School staff are less confident that they understand the government’s current Covid rules at the start of the autumn term than they were last year, new polling suggests.

Classroom teachers, middle leaders, senior leaders and headteachers are all said to be less sure of their grasp of the guidelines compared with responses from September 2020, according to a survey by the Teacher Tapp app.

Two in five headteachers (40 per cent) are highly confident that they understand the current rules compared with 57 per cent last year.

The news comes as the majority of children return to school this week, with many measures previously used to curb the spread of the virus - such as “bubbles”, face masks and social distancing - no longer recommended by the Department for Education (DfE).

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Asked on 2 September about their grasp of current government guidelines and rules for schools around Covid-19, less than one in 10 classroom teachers (9 per cent) said they had a “high” degree of confidence in their understanding.

And teaching staff across the board indicated that they were less sure of their grip on the rules than at the same point last year.

Confidence diminished the most among headteachers - with the proportion reporting a “high” degree of certainty in their understanding falling from 57 per cent on 2 September 2020 to 40 per cent on 2 September 2021.

Meanwhile, the percentage who said they had “no confidence” in their understanding of the rules increased for classroom teachers, middle leaders, senior leaders and heads.

The poll shows 44 per cent of headteachers said they have moderate confidence on their grasp of the rules this year and another 12 per cent have slight confidence.

The DfE put an end to many extra safety measures in schools as the summer term drew to a close - scrapping bubbles, which were used to keep groups of children apart, as well as face masks and school-led contact tracing.

But it said in its updated Covid contingency framework last month that, for most settings, “it will make sense to think about taking extra action if the number of positive cases substantially increases”.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “The measures in place in schools for the autumn term strike a balance between making schools safe - with enhanced ventilation, Covid testing and vaccinations of older students and staff - and reducing disruption by removing bubbles and face coverings.

“Our guidance is clear that schools should only introduce additional measures if advised by local directors of public health in response to high case rates within the school. Such measures should be temporary and carefully balance public health concerns with the need to prioritise face-to-face education.”