More than 1m children in England out of school last week due to Covid-related reasons

Some 47,200 pupils had a confirmed case of coronavirus, government figures show

The figure is a new record high since all students returned in March (PA)

More than one million children in England missed school last week due to Covid-related reasons, the latest government figures show.

The figure is a new record high since all students returned in March.

An estimated 1.05 million pupils were out of school on 15 July, the equivalent of around one in seven (14.3 per cent), according to the Department for Education (DfE).

Of this total more than three-quarters of a million (773,700) pupils were self-isolating due to a possible contact with a case of coronavirus inside their school.

A further 160,300 pupils were self-isolating due to a possible contact with a case of coronavirus from outside school.

Only 47,200 pupils had a confirmed case of coronavirus, and 34,500 pupils had a suspected case of coronavirus.

An additional 34,800 pupils were absent as a result of school closures due to Covid-19 related reasons.

The attendance figures for state school pupils have been adjusted to exclude those year 11-13 students not expected to attend because they are off-site, the DfE said.

Labour has accused the Conservatives of “abandoning the nation’s children” after the latest attendance data was released.

Kate Green, the shadow education secretary, said: “The Conservatives have abandoned the nation’s children with no action taken to turn the tide on rising cases in schools.

“Parents and schools have been crying out for help, but the Conservatives have washed their hands of their responsibility to keep children learning.

“The government must take action to keep children learning for the last week of term, and ensure that by September schools have the support they need to avoid further disruption to children’s education.’’

Figures released last week suggested more than 800,000 students in England were self-isolating and did not attend school in the previous week.

On 8 July, an estimated 11.2 per cent – more than 820,000 – pupils were off with confirmed or suspected Covid-19, self-isolating after being identified as a potential contact or were from schools which had closed because of coronavirus.

This was up from 8.5 per cent on 1 July and 5.1 per cent on 24 June.