The research, based on the Department for Education’s absence data published on 22 January, shows that teacher absences due to a confirmed case of coronavirus were significantly higher than those of pupils – six times higher than pupils in primary schools and up to three times higher in secondary schools.
Teacher absence rates due to contracting Covid ranged significantly across the country: in Bury, Hartlepool, Thurrock, Calderdale, Blackburn and Salford, two to three percent of all secondary school teachers were absent during the autumn term due to a confirmed case of the virus, while almost none were in the Isle of Wight and Herefordshire. In contrast, there was far less local variation in pupil absences.
Typically, as the rate of confirmed cases among pupils rose across local authorities, the rate of confirmed cases amongst teachers began to increase at a much faster rate. This could be because of increased infections in school, or because teachers are more susceptible to rising infections in the wider community.
The EPI analysis also indicates that it is very likely that more teachers had a confirmed case of Covid than the wider adult population. However, more Government data is needed in order to substantiate this. The research says that Office for National Statistics (ONS) infection survey data on the relative risk by occupation, which was last updated for the period up to mid-October, would inform debate on the relative merits of prioritising different occupations for vaccinations.
Commenting on the analysis, Luke Sibieta, research fellow at the EPI said, ‘This research shows that a far greater share of teachers missed school due to a positive Covid test compared with pupils. We find that Covid absence rates in England were three times higher for teachers than for pupils in secondary schools and six times higher in primary schools – though there was significant variation across the country.
‘Our analysis indicates that teachers are likely to have seen higher Covid case rates than the adult population as a whole – but we need to see more data released by the Government in order to confirm this, and to inform any forthcoming decisions on vaccination prioritisation. The Government should be looking at this very closely ahead of the potential reopening of schools next month.’