New figures show 5.1 per cent of pupils in state-funded schools were off school for Covid-related reasons on Thursday, according to Department for Education (DfE) figures released today.
That is a rise from 3.3 per cent on 17 June and 1.2 per cent on 10 June.
The figures also show a rise in staff absence owing to Covid, with 2.5 per cent of teachers and school leaders in state schools off work on 24 June - up from 1.7 per cent on 17 June and 0.9 per cent on 10 June.
School leaders said today that they feared the government did not have “a grip” on the situation and called for local public health officials to be given more freedom.
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In primary schools, Covid-related absence was 4.5 per cent on 24 June, up from 2.7 per cent on 17 June and 1.1 per cent on 10 June.
In secondary schools, Covid-related absence, adjusted for Year 11-13 students not expected to attend, was 6.2 per cent on 24 June. This is up from 4.2 per cent on 17 June and 1.4 per cent on 10 June.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, said: “Covid-related pupil absence in state schools is increasing and is currently at its highest rate since schools reopened in March 2021.
“Leaders are reporting that this is having a real impact in their schools, and that the level of disruption is now very high.
“The government simply does not appear to have a grip on this situation and there is a real concern that we will continue to see these numbers continue to rise in the coming weeks.
“It is essential that local public health teams are given the freedom to react quickly and put additional precautions in place where this is necessary - seeking central government approval for such action only risks delaying the necessary measures being put in place.
“We also need to remember that some younger teachers will not have had both their vaccinations yet.”
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, also expressed concern about the disruption to schools.
He said: “Each confirmed Covid case has a huge knock-on effect because schools are then required by government rules to trace all close contacts and ask them to self-isolate. This is why the vast majority of Covid-related pupil absence is among close contacts rather than confirmed cases of the illness.
“Identifying close contacts and asking them to self-isolate is an incredibly time-consuming process for schools and colleges, and involves yet more educational disruption for the young people concerned.
“It is clear that a different approach is needed in the autumn term but what we have heard so far from the government amounts to no more than vague aspirations, and there is still no robust and coherent plan in place.
“Schools and colleges need to know the arrangements for next term and the government must ensure that there is sufficient support in place to help them deliver whatever is planned. Staff, parents and pupils deserve clarity, certainty and an end to the disruption that has taken place over the past 15 months.”
The DfE confirmed today that isolation rules in England could be brought to an end this autumn, and that ministers had written to secondary schools asking them to prepare to potentially replace isolation rules with Covid testing.
