🌿 LONG COVID IN WELSH CHILDREN — PART 1

How Long Covid affects daily life, school attendance and your childs rights in Wales

A Learn Without Limits CIC Guide

Across Wales more and more parents are telling us the same story.
Their child caught Covid a long time ago but has never fully recovered.
Some days they manage a lesson or two, other days they crash completely. Many children look fine one moment and then are wiped out the next.

Despite this, many families feel they are not being believed or understood.
Some are told their child is anxious.
Some are told the problem is attendance.
Others feel dismissed entirely.

This guide aims to give you clear and confident guidance based on the system in Wales so that you can support your child without doubt or hesitation.

This is Part 1.
Part 2 will look at health services, referrals, mental health, tuition, social care and practical steps you can take straight away.

1. What Long Covid is in children

Long Covid describes symptoms that continue for many weeks or months after a Covid infection. It is recognised in children and young people. Symptoms can be physical, emotional or cognitive and they often fluctuate. A child can appear well one moment and then deteriorate quickly after school, exercise or even brief concentration.

Long Covid is not school refusal.
It is not a lack of resilience.
It is not a behaviour issue.
It is a genuine health condition that requires understanding, patience and a clear plan.

2. How many children in Wales are affected

At the moment Wales does not publish child specific Long Covid figures. This lack of official data is becoming a problem because families often assume the issue is rare when the truth is that Wales has simply not counted children separately.

Here is what we do know.

Public Health Wales has reported that around ninety six thousand people in Wales have experienced ongoing symptoms after a Covid infection. That is about three percent of the population.
(See Source 1)

The Office for National Statistics reports that among children who tested positive for Covid:
• around one in ten children aged two to eleven
• around thirteen percent of young people aged twelve to sixteen
still had symptoms at five weeks after infection.
(See Source 2)

Meta studies suggest that between eight and twenty percent of children experience ongoing symptoms after infection, depending on the definition used.
These symptoms often include fatigue, pain and cognitive difficulty.
(See Source 3)

So even though Wales does not currently publish child specific figures, the wider United Kingdom evidence makes it clear that many children are affected.

3. Can children be affected for years and can Long Covid cause disability

Parents ask this often because their child does not recover within the timeframes they were originally told.

3.1 Can Long Covid last for years

Yes.
Research shows that some children remain unwell for many months or years after infection.
Symptoms may come and go or remain steady over long periods of time.
(See Source 3)

3.2 Can Long Covid cause disability

Yes.
The United Kingdom Covid Inquiry has acknowledged that Long Covid can cause long term activity limiting illness in children and young people.
This includes fatigue, cognitive difficulty and reduced ability to take part in normal daily life.
(See Source 4)

In Wales, a long term health condition that limits daily life can meet the definition of disability. This means families may have important rights in education and social care.

4. What Long Covid looks like day to day

No two children are identical, but research and lived experience show clear patterns.

4.1 Physical symptoms

• severe and persistent fatigue
• shortness of breath
• headaches and muscle pain
• dizziness or difficulty standing
• relapse after small amounts of activity, known as post exertional symptom exacerbation
(See Source 3)

4.2 Cognitive impact

• difficulty concentrating
• slower processing
• reduced short term memory
• sensory overload
• trouble keeping up in lessons
(See Source 3)

4.3 Emotional and social impact

Children may feel anxious, frustrated or sad because they cannot keep up with friends or school.
Many lose confidence after repeated periods of illness or absence.
(See Source 3)

If this describes your child, you are not imagining it. These difficulties are widely reported in research and in families across Wales.

5. Why school becomes difficult and why it is often misunderstood

5.1 School requires sustained energy

Schools involve constant movement, concentration, noise and transitions.
A child with Long Covid may manage a short period but then crash for the rest of the day.
Some appear fine in school but collapse the moment they get home.

5.2 Misinterpretation of absence

The Covid Inquiry reports that children with Long Covid can experience long term limitations that affect attendance. These limitations are sometimes misunderstood by schools and attendance teams.
(See Source 4)

5.3 What schools should do

Schools should medically authorise absence where a child has a recognised health condition.
They should adapt expectations, provide rest breaks and work collaboratively with families.

Attendance pressure does not improve a health condition. In many cases it makes symptoms worse.

Internal link placeholder: Attendance guidance for families in Wales

6. Reduced timetables and flexi schooling

Parents often hear two terms and do not always know the difference.
Here is the clearest explanation.

6.1 Reduced timetables

A reduced timetable means the child attends school for fewer hours or fewer subjects.
It is intended to be a short term plan to support recovery.
It must be reviewed often.
https://learnwithoutlimitscic.blogspot.com/2025/12/reduced-timetables-in-wales-parent-guide.html

6.2 Some schools call reduced timetables flexi schooling

This creates confusion.
If a school tells you they are offering flexi schooling, sometimes they actually mean a reduced timetable.
These two arrangements are very different.

6.3 What flexi schooling actually is

Flexi schooling is a formal agreement between the school and the parent which allows part of the education to take place at home.
This can work well for children with Long Covid because it builds in rest days and pacing.https://learnwithoutlimitscic.blogspot.com/2025/12/flexi-schooling-in-wales-complete-guide.html

7. When Long Covid meets the definition of Additional Learning Needs

Under the Additional Learning Needs system, a child has ALN when they need support that is additional to or different from what is normally available.

Children with Long Covid often need:

• shorter school days
• supervised rest breaks
• adapted or chunked learning tasks
• reduced sensory load
• extra processing time
• planned rest periods
• home learning options
• coordinated support between health and education

7.1 What this means

Your child may be entitled to an Individual Development Plan known as an IDP.
An IDP can record the adjustments that your child needs in a clear legal document.

7.2 School IDPs and Local Authority IDPs

Some children will require a Local Authority IDP when the school cannot meet their needs alone.
This is often relevant for fluctuating or complex health conditions.

Internal link placeholder: How to request an IDP in Wales
Internal link placeholder: School versus LA IDPs

8. When education at school is not possible

Wales has a legal duty to provide suitable education for children who cannot attend school for medical reasons.

The Children Commissioner for Wales has raised concerns that some children receiving home tuition receive too few hours and that provision is not always suitable.
(See Source 5)

Education Other Than At School known as EOTAS can include home tuition, online learning or a blended arrangement.
The key point is that the education must meet the childs needs, not simply offer minimal contact.

Internal link placeholder: Understanding EOTAS in Wales

9. What comes next in Part 2

Part 2 will look at:

• paediatric Long Covid services
• mental health support
• how to request referrals
• what to do when systems are slow
• home tuition and hospital teaching
• social care rights
• how to request a child needs assessment
• template letters and ready made scripts
• a directory of trusted organisations

You deserve guidance that is calm, practical and rooted in Welsh law.
Part 2 will help you take confident steps forward.

Sources

1. Public Health Wales. Long Covid surveillance data.

2. Office for National Statistics. Coronavirus Infection Survey findings for children.

3. Paediatric Long Covid meta analyses and symptom reviews.

4. United Kingdom Covid Inquiry. Evidence pack on education and childrens social care.

5. Children Commissioner for Wales. Education in Healthcare Settings Report.