Safety mitigations to keep children, young people and staff safe in schools will be extended until at least the October holidays.

Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville confirmed that all current mitigations, including the use of face coverings by pupils in secondary school classrooms, will still be required to help keep schools as safe as possible.

In addition, updated guidance will be provided in the information letters that schools are asked to send to staff and the parents of primary and secondary pupils when they are in low risk contact with positive cases in schools.

These will now include a strengthened recommendation to take a lateral flow test before returning to school. This is in addition to current advice for staff and secondary pupils to take a lateral flow test twice a week, with a few days apart, and record the result before returning to the classroom.

There will be a continued requirement for staff to keep at least a metre distance from each other and from children and young people when they are at schools.

Revised guidance to reflect these changes will be published as soon as possible.