MORE than 300 Oldham pupils were absent due to Covid on just one day before the Christmas break, estimates suggest.

The Education Policy Institute said the high rate of pupils out of school across England is a continuing concern with higher absence linked to greater learning loss.

The latest snapshot figures released by the Department for Education estimate that 336 pupils in state-funded Oldham schools were absent because of Covid-19 on December 16 – 1.4 per cent of all those in schools which responded to the survey.

Of them, 302 were off because of a confirmed or suspected case of the virus.

A further three pupils were absent due to attendance restrictions in their school, 18 pupils were required to remain at home or isolate in line with government guidance, and 13 were isolating for other reasons.

Including absences for non Covid-related reasons, 87.6 per cent of Oldham pupils were attending class that day, in the 53 (50 per cent) schools which responded.

This was down from 90.4 per cent on December 9.

Across England, 3.7 per cent of pupils were absent for coronavirus-related reasons on December 16 – the most since the start of the school year in September.

On December 16, 3 per cent of teachers and school leaders were meanwhile off because of Covid-19 in England – also the most since term began.

In Oldham, 3.4 per cent of teachers were off – up from 2.1 per cent a week previously, and also the highest proportion yet.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “The challenges posed by having so many staff absent will continue to put schools and colleges under severe pressure.

“The costs of bringing in the supply staff needed to maintain learning is crippling for schools and colleges and the Government needs to step in to help, as well as providing more support on ventilation.”

More recent national figures suggest the picture got worse over Christmas, with 3.9 per cent of pupils and 8.6 per cent of teachers absent for reasons connected to coronavirus on January 6.

A DfE spokeswoman said: “We are supporting schools through encouraging former teachers to come back to classrooms and extending the Covid workforce fund for schools that are facing the greatest staffing and funding pressures.”