Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has expressed sympathy to students affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

Speaking at Saturday's Number 10 press conference, he said: "At this time of year, GCSE and A-Level students would have been making final preparations for their exams while other students would have been enjoying their summer term.

"If you're one of them, as I've said before, I can only say how sorry I am that this has all happened to you this year.

"The sacrifices that you have had to make through no choice of your own.

"But the impact that this coronavirus has had on your life has made things so incredibly tough for all of you."

"We can now start the planning for a very limited return for some pupils, potentially as early as next month."

But he added: "I know some parents and teachers are very anxious about this."

As part of a cautious phased return children in reception, Year 1 and Year 6 will be allowed to return to school, as well as some secondary school children "on a limited basis."

He said children in reception, year 1 and 6 - as well as years 10 and 12 - can go back to school in smaller class sizes as part of a phased return.

"They stand to lose more by staying away from school," he said.

The Education Secretary confirmed there have been 468 deaths across all settings in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of people to have died in the UK after testing positive for Covid-19 to 34,466.