School bubble rules are likely to have been scrapped by September, education secretary Gavin Williamson has said.
The minister said he expects to be able to confirm plans to lift restrictions and bubbles as part of step four of the roadmap out of lockdown.
The government plans to lift the final restrictions, such as those on social contact, gathering limits and business closures, on July 19 following a four-week delay to the June 21 'Freedom Day' earlier this month.
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Answering an urgent question on the impact of coronavirus on young people’s attendance, the education secretary told MPs in the Commons: “Some restrictions remain in place in schools. What I want to see is these restrictions including bubbles removed as quickly as possible along with wider restrictions in society.
“I do not think it is acceptable that children should face greater restrictions over and above those of wider society especially since they have given up so much to keep older generations safe over the last 18 months.
“Further steps will be taken to reduce the number of children who have to self-isolate including looking at the outcomes of a daily contact testing trial as we consider a new model for keeping children in schools and colleges.
“We constantly assess all available data and we expect to be able to confirm plans to lift restrictions and bubbles as part of Step 4. Once that decision has been made we will issue guidance immediately to schools.”
Pressed on whether changes would come into force before children returned to school in the autumn, Mr Williamson said he is "very much expecting" bubble arrangements to be lifted by September.
Conservative former minister Caroline Nokes asked: “Can (Mr Williamson) reassure me that as we look to both July 19 and the end of the summer term that there can be no question of a return to bubbles and self-isolation when children return in the autumn?”
Mr Williamson replied: “I don’t want to be pre-empting the decision of cross-government in terms of the next stage but our direction is very clear about lifting the restrictions and ensuring that children are not in the situation where they have to bubble – it’s very much part of the course of this road map – and we will be very much expecting that children would not be facing that in September.”
It comes amid increasing pressure from the education sector to change the rules, which have seen high numbers of students having to self-isolate.
Schools minister Nick Gibb said the government is carrying out a review into replacing rules around bubbles and isolation with regular testing.
New data shows pupil absence due to Covid has hit a new record high since classes went back in March.
Figures show that around one in 20 (5.1 per cent) state school pupils in England did not attend class for Covid-19-related reasons on June 24, up from 3.3 per cent on June 17 and 1.2 per cent on June 10.
Around 279,000 children were self-isolating due to a possible contact with a Covid-19 case, a further 24,000 pupils had a suspected case of coronavirus and 15,000 had a confirmed case.
Current rules state that children have to self-isolate for 10 days if another pupil in their bubble tests positive for coronavirus.
Parents have hit out at the "confusing and annoying" school bubble rules.
Dad Jeff Williams, 54, from Merseyside, said: “My son used to attend after-school clubs. He was twice in contact with other children who were or had family members test positive. He would then have to isolate for 10 days.
“What was confusing and, I must say, annoying was the fact that he had to isolate but despite him having exposure to the case he had spent the entire following day around his whole class who for some reason did not have to isolate.
“It is the lack of joined-up thinking or common sense to the policies that cause so many parents to question the need for children to be denied an education.
“It is almost as if the schools are using Covid as an excuse to limit the number of children attending. This was reinforced when they refused key workers places for their children during the last lockdown.”
