More than 200,000 pupils were off school for Covid-related reasons last week, new data from the Department for Education reveals.

The government estimates that 2.5 per cent (204,000) of all pupils on roll in state-funded schools did not attend school for Covid-19-related reasons on 30 September, up from 1.5 per cent (122,000) on 16 September - a 67 per cent rise .

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The vast majority of pupils who were off either had Covid or a suspected case of the virus.

The data also shows that 84,000 pupils had a suspected case of the coronavirus - 1 per cent of pupils on roll in open schools, up from 0.5 per cent on 16 September, when there were 45,000 suspected cases.

How Covid is hitting school attendance

And there were 102,000 pupils with a confirmed case of coronavirus - 1.3 per cent of pupils on roll in open schools, up from 0.7 per cent on 16 September, when there were 59,000 confirmed cases.

This means 186,000 pupils were off school with either Covid-19 or a suspected coronavirus case, up from 104,000 two weeks earlier.

New education secretary Nadhim Zahawi had said the government “won’t stand back and let attendance fall” after official figures showed that more than 100,000 children were out of school in England for Covid-19-related reasons in the middle of September.

However, the latest figures - from data which is now published fortnightly - show an increase in both absence and Covid-related absence in schools.

Overall, some 89.5 per cent of students were in class on September 30, compared with 91.9 per cent on 16 September.

The data comes as the NAHT school leaders union warned that the Department for Education’s Covid rules this term - expecting pupils to carry on attending even if they have a Covid case at home among their family - are ”actively contributing” to the spread of the virus.

The data also shows that Covid-related absence was higher in secondary school than in primary.

Across all state schools, 2.5 per cent of pupils were off for Covid-related reasons. In primary schools, the figure was 1.9 per cent, while in secondary it was 3.2 per cent.

The figures also show that an estimated 1.7 per cent of teachers and school leaders were absent because of Covid-related reasons on 30 September, along with 1.5 per cent of teaching assistants and other school staff. 

Covid-related absence covers people who have the virus, have a suspected case, have been asked to self-isolate or are not attending because of a Covid-related school closure or attendance restriction.

The figures show that 5,000 pupils were absent from school because of Covid attendance restrictions 

It says a further 11,000 pupils were self isolating, down from 16,000 two weeks earlier.

A DfE spokeswoman said: “We are committed to protecting education, which is why the safety measures in place strike a balance between managing transmission risk with regular testing and enhanced ventilation and hygiene, and reducing disruption to face-to-face education.

“We are working with parents and school and college staff to maximise students’ time in the classroom - encouraging uptake of testing and the vaccine for 12 to 15-year-olds, and contracting specialist attendance advisers to work on strategies to improve attendance where problems are identified.”