Education Secretary Gavin Williamson will set out new plans for dealing with Covid in schools in England on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday signalled an end to the requirement for entire school bubbles to isolate in the event of a Covid contact by instead utilising extra testing.
The Government will change the controls that apply in early years, schools, colleges and higher education institutions in a bid to keep as many children in school as is safely possible - rather than having them sent home to isolate.
From July 19, if the lockdown lifting goes to plan, children will no longer need to be in consistent groups (‘bubbles’), and early years settings, schools or colleges will not be required to routinely carry out contact tracing, which will help to minimise the number of children isolating.
Contact tracing in specific educational settings would only be triggered if deemed necessary in response to a local outbreak.
In short, children will not need to be sent home to isolate if another child in the school, year or class has Covid - and there will be no 'bubbles' to be sent home for isolation.
Instead there will be increased testing.
Under 18s who are close contacts of a positive case will be exempt from the requirement to self-isolate, in line with the approach for those who are fully vaccinated.
The changes are likely to come into effect later in the summer - in time for the next school year. There will be no restrictions on in-person teaching and learning in universities.
