Prep schools have called for more flexibility over which pupils should return to school when primaries reopen more widely from 1 June.

Christopher King, the chairman of the Independent Association of Prep Schools (Iaps), said that the 600 schools in the association would reopen to pupils in Year 1 and 6 from 1 June, but that they wanted to make decisions at a local level regarding bringing back older pupils.

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“There’s a lot of parental and school desire for more flexibility over which year groups should return,” he said.

“What’s happened is the schools have come to accept the government’s position with Year 6 but are really hoping that any further opening would have much more flexibility.”

He said some schools in rural areas had “expansive gardens” where children could socially distance.

“Prep schools would prefer to have Year 8 as it’s a transition year. Many schools are keen but would like to assess their situation on the ground,” he added.

Mr King said that “huge numbers” of prep schools felt this way, and that this concern also applied to councils with state-funded middle schools, such as Staffordshire.

“State middle schools are rare, but they’re not as rare as hen’s teeth either, so it’s not just the prep school world that sees there are different transition years,” he said, adding that prep schools wanted “local autonomy” to make decisions.