THE Prime Minister has revealed the date he wants schools to reopen by during Prime Minister's Questions earlier this afternoon.

After being probed on the topic by MPs, Boris Johnson announced the initial target of February half-term for the reopening of schools will not be met.

Mr Johnson said he is aiming for schools to be reopened by March 8, meaning children will remain at home doing remote learning for at least another five weeks.

The Prime Minister said: “The first sign of normality beginning to return should be pupils going back to their classrooms.

"I know how parents and teachers need as much certainty as possible including two weeks’ notice of the return of face-to-face teaching.

“So I must inform the House that for the reasons I have outlined it will not be possible to reopen schools immediately after the February half-term.

"But I know how frustrating that will be for pupils and teachers who want nothing more than to get back to the classroom.

“And for parents and for carers who spent so many months juggling their day jobs, not only with home schooling but meeting the myriad other demands of their children from breakfast until bedtime.

“If we achieve our target of vaccinating everyone in the four most vulnerable groups with their first dose by February 15, and every passing day sees more progress towards that goal, then those groups will have developed immunity from the virus about three-weeks later, that is by March 8.

“We hope it will therefore be safe to begin the reopening of schools from Monday, March 8.

“With other economic and social restrictions being removed thereafter as and when the data permits… then or thereafter I should say.”

Mr Johnson said that schools are safe, but then said they are a "considerable vector of transmission" due to the amount of households mixing on a daily basis.

Keir Starmer, Labour leader, criticised the Prime Minister following the announcement. 

He said: "Even for this Prime Minister, it’s quite something to open schools one day, close them the next, to call them vectors of transmission and then to challenge me to say that schools he’s closed are safe.

“Only now to give a statement where he says that schools can’t open until March 8 at the earliest because it’s not safe to do so.

"That’s his analysis, it’s the sort of nonsense that’s led us to the highest death toll in Europe and the worst recession.

“But of course we welcome any steps in reopening schools and we’re going to look at the detail of how the Education Secretary (Gavin Williamson) plans to deliver this and the plans to deliver online learning.”