You are here:
Coronavirus testing for pupils and staff: what you need to know and do
Find out how staff and pupil testing will work for the rest of the autumn term, and what your schools need to do to prepare for the Christmas holidays and the return to school in January.
Contents
- Primary schools: home testing for staff for remainder of the autumn term
- Christmas holidays and returning to primary school in January
- FAQs for primary schools
- Secondary schools: home testing for the remainder of the autumn term
- Christmas and January: test all returning pupils once on-site, and once at-home
- FAQs for secondary schools
- What secondary schools need to do to implement the programme
- Responding to test results or symptoms
- When to seek public health advice
- Schools should update their documents
Primary schools: home testing for staff for remainder of the autumn term
Primary schools, including school-based nurseries and maintained nursery schools, should:
- Offer staff lateral flow device coronavirus tests (read more about these below) to self-administer at home twice a week, 3 to 4 days apart, as long as they're attending in person
- Strongly encourage them to participate in testing, though it's not mandatory
Staff:
- Should test themselves at home twice a week, 3 to 4 days apart
- Should report their results to the school
- Must report their results via NHS Test and Trace, following the instructions in the home test kit
This applies to all teaching and non-teaching staff, including volunteers, supply workers, trainee teachers on placement and peripatetic staff.
Staff who aren't attending your schools during the holidays should follow general government coronavirus guidance. This includes the recommendation to take a rapid lateral flow test when visiting crowded and enclosed spaces, or visiting people who are
- Accident recording and reporting: requirements and guidance
- Asbestos management plan template
- Coronavirus: latest updates Updated
- Coronavirus: outbreak management plan template
- Coronavirus: safety guidance summary and risk assessment update guide Updated
- Fire safety: risk assessment and emergency evacuation procedures
- First aid provision: requirements and guidance
- Health and safety audit: checklists
- Health and safety duties: overview template and how to comply
- How to set your premises development strategy
- School premises maintenance: checklist
- Statutory risk assessments: checklist and guidance
The Key has taken great care in publishing this article. However, some of the article's content and information may come from or link to third party sources whose quality, relevance, accuracy, completeness, currency and reliability we do not guarantee. Accordingly, we will not be held liable for any use of or reliance placed on this article's content or the links or downloads it provides. This article may contain information sourced from public sector bodies and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.