Coronavirus: Government must take urgent action on children’s lost learning, says spending watchdog

The Government’s spending watchdog report into how children’s education was supported during the early stages of the pandemic - between March and July 2020 - found that had aspects of its response been done ‘better’ or ‘more quickly’, it would have been ‘more effective’ in mitigating the loss of learning that pupils faced as a result of the disruption.

The report described the DfE’s response as ‘largely reactive’ and criticises the DfE for not setting clear expectations for in-school and remote learning ‘earlier’ and addressing the barriers that disadvantaged children faced ‘more effectively’.

Gareth Davies, the head of the NAO, said, ‘The disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic was an unprecedented challenge for the Department for Education and schools. During the early months, the Department gave schools considerable discretion in how they supported their pupils, which reduced demands on schools but contributed to wide variation in the education and support that children received.

‘The evidence shows that children's learning and development has been held back by the disruption to normal schooling. It is crucial that the Department monitors the impact of its catch-up arrangements, particularly on disadvantaged children, and acts on the results.’

The report concluded, ‘It is crucial that the Department now takes swift and effective action, including to learn wider lessons from its Covid-19 response, and to ensure that the catch-up learning programme is effective and reaches the children who have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, such as those who are vulnerable and disadvantaged.’