Ninety-nine per cent of schools open for autumn term

According to DfE data shows that over 99 per cent of schools were open to some or all their pupils on Thursday 10 September, and 92 per cent were open to all their pupils. This follows months of school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The majority of schools not open to all their pupils were in the process of doing so, with only one per cent of responding schools not fully open due to cases of coronavirus.

More than seven million children and young people were back in the classroom last week, representing 88 per cent of pupils across the country.

Less than 0.1 per cent of schools are completely closed. The DfE says these
temporary closures reflect exceptional circumstances such as cases amongst staff members at very small schools.

Schools that have reported being fully open have 90 per cent of pupils currently attending, with pupil absence partly due to self-isolation in line with public health advice, following suspected or confirmed cases outside of school settings. Attendance figures include pupils absent for both Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 related reasons. 

In early years, approximately 67 per cent of all settings were reported by local authorities to be open on 10 September, a significant increase on the number open over the summer holidays. Unlike with school-aged children, early years attendance is non-statutory. Due to many children attending early years settings on a part-time basis, 100 per cent attendance in early years settings is never achieved.

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