However, the rules for nurseries and early years are slightly less stringent, which has caused some controversy – here’s everything you need to know.
Early years settings, which include nurseries and childminders, remain open under England’s lockdown rules.
Vulnerable children and the children of critical workers can also continue to use registered childcare, childminders and other childcare services under the new restrictions, while nannies can continue to operate.
The existing rules on childcare bubbles will also continue to operate. Parents can form a bubble with one other household for informal childcare if the child concerned is under 14-years-old.
As this is intended to help the parents or carers to work, it must not be used to enable social contact between the adults involved.
The decision to keep nurseries open while schools and universities close has prompted some controversy, with critics suggesting the decision is political rather than scientific.
Nursery leaders have said there is fear and confusion over how safe the settings are, and called on the Government for reassurance on the evidence behind keeping them open.
Sage member Professor Calum Semple said that every opportunity to remove social mixing and work mixing of human beings is “vitally important”.
He told BBC Breakfast: “So if a political decision has been made here to keep nurseries open in order to keep the essential staff at work, then that could be tempered by restricting the nursery capacity to those essential workers.
“But if we’ve got to the point of closing the universities, secondary schools and primary schools on the grounds of public health, then I would be looking to close all other non-essential activities.
“And it may be that a political decision has been made here that nurseries are essential. But it’s not a scientific one.”
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA), said: “Nurseries want to keep open so they can continue to support children and give them a safe and nurturing place during this lockdown.
“However, the Government are asking a lot of childcare providers and their staff and have to recognise this. There is a lot of fear and confusion about how safe nurseries are.”
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Early years settings remain low-risk environments for children and staff and there is no evidence that the new variant of coronavirus disproportionately affects young children.
“Keeping nurseries and childminders open will support parents and deliver the crucial care and education for our youngest children.
“We are funding nurseries as usual and all children are able to attend their early years setting in all parts of England.
By contrast, all primary and secondary schools and colleges will move to remote learning, except for the children of keyworkers or vulnerable children, until after the February half-term holidays.
While exams and vocational assessments are going ahead in January as planned, summer examinations such as GCSEs and A-levels have been cancelled, with Ofqual considering alternative assessment options.
Similarly, universities are moving to online-only learning until at least the middle of February, except for courses where face-to-face contact is deemed essential, such as medicine, education and social work.
Students returning to university for these degrees must have two Covid tests upon arrival or self-isolate for 10 days before beginning in-person studies.
The lockdown is being enshrined in law and police can take action if people leave home without a reasonable excuse.
A full guidance to the restrictions in place can be found here, but here are the key measures at a glance:
