A greater number of children in poorer areas reported falling behind classmates because of COVID-19 and lockdowns than those in less deprived areas, according to new data from the ONS. The Times has more.
Data released on Friday revealed 42% of GCSE students in the most deprived areas said they fell behind due to Covid “disruption” compared with 26% in more affluent areas.
By the third national lockdown in England, in 2021, young people in the most deprived areas were also less likely to report that their school had provided real-time online learning. Eighty-one per cent told the Office for National Statistics (ONS) that their school had done so, compared with 93% in the least deprived areas.
The ONS said this might suggest schools in less deprived areas faced fewer barriers in improving their online provision compared with schools in more deprived areas.
A gap in learning emerged during the third lockdown, the ONS said, as no differences were found across deprivation groups during the first one in 2020.
Only just over a quarter, or 27%, of young people agreed that their school, employer, or training provider was offering additional support to help them with lost learning during Covid. However, those living in the most deprived areas were, at 31%, more likely to report this than those living in the least deprived areas – and young people in the most deprived areas were also less likely to report feeling unmotivated and struggling to engage with studies or work during the first and third lockdowns.
Chris Shine, from the ONS, said it would continue its analysis of schoolchildren, to show how the pandemic may have “impacted on their futures”. He said: “These results confirm a lot of what we heard at the time about the challenges students faced. But we also see that students from the most deprived areas were particularly motivated to overcome these barriers.”
The study includes those in state comprehensive, grammar and independent schools, who were in Year 11 in the 2020-21 academic year. It found that during the first national lockdown, 40% of students attended school in person, if only for a few days or part-time. By the third national lockdown, from January to March 2021, this had dropped to 17%.
The ONS said there were clear differences across deprivation groups by this stage, with a significantly higher proportion of those in the most deprived areas attending school in person.
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