Leadership

Impact of School Closures and Subsequent Support Strategies on Attainment and Socio-Emotional Wellbeing

This report assesses the extent to which Key Stage 1 pupils’ attainment in reading and maths were impacted by partial school closures during the first national Covid-19 lockdown, and particularly the effect on disadvantaged pupils.

This NFER study estimates the impact on attainment of pupils in Key Stage 1 in England following disruption to schooling during the spring and summer terms of 2020. It also aims to determine the parts of the curriculum that children are struggling with.

It concludes that Primary school pupils in England have suffered “significant” learning loss during lockdown and school closures.

The interim report assesses the extent to which Key Stage 1 pupils’ attainment in reading and maths were impacted by partial school closures during the first national Covid-19 lockdown, and particularly the effect on disadvantaged pupils.

The paper focuses on the gap in attainment likely caused by March 2020 school closures (commonly called ‘learning loss’), and the disadvantage gap for Year 2 children as measured in autumn 2020. The results focus on assessments taken by Year 2 pupils (aged 6-7 and in their final year of Key Stage 1) in autumn term 2020 sat by nearly 6000 pupils in 168 schools.

The findings suggest that primary-age pupils have significantly lower achievement in both reading and maths as a likely result of missed learning. In addition, there is a large and concerning attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and non-disadvantaged pupils.

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