This interim report by the NFER, funded by the Education Endowment Foundation, looks at the impact of Covid-19 related disruption on KS1 pupils’ attainment. It shows that there is a substantial attainment gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils.
The project aims to assess the extent to which pupils’ attainment and socioemotional development in Year 1 and Year 2 has been impacted by school closures, and particularly the effect on disadvantaged pupils. Children of this age are relatively less able to learn independently and therefore could be disproportionately affected by closures. In particular, Year 1 pupils will have had very little reception year schooling, thus, missing out on crucial opportunities to develop socially and emotionally and to prepare for the transition from reception to KS1.
This is the second round of interim findings of a study estimating the impact of Covid-19 related disruption on KS1 pupils’ attainment. Schools in England were closed to all pupils apart from vulnerable pupils and children of keyworkers in spring and part of the summer terms of 2020, and again in the spring term of 2021.
The results focus on reading and maths assessments taken by over 5,000 Year 1 pupils and over 5,000 Year 2 pupils from 156 schools in the spring term of 2021. Their attainment was compared with that of representative samples of Year 1 and Year 2 children in spring 2019.
The report shows that in Year 1, there is gap of around seven months for both reading and mathematics. In Year 2, the findings indicate that the disadvantage gap is around seven months for reading and eight months for mathematics.