The National Association of Headteachers in Wales is worried school staff are unable to get tested for Covid-19.

NAHT Cymru said some staff had been offered appointments hundreds of miles away and described the situation as “unacceptable”.

Laura Doel, Director of NAHT Cymru, said: “We are receiving an alarming number of reports that school staff are struggling to get test appointments or home testing kits for coronavirus.

“Some school staff have been offered test appointments over a hundred miles away, as far apart as Cardiff and London in the south and one staggering case of someone in Bangor being offered an appointment in Inverness.

“Return to school plans are predicated on having certain levels of staff to maintain all safety measures. It is simply unacceptable that staff who are displaying symptoms have to remain off work for days in some cases waiting to be tested and have the results. This is putting a considerable strain on the school workforce and it is only a matter of time before classes or even whole schools have to close due to staffing issues.

“I have written to Education Minister Kirsty Williams and Health Minister Vaughan Gething, urging them to make school staff a priority group for testing.

“Schools are playing their part in return plans but they cannot do it alone; tests need to be available so those who are fit can return to work and those who are not can isolate, and the track and trace process be initiated.”

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “It’s important to note that only school staff with symptoms of the coronavirus need to take a test and self-isolate. We have provided all schools in Wales with guidance on the steps they need to take should a member of staff or pupil display symptoms.

“Every school in Wales has been provided with testing kits. The rapid deployment of testing by NHS Wales will also support individual schools, where needed.

“We have significantly expanded testing and are providing £32m to increase testing capacity in Wales, which includes extending our regional laboratories to 24-hour operation and six new ‘hot labs’ at hospitals across Wales. This is alongside access to the wider UK Lighthouse Lab network which supports public and key worker testing.”