This NFER research shows that the negative impacts on reading progress from partial school closures was greatest among key stage 1 pupils, particularly those in year 1. The pandemic and associated partial school closures have led to considerable disruption to the learning of pupils in England.
Amidst concern about the pandemic’s possible impact on the development of children and young people’s social and emotional skills and their wellbeing, there has been some research in this important area. This report focuses on pupils’ attainment.
In order to inform policy and decision-making, a range of studies have used standardised test data to estimate the impact of this disruption on pupils’ learning. This primarily involves comparing attainment during the pandemic with attainment prior to the pandemic.
The report found that the distribution of attainment has shifted as a result of the disruption caused by Covid-19. By
Summer 2021 more pupils and particularly those in the younger age groups, are scoring low marks in reading assessments, whilst in mathematics fewer pupils are getting high scores in Key Stage 2.
The impact on progress in reading has been greatest in Years 1 and 2 while the impact of the pandemic on mathematics progress is greater across Key Stage 2.