Loss of learning:

‘Disadvantaged will fare worst’ from time off school

Keir Bloomer predicted the effects of children being out of school until August will be “severe”, potentially “quite catastrophic”.

“There is a lot of quite good research in various countries which shows that most children lose learning across extended holiday periods,” he said.

“That effect is most marked in relation to disadvantaged learners.

“We know that across the normal Scottish summer holiday many children start school in August further back than when they left in June and the disadvantaged experience that decline to a greater extent.

“The more extended the period, the greater loss of learning. I would assume that would be exponential.”

Mr Bloomer said much more could have been done at a government level to break down barriers for disadvantaged learners during lockdown and said there is “no question” Scotland’s attainment gap has widened during the pandemic. There has been wide variation between local authority areas, even from school to school, regarding available resources.

He said: “What is available depends on the school or the area that you’re in but we do know that – as is usually the case – the disadvantaged will fare worst. If we are talking about online learning, although a huge majority of the population has access to electronic devices, most of the people who don’t are among the poorest groups in society.

“Often, they are further disadvantaged because the only device they have may be a cheap phone with a poor interface.

“I’m not saying that every disadvantaged learner in Scotland has fared particularly badly during this period but I think a very high proportion of them have.”

Keir Bloomer: Curriculum