New official figures show almost every school in England has opened for the start of the autumn term, following months of hard work and dedication from staff
Figures published by the Department for Education today (Tuesday 15 September) show 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. 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.
On average 95.3 per cent of pupils attended school in the 2018/19 academic year, although differing data collection approaches mean the two figures are not directly comparable.
The Department for Education is working closely with all schools that are not fully open to ensure remote education is in place for the children who are unable to attend in person, and to ensure schools are only sending those home to self-isolate who have had close contact with a confirmed case of coronavirus.
Less than 0.1 per cent of schools are completely closed, with local public health protection teams working to support them to reopen as soon as possible. These temporary closures reflect exceptional circumstances such as cases amongst staff members at very small schools.