One in 15 children in school years 7 to 11 are estimated to have had coronavirus in the week up to 2 October.
Children who are 11-16 have the highest COVID-19 positivity rate for any age group, according to the latest data.
Around one in 15 youngsters in school years 7 to 11 in England are estimated to have had coronavirus in the week up to 2 October, compared with one in 20 the previous week, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show.
The COVID-19 rates have also increased for people aged 35-49 and over-70s.
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In England overall, around one in 70 people in private households had COVID in the week to 2 October, up from one in 85 the previous week.
One in 70 is the equivalent to about 786,300 people.
The percentage of positive tests decreased for those in school year 12 to people aged 24 but the trend was uncertain for those aged two to school year 6, people aged 25-34 and those aged 50-69.
The ONS figures correlate with government data released on 5 October which showed that the number of children out of school with a confirmed case of COVID-19 topped 100,000 in England last week.
The Department for Education (DfE) found the number of pupils out of school for coronavirus-related reasons increased by two thirds in a fortnight.
More than 204,000 – 2.5% of all pupils – were not in class for reasons connected to COVID-19 on Thursday last week.
This is up from 122,300 children, or 1.5% of all pupils on 16 September – a 67% rise from two weeks ago.
The figures come as heads reported “a high level of disruption”, with a school leaders’ union warning that self-isolation rules are “actively contributing” to the spread of the virus in schools.
England’s COVID-19 weekly reproduction “R” number was estimated to be between 0.9 and 1.1, slightly higher than last week’s 0.8 and 1.1.
An R number between 0.9 and 1.1 means that for every 10 people infected, they will on average infect between nine and 11 other people.
The daily growth of infections also ticked up, as it was estimated to be between -1% and +2%, compared with -3% and +1% last week.
According to the ONS analysis on regional COVID-19 cases, the number of positive cases has increased in all regions, except the East of England where the trend is uncertain.
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Yorkshire and the Humber and the East Midlands had the highest proportion of people likely to test positive in the week to 2 October – around one in 55.
London and eastern England had the lowest at around one in 90.
In Wales, around one in 55 people are estimated to have had the virus, the highest since 23 December.
Sara Crofts, head of analytical outputs for the ONS COVID-19 infection survey, said: “There is a mixed picture of infection trends across the UK once again, with the largest increase seen in England.
“This has been largely driven by a notable increase among secondary school pupils, likely reflecting their return to school in September.”
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