Face masks will no longer be required in classrooms from tomorrow, the prime minister announced in the Commons today. 

Updating Parliament on the government’s Plan B Covid rules, Boris Johnson said that the Department for Education would also “shortly remove national guidance on [face masks’] use in communal areas”. 

The DfE has since confirmed face masks will be removed in communal areas from next Thursday (27 January).

He added that the government would continue to “suggest” the use of face coverings in “crowded spaces”. However, he said “we will trust the judgement of the British people” and no longer criminalise anyone who chooses not to wear a mask. 

This news comes as the prime minister said he expected Covid cases to continue to rise in primary schools.

The DfE said the move was based on a “downward trajectory” in national Covid data.

Fears about removing face masks from schools

Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU teaching union, warned that schools were “still feeling the impact of Covid” and there was a danger that lifting restrictions too early could cause further disruption.

Updated figures for Covid absence in schools are due to be released next Tuesday.

Dr Bousted said: “The danger is we lift restrictions too quickly before the effects of returning to school are clear.

“This will result in more education disruption, which is extremely worrying, particularly for pupils taking national exams this year whose education has been so badly disrupted already.”