Children might not return to school until February if they don't go back this September as planned, a source close to the Government claims.
It is said that scientists fear making changes to coronavirus policy over the winter given the prospect of a second wave this winter and another lockdown to curb the spread of the bug.
Education Select Committee chair Robert Halfon has warned there will be an "ice age" in terms of learning if schools don't open in September.
It came after the Government dropped plans for all primary schoolchildren to return for a month before the summer as the R rate remained too high.