Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether children who have been required to self-isolate at home are allowed to return to school as soon as they have received a negative covid-19 test result.

On 2 July, the Department published guidance to help schools prepare for all pupils, in all year groups, to return to school full-time from the beginning of the autumn term. This includes guidance for how schools should manage cases of COVID-19 amongst the school community. The guidance can be viewed at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.

Anyone with any of the three main COVID-19 symptoms should self-isolate and access a test as soon as possible. Where a pupil or member of staff receives a test which delivers a negative result, and they feel well and no longer have symptoms similar to COVID-19, they can stop self-isolating. Other members of their household can also stop self-isolating.

If a pupil or member of staff is self-isolating because they have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, including if they are part of a class or group that has been asked to self-isolate, and they develop symptoms themselves within their 14-day isolation period, they should follow guidance for households with possible or confirmed COVID-19 infection and get a test. Where the test delivers a negative result, the individual must remain in isolation for the remainder of the 14-day isolation period as they could still develop COVID-19 within the remaining days.

The guidance for households with possible or confirmed COVID-19 can be viewed at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance.