Schools will be able to order 10 Covid-19 home-testing kits for every 1,000 pupils they have, the Department for Education has revealed.

But schools can only make these orders 21 days after their last set of tests were dispatched.

This means most primary schools will still be restricted to just 10 home-testing kits at a time - with a new supply once every three weeks.

Schools with between 1,000 and 2,000 pupils will be able to get 20 kits and those with more than 2,000 on roll will be able to receive 30.

Tes revealed earlier this week that schools can now order extra kits in boxes of 10 and that the amount they received would be “proportionate to their size.”

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And heath secretary Matt Hancock told MPs earlier today that the government was considering giving more home-testing kits to schools.

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The move comes amid major controversy over the availability of tests at testing centres.

Schools were each given 10 kits at the start of term to be used in exceptional circumstances. However, there have been warnings that schools are already using these supplies up because parents and staff are struggling to get tests elsewhere.

Teaching unions have also warned that thousands of staff and pupils with symptoms, which could be a cold or flu, have been unable to attend school because they cannot get a Covid-19 test.

Now the DfE has confirmed that schools will be able to order a set of 10 home-testing kits for every 1,000 pupils they have.

Schools can only order a new set of tests 21 days after their last order was dispatched.

Tes also revealed this week that the Department of Health and Social Care is to survey schools on how many tests they are using and how many staff and pupils are displaying Covid-19 symptoms.