Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress his Department has made on pilots of mass testing in schools for covid-19.

The Government’s mass testing approach in schools and colleges aims to support schools and colleges to keep all students and pupils in education unless they are COVID positive. From January, all schools, starting with secondary schools and colleges and including special schools and alternative provision, will be eligible to offer weekly tests to their workforce to identify asymptomatic cases and help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Both teachers and pupils will also be eligible for daily tests if they are identified as a close contact of a positive case. This will mean that they can stay in school rather than self-isolating.