Damning figures show 82% of English schools have pupils self-isolating due to lack of Covid tests

More than four out of five schools in England have pupils stuck at home because they cannot get a coronavirus test that could allow them to return to the classroom, damning new figures reveal today. As the Government faces mounting criticism of its testing failures, some 82 per cent of schools reported that they had students quarantining at home. Health Secretary Matt Hancock is under burgeoning pressure to unclog Britain's bottlenecked testing system in the face of a growth in coronavirus cases As the Government faces mounting criticism of its testing failures, some 82 per cent of schools reported that they had students quarantining at home because they could not get a Covid test Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT, has warned that children's education is being 'needlessly disrupted' by a testing system which is in 'chaos' 'But we are hearing the same thing repeatedly from our members across the country - chaos is being caused by the inability of staff and families to successfully get tested when they display symptoms. Of the schools who have had to send pupils home due to suspected or confirmed cases of Covid-19 this term, nearly three in four have only sent home individual pupils. But 7 per cent have had to send home whole classes, 5 per cent reported sending home whole year groups, and 4 per cent sent home small groups of pupils.