Everyone knew the pandemic would have a major impact on the development of young children, given that access to early years settings was made almost impossible for several months and that schooling was disrupted for these cohorts, too.

However, our research published today by the Education Endowment Foundation reveals the full extent of this impact - with a clear top-line finding that fewer children have obtained a good level of development (GLD) at the end of Reception in the academic year 2020-21 compared with children in the pre-pandemic cohort.

More specifically, our research shows worrying findings about the outcomes for children who started Reception in September 2020 in all three prime areas of the early years foundation stage, and the two specific areas of literacy and maths. 

The extent of the issue means schools will need additional help and resources to provide targeted support to children across all areas of the curriculum to mitigate the risk of long-term harm caused by the pandemic.

The context

In September 2020, approximately 630,000 children started school. They did so after a period of significant social upheaval. 

Access to early years settings was severely limited between March and June 2020, with only 7 per cent of children able to attend. By July 2020, weeks after early years settings reopened to all children, this figure had only risen to 25 per cent of the expected number. 

In addition, government restrictions meant that social interaction and physical activity outside of the home were largely prohibited for much of the year. Even after starting school in September, disruptions continued and a further lockdown in January 2021 meant that many of these children could not attend school for much of the spring term. 

Our project, funded by the Early Education Foundation, explored the impact of the pandemic on the socioemotional and educational outcomes of these children.

Importantly, while the early years foundation stage profile (EYFSP) was not mandatory in the summer of 2021, we were able to collect this information directly from schools for over 3,000 children and compare it with data collected for children in 2018-19, before the pandemic struck. 

The details

The findings paint a worrying picture and reflect very clearly the schools’ concerns expressed through survey data collected in the autumn, spring and summer terms. 

• Only 74.5 per cent of children in our sample achieved at least the expected level in the learning area of communication and language, compared with 82.2 per cent of the 2018-19 cohort. 
• For personal, social and emotional development, the proportion of children achieving at least the expected level was 77.7 per cent and 84.8 per cent respectively. 
• A smaller difference of 5.3 percentage points was seen for physical development (81.8 per cent and 87.1 per cent respectively). 
• Perhaps most worrying is the gap seen in literacy and maths. Only 62.2 per cent of children achieved at least the expected level in literacy compared with 71.4 per cent in the 2018-19 cohort, and only 69.9 per cent of children achieved at least the expected level in waths compared with 78.5 per cent in the 2018-19 cohort. 
• Finally, a difference of 13 percentage points was seen in the proportion of children achieving a good level of development between the two cohorts. 

To put this in context, the average class size in primary school is 26.6 children.

As such, this could mean three fewer children in an average class achieving a good level of development compared with pre-pandemic classes.

The solution

Clearly, urgent action is needed to mitigate the negative impact of the pandemic on children’s outcomes. We know that schools have been working tirelessly to meet the needs of children throughout the pandemic and continue to do so despite very challenging circumstances. 

We also welcome the rollout of the Nuffield Early Language Intervention, which will help to support language development for children in Reception. 

However, support for other areas of the curriculum, particularly for younger children, has been more sporadic. 

Our recommendation is that a holistic approach to educational recovery is taken, and a package of measures is made available to schools to support children in all areas of development, including socioemotional wellbeing and physical development, to ensure they have the strongest foundation that will help them reach their full potential. 

This is likely to require additional funding, as well as support for teachers to help them identify and implement suitable programmes. Our recent rapid evidence review may be a good place to start for children at the early stages of education. The EEF has also published the Moving Forwards guide to help schools plan their approach to educational recovery.

In addition, we need to consider the implications of these findings for early years settings. EYFS runs from birth to age 5 and, as such, much of the foundational work is carried out before children enter Reception. 

We know that the early years sector is facing an uncertain future in the wake of staff shortages, financial uncertainty and the prospect of reducing staff-to-child ratios. 

Clearly, high-quality early education is more important than ever, and it is vital that settings are given the support they need to ensure children are not further disadvantaged by the fallout from the pandemic.

Will be exploring several of the specific findings in this research relating to different areas of our findings in the coming weeks, to help give schools greater insight into where the key issues lie to help direct their teaching accordingly.

Claudine Bowyer-Crane is associate research director - education and skills at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research