Coronavirus: Educational gaps widen during lockdown

If schools do not go back until September and current rates of home learning continue, the gap between better-off families and those from poorer households will accumulate to the loss of 15 full school days, according to data released today from the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS).

The survey of more than 4,000 parents in England between 29 April and 12 May shows that children from better-off households are spending 30 per cent more time each day on educational activities than children from the poorest fifth of households.

This gap of an hour and a quarter every day means that these children will already have done extra home learning hours equivalent to a week and a half of full-time school compared with poorer children by 1 June, when some students could return to school.

As well as spending more time on educational activities overall, pupils from better-off households are more likely to spend time on activities that may be particularly beneficial, such as online classes and with private tutors.

Even within state secondary schools, 64 percent of parents in the richest fifth of families report their child’s school is offering interactive resources such as video or text chatting, compared with 47 per cent for children in the poorest fifth of families. Four-fifths of private school students get some online teaching.

Alison Andrew, senior research economist at IFS and one of the authors of the report, said that children in lower-income households are ‘less likely’ to have their own space for schoolwork and are ‘less likely’ to have a computer or tablet to use for school.

Commenting on the survey, Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said, ‘While this period of lockdown will end, the educational disadvantage that exists as a result of poverty will not. Schools cannot tackle this on their own.'