distancing and enhanced hygiene routines - will be in place to support a safe return to school, with 60 per cent lacking confidence.

• 72 per cent of teachers support testing for asymptomatic members of staff to help suppress the spread of Covid.

• 62 per cent feel “somewhat unsafe” or “very unsafe” about returning to school next week.

Coronavirus: ‘High degree of concern’ over reopening schools

EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan said: “The fact that more than 24,000 teachers completed the survey in a little over a day illustrates the high degree of concern that remains over Covid-19 and schools.

“Teachers want to see schools reopening, so that they can get back to working with pupils in the classroom environment - but they are very clear that this has to be done safely.”

He added that “teachers believe that much more still needs to be done to ensure that their safety, and the safety of pupils and others within the school, can be properly protected as schools reopen”.

Mr Flanagan said the EIS would be “seeking urgent discussions on the mitigations that teachers still want to see - such as sufficient social distancing, testing for asymptomatic staff, and the use of face coverings where required to ensure safety”.

First minister Nicola Sturgeon said at lunchtime today that she was “not surprised” by the survey’s results, adding: “I know [teachers] will feel anxious, and that’s why we will do everything we can to ease those fears and build the confidence that you need as we go into the new school term.”

Speaking at the goverment’s coronavirus briefing, she said: “We have guidance in place that has been informed by the best scientific advice we’ve got but we will continue to work with teachers, work with parents, work with young people to make sure we are building confidence as schools return.

“We need to get children’s education back to some degree of normality as quickly as possible because young people are losing out because of this pandemic and the longer they are out of school, the danger is they lose out more.”