The change was announced on Monday (24 January) by transport secretary Grant Shapps as part of what he described as an effort to "liberalise" the government’s international travel regime.

However, The Telegraph reports children seeking to provide proof of immunity to Covid-19 from a previous infection will only be able to do so through the NHS if their infection was confirmed via an NHS PCR test, and not from a lateral flow test.

Secondary school children are currently being encouraged to test for Covid-19 twice a week using lateral flow tests; however, since 11 January, there has not been a requirement for those who test positive via an LFT to seek a confirmatory PCR test.

It means many youngsters who have recently had Covid may struggle to prove their Covid status – if they haven’t been vaccinated – to the standard required by some destinations.

France and Italy are among destinations requiring all over-12s to prove their vaccinated or recovered status to access many venues, including restaurants and ski facilities.