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We’re a team of independent fact checkers and campaigners who find, expose and counter the harm it does * Who we are * How we fact check * After we fact check * Our team * Contact us * Jobs * Funding * Independence * Impartiality * Feedback & corrections * FAQs * International networks * Search 1. Health / 2. Coronavirus # Fact-checking claims on coronavirus transmission in schools 5 November 2020 ##### What was claimed Virus levels are now 50x higher among secondary school pupils than they were in September. ##### Our verdict According to ONS data, this is correct. ##### What was claimed 38% of infections outside of the home are caught in schools ##### Our verdict This data refers to the number of Covid-19 incidents reported by local health teams. It does not represent all non-domestic transmission and it is misleading to suggest this. __1 of 2 claims > “NEU analysis of ONS figures shows that virus levels are now 9 times higher > amongst primary pupils and an astonishing 50 times higher amongst secondary > pupils.” > > National Educational Union, 2 November 2020. > “Just 4% of infections outside the home trace back to pubs and restaurants. > But by contrast, 38% of infections are caught in schools, by far the biggest > means of transmission.” > > Skwawkbox, 9 October 2020. As England prepares for another lockdown, but this time with educational settings remaining open, our readers have asked us about claims around the levels of coronavirus transmission in schools. We’ve written about the evidence on how Covid-19 is transmitted in schools before. Honesty in public debate matters You can help us take action – and get our regular free email Sign up ## The NEU figures on secondary school infections The National Education Union (NEU) is campaigning for schools and further education colleges to close during the lockdown. The union has said that the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates 1% of primary school pupils and 2% of secondary school pupils have the virus. It also claims that virus levels are now nine times higher amongst primary school pupils and 50 times higher amongst secondary pupils than they were in September. According to ONS data, this is correct. The latest ONS coronavirus infection survey found that older teenagers and young adults “continue to have the highest positivity rates, while rates appear to be steeply increasing among secondary school children.” ONS data shows that, as of 23 October, an estimated 2.01% of pupils in England between Year 7 and Year 11 tested positive for Covid-19. On 1 September this rate was 0.04%, so the NEU is right that there has been a fiftyfold increase. The data also shows that 1.04% of children aged between two years-old and school Year 6 in England have tested positive for coronavirus by 23 October. Primary school pupils are included within this bracket, but it is worth noting that not all of the children in this category are primary school-aged. On 1 September this rate was 0.11%. ## Skwawkbox claims on school transmission Our readers have also asked us to check a blog post from Skwawkbox, which claimed that 38% of infections caught outside the home are in schools, compared to 4% in pubs and restaurants. When this article was published on 9 October, the latest weekly Public Health England (PHE) Covid-19 surveillance report said educational settings accounted for the 38% of Covid-19 acute respiratory infection (ARI) incidents reported to Health Protection Teams. However, ARI incidents are reported based on situations where two or more laboratory confirmed cases are linked to a particular setting, or an outbreak is suspected. This means that the data does not cover all Covid-19 cases linked to settings outside of the home, such as isolated cases. It also doesn’t necessarily mean that if a case was linked to, say, a school, that it would have been caught in a school. Therefore it’s incorrect to claim that 38% of all non-domestic infections are caught in schools. It’s also important to note that “educational settings” does not only cover schools in this case, but also colleges and universities. PHE also notes that a national school helpline began operating on 17 September, and a universities helpline on 7 October, which it said “is likely to have had an impact on the number of situations/outbreaks being reported”. The latest PHE data (up to 27 October) shows that 234 of 983 ARI incidents with a Covid-19 linked case (24%) were in educational settings. * By Pippa Allen-Kinross * Share this: * Twitter * Facebook ## Was this helpful? Full Fact fights for good, reliable information in the media, online, and in politics. Support Full Fact today ### Related fact checks * Fenbendazole is not a proven treatment for cancer in people * Guardian corrects article about GPs refusing to give prostate cancer tests to black men * How many people were treated in Covid-19 Nightingale hospitals? * Nurofen tablets do not contain graphene oxide * Having high cholesterol is not better for your health * Did you find this fact check useful? * Yes No ## Full Fact fights bad information Bad information ruins lives. It promotes hate, damages people’s health, and hurts democracy. You deserve better. 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Virus levels are now 50x higher among secondary school pupils than they were in September