Learning loss and learning inequalities during the Covid-19 pandemic: an analysis using the UK Understanding Society data  Seminar

What is your talk about? The spring of 2020 saw a widespread and prolonged closure of schools across the UK due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Using data from Understanding Society, the UK Household Longitudinal Study, we analyse the consequences of school closure during the Covid-19 pandemic for the inequalities by socio-economic group in the uptake of homework in homes during the Covid lockdown, the learning loss at the end of the lockdown, and propose policies to mitigate the likely impact of the school closure on the learning gap by socio-economic group.

What are the key messages of your talk? We found that during lockdown, primary pupils lost 195 hours of school, secondary students lost 150, and that educational loss is more pronounced for children from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds than for other children.

What are the implications for practice or research from your talk? Schools should remain open during any further phases of high infection if at all possible. Schools should offer academic tutoring during the current academic year and the start of the 2021 public examinations should be delayed.