Education Secretary Gavin Williamson says every child will be back in school in September

Every child in every year group will return to school in September, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has said.

Speaking at the daily Downing Street press conference, he said: "School is vital for every one of our children. That is why we will bring all children in all year groups back to school in September."

And he said: "We want to bring every child back in every year group in every school".

Mr Gavinson said: "I do understand there is anxiety still among parents", but he insisted: "We have put robust protective measures in place."

He also thanked teachers, saying: "Today with the overwhelming majority of primary and secondary schools as well as colleges and nurseries opening to more children and young people, I wanted to take the opportunity again to say thank you."

He spoke after Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggested in an interview with Sky News that the Government wanted every child to return to school full time once the summer holidays end.

The Prime Minister has said to “watch this space” when asked whether social distancing restrictions could be cut to help schools to return.

Current rules require pupils to stay two metres apart. This has limited the number of pupils that can attend school, and one option would be for the government to reduce this to one metre.

In the meantime, the Government announced a £1bn education campaign to help pupils catch up after missing classes during the lockdown.

The government has announced £650 million will be shared across state primary and secondary schools over the 2020/21 academic year.

Headteachers will decide how the money is spent. The government said it could help to pay for small group tuition for whoever needs it.

This one-off grant to support pupils in state education recognises that all young people have lost time in education as a result of the pandemic, regardless of their income or background.

Separately, a National Tutoring Programme, worth £350 million, will increase access to high-quality tuition for the most disadvantaged young people over the 2020/21 academic year.

In a sign that the virus remains under control - but is still a threat - the UK’s four chief medical officers have lowered the country’s coronavirus alert level from four to three after a “steady decrease” in cases.

Level four means a “Covid-19 epidemic is in general circulation, transmission is high or rising exponentially”.

Level three is when the epidemic is in general circulation and gradual easing of restrictions can take place, while level two is when the number of cases and transmission is low and “no or minimal” restrictions are required.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said 42,461 people had died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 5pm on Thursday, up by 173 from 42,288 the day before.

Government borrowing surged to a new record high in May, hitting £55.2 billion and beating the newly revised £48.5 billion for April, following heavy spending in the face of coronavirus, according to new figures.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) added that public sector borrowing – excluding banks owned by the state – was nearly nine times higher than the levels in May 2019.

It means the UK’s debt mountain has also now grown to more than the entire country’s output – gross domestic product – for the first time since 1963, officials added, to £1.95 trillion or 100.9% of GDP.