PUPILS in Britain have suffered from longer school closures than almost any other European nation during the coronavirus pandemic, according to new analysis by Labour.

The party accused Education Secretary Gavin Williamson of a slew of failures as it said that, on the continent, only in Italy had pupils been kept away from classrooms for longer.

Britain’s schools and universities were completely closed for 44 per cent of the days between January last year and this July, according to Labour’s analysis of the Oxford University Covid-19 response tracker.

The analysis did not take into account normal closures such as for holidays and term breaks.

Labour said that the Tories had failed to learn from their mistakes and heed scientific advisers’ warnings that the removal of Covid safety measures could send infection rates spiralling as pupils return after the summer holiday.

The party also condemned failures under Mr Williamson’s leadership, including inequality in exam results between private schools and the state sector – with the former’s success rates soaring far ahead – and children missing out on over 24 million meals this summer.

Shadow education secretary Kate Green said: “The Conservatives’ failure to respond to the Covid crisis has kept kids out of class for far longer than their European counterparts.

“As the new school year starts, Gavin Williamson is again burying his head in the sand, ignoring the advice of scientific experts and risking creating a climate of chaos for schools if Covid rates rise.

“Rather than ignoring reality, the Conservatives should be listening to the pleas of parents, teachers and Labour to get proper ventilation and Covid-secure measures in place to keep children learning together in class.”

Hundreds of thousands of pupils are returning to the classroom this week to a relaxation of safety measures that had been keeping coronavirus rates under control.

Head teachers’ unions have warned that this could lead to a rise in infections among school-aged children.

Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) general secretary Geoff Barton said the government had by any measure fallen short of what was needed.

He said: “Its decision-making has too often been ponderous, its guidance has lacked clarity and it has had a tendency to double down on flawed policy decisions before having to perform U-turns.

“It has not supported schools and colleges adequately during this period and has left them shouldering far too many responsibilities which are public health rather than education tasks.”