Children’s education lagging by 2 months

Many pupils are around two months behind because of lost learning during school closures, a Government report found.

Children from the poorest areas have lagged more than their wealthier peers, it said.

The research, commissioned by the Department for Education, found that several year groups in England have experienced a learning loss in reading of around two months. In maths, the losses of primary pupils averaged at just more than three months.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson yesterday said he has ruled out extending school days or cutting the summer holiday to deal with the crisis.

The report found all children have experienced at least a month of going backwards regardless of their financial status.

at secondaries with a high level of free school meals, 2.2 months of learning was lost compared to 1.5 months in those with a low uptake. and secondary-aged pupils in the north East and yorkshire and the Humber were more disrupted than children in London.

The findings were based on more than 400,000 reading and maths assessments.

Jon andrews, head of analysis at the Education Policy Institute, which carried out the research with Renaissance Learning, said it ‘underlines the need for pupil catch-up interventions to be heavily targeted at the poorest pupils’.

asked about longer school days, Mr Williamson told last night’s Downing Street press conference: ‘you ask about lengthening the school day – it is not part of the plan.’ Some £700million has been pledged by the Government to make up on lost learning time and will include summer schools for pupils such as those who will be in year Seven in September.

‘Need for catch-up interventions’