Government research has found that “disadvantaged pupils lost up to 4.3 months in learning during the spring term.” The report further stated that “primary school children lost more than two months' learning during the last lockdown, with northern and disadvantaged pupils hardest hit.”
The study by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) found that for disadvantaged pupils, overall losses were as high as 4.3 months. According to the research for the Department for Education (DfE), “By the time they returned to school in March this year, pupils had regressed to the level they were in September.
A report analysis in Sky news suggested that there were regional disparities in the levels of learning loss, with pupils in the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber and East Midlands suffering more than those in London and the South West.
Unfortunately, poorer children were the worst hit, with losses equivalent to between a third and two-thirds of progress made in bridging the disadvantage gap over the past 10 years. Overall, primary school pupils regressed further in their learning in the spring term than they did in the autumn one.
During the autumn term pupils lost 3.7 months in maths and 1.8 months in reading, the report added.
Jon Andrews, the co-author of the study, added: "We need to continue to look at how we can support all pupils through effective catch-up programmes, but especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, whose education has seen the most damage from the pandemic."
