Nursery World - Disadvantaged children need 'long-term' catch-up support as learning gap grows

Teachers estimate that children are on average three months behind in their learning, while the gap between disadvantaged children and their peers has risen by 46 per cent, according to new research.

The findings are based on a joint report by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) and the Nuffield Foundation on the views of 3,000 head teachers and teachers at 1,305 primary and 898 secondary schools across England.

Nearly all teachers surveyed reported that children lag behind where they would expect them to be in their curriculum learning, with 21 per cent reporting that boys have fallen further behind than girls.

Teachers in the most deprived schools are over three times more likely to report that their pupils are four months or more behind in their learning, compared to teachers in the least deprived schools (53 per cent compared to 15 per cent).

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