ALL schools and colleges in Wales will move to online learning until January 18th, the Welsh Government has announced.

Kirsty Williams, Minister for Education, tweeted that the Welsh Government had come to the agreement after consultations with the Welsh Local Government Association and Colegau Cymru. 

"The situation in Wales and across the UK remains very serious," she said.

"Today, the four UK Chief Medical Officers have agreed that the UK is now at the highest level of risk, Joint Biosecurity Council level 5.

"As a government we will use the next two weeks to continue to work with local authorities, schools and colleges to plan for the rest of term.

"This is the best way to ensure that parents, staff and learners can be confident in the return to face to face learning, based on the latest evidence and information".

Schools and colleges will remain open for children of critical workers and vulnerable learners, as well as for learners who need to complete essential exams or assessments.

Before today's announcement, some schools in Wales were preparing to resume face-to-face learning as early as Wednesday.

"We had initially given schools flexibility in the first two weeks of term to decide when to reopen based on local circumstances," she added. 

"But it is now clear that a national approach of online learning for the first fortnight of term is the best way forward.

"We know that schools and colleges have been safe and secure environments throughout the pandemic.

"However, we also know that education settings being open can contribute to wider social mixing outside the school and college environment.

"We are confident that schools and colleges have online learning provision in place for this immediate period. 

"Universities in Wales have already agreed a staggered start to term. Students should not return to universities for face to face learning until they are notified that they can do so.

"Wales remains in the highest level of restrictions. Everyone must stay at home".