Education secretary Gavin Williamson has set out plans to do away with bubbles, self-isolation, masks and social distancing in schools as part of a strategy to cut the disruption that the Covid pandemic will cause.

These plans have been announced as the government prepares to relax more restrictions nationally in step four in its roadmap for unlocking the country.

The government has said this is expected to begin on 19 July if its “four tests” for easing Covid restrictions have been met. This will be confirmed on 12 July, based on the latest data.

Concerns have been raised today by the NEU teaching union that the measures will lead to the coronavirus spreading and are based “just on hope”.

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The Department for Education has set out the evidence that has underpinned its decision making in a new report published this week.

The evidence for easing Covid restrictions in schools

It says that at every stage since the start of the pandemic, decisions about education have been informed by the scientific and medical evidence - both on the risks of coronavirus infection, transmission and illness, and on the risks to children and young people from not attending school.

It also stresses how the government’s priority is for all children and young people to continue to be able to attend schools and colleges and for those settings to be able to deliver face-to-face, high-quality education.

Here are the key points from its evidence report.

Lost learning

The DfE report includes data on the impact of lost learning of pupils because of Covid disruption.

It says that on their return to the classroom in autumn 2020, in reading, primary-age pupils were on average around 1.8 months behind similar pupils in 2019-20, and in maths they were around 3.7 months behind.

Secondary-age students were on average 1.7 months behind in reading.

Primary pupils made some progress to catch-up in reading and maths during the autumn term (0.5 months in reading, one month in maths) when spending time in the classroom, although they were still behind in December 2020.

And on their return to the classroom in the spring after the second major national lockdown, primary pupils were on average behind pupils in 2019-20 by a similar amount in March 2021 as they were in September 2020 (around two to 3.5 months). 

The DfE says this suggests that pupils made less progress during periods when they were learning from home than when they were in the classroom, despite the provision of remote education.

Vaccines

The new DfE report also highlights the impact of the country’s vaccination programme in tackling the coronavirus.

The Office for National Statistics Schools Infection Survey, published this month, estimates that 86.7 per cent of school staff had received at least one dose of a vaccine by the end of May 2021, while 43.1 per cent had received two doses.

The DfE report says the government is accelerating the rollout further, by reducing the vaccine dose interval for under-40s from 12 weeks to eight. It says this will mean every adult has the chance to have two doses by mid-September.

Pupils spreading Covid to their household

The department’s report shows there has been mixed evidence around the extent to which pupils spread Covid when they go home.

Mr Williamson told MPs this week that schools were not “vectors” for spreading Covid but rather they reflected the Covid levels in the wider communities they serve.

The DfE’s own report acknowledges that there is some evidence that adults living with children were more at risk of increased infection during the second wave.

It says: “One study found that during the first wave of the pandemic in England, for adults aged 65 years and under living with children, there was no evidence of a markedly increased risk of Covid-19 infection or severe outcomes.

“During the second wave, there was evidence of increased risk. However, this did not translate into a materially increased risk of Covid-19 mortality, and absolute increases in risk were small.”

It also highlights another study analysing ONS Covid-19 Infection Survey data that found that the risk of bringing Covid-19 infection into households was higher amongst 12- to 16-year-olds than for adults during periods when schools were allowing most or all pupils to attend. It said the difference was less marked for primary school children

Low risk of hospitalisation for children through Covid

The department says that the risk of hospitalisation and intensive care admission in children through Covid infection is very low.

It adds: “In weeks 1 to 25 of 2021, on average 1.3 per 100,000 0-4 year olds and 0.4 per 100,000 5-15 year olds have been admitted to hospital for new Covid-19 positive cases per week.”

It says there continues to be strong evidence that children and younger people are much less susceptible to severe clinical disease than older people.

What about long Covid in children?

However, it acknowledges that paediatric services have received some referrals for children with symptoms suggestive of long Covid.

The report says that further studies to understand the prevalence of post-Covid-19 symptoms, and how they present, in children are ongoing - including in particular, the Children and Young People with Long Covid (CLoCk) study by Public Health England with Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, which is tracking children, young people and families over time.

Bubbles disrupt education

The most recent figures have shown that more than 600,000 pupils were off school last week because of Covid-related reasons - with the majority having to self-isolate because of  potential contact with a case rather than having the virus themselves.

The DfE report also warns that bubbles have hampered schools’ and colleges’ ability to teach a full curriculum, particularly practical subjects and those that require specialist staff or equipment.

The report highlights how a Covid-19 school snapshot panel survey showed that bubbles and social distancing were the most commonly reported challenge to operating in a Covid-secure way

It found that 40 per cent of respondents had to cancel clubs entirely, with others reducing availability or the number of children that were able to attend in order to comply with bubbles and social distancing.

The DfE said issues caused by bubbles have also been highlighted by Ofsted. These include limiting access to science, art and music rooms; difficulty providing support for pupils with SEND; and physical fatigue of teachers - particularly in secondary schools - from having to move resources from classroom to classroom.

‘Learning to live with Covid’

The DfE report also says that as Covid-19 becomes “a virus that we learn to live with”, there is now an imperative to reduce the disruption to children’s and young people’s education.

It says this is the case “particularly given that the direct clinical risks they face are extremely low”.

The DfE says: “The balance of risks has shifted and as measures are eased in the rest of the economy and society, it is appropriate to step down measures in early years, schools and colleges so that children, young people, staff and settings can return to normal as far as possible.”