Warning of delays to schools reopening in England due to Covid testing

Pupils’ return to schools in England in September is set to be delayed again due to Covid-19 testing.

The first week of the autumn term is due to be spent carrying out tests for coronavirus, with all secondary school pupils required to take two tests on returning to classrooms next month.

A week-long delay to term start

The testing requirements are set to take up the whole of the first week of term to carry out, meaning millions of pupils face missing more days of school as a result of the pandemic.

It is expected that most schools will not begin lessons until the second week.

Geoff Barton, head of the ASCL headteachers’ union, told The Sun: “If you have nine million children going back, having been mixing through the summer, you can see the need to test them on site.

“We thought we could focus on the norm of education and already we have the spectre of disruption. Parents may feel rightly frustrated.”

Pupils across the country have already missed out on weeks of in-classroom learning, with the several lockdowns forcing teachers to carry out lessons remotely via Zoom.

Experts have warned of the impact of lost learning, but the Department for Education (DfE) has insisted that pupils will have more stability when they return in September, adding that schools can open a week before the start of term to carry out testing.

However, despite promises of a less chaotic term, the government has come under fire for not having a clear plan in place to help schools deal with the ongoing challenges of the upcoming academic year.

Pepe Di’lasio, headteacher at Wales High School, in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, has called for greater clarity and direction ahead of the new term.