The learning loss that pupils experienced during Covid lockdowns is generally reducing but disadvantaged children in England “remain further behind” than their peers, according to a new report by a spending watchdog.
The National Audit Office (NAO) warned today that lost learning, if left unaddressed, could lead to “increased disadvantage and significant lost earnings” for those affected.
The main findings from the report can be found below.
1. Progress in addressing learning loss has been ‘inconsistent’
The NAO’s report says that Department for Education research shows that by summer 2021, the summer after the start of the pandemic, “learning loss had reduced for most pupils”.
Giving examples, it says that in summer 2021 pupils were on average 2.2, 0.9 and 1.2 months behind the expected level of attainment in primary maths, primary reading and secondary reading respectively, and that this compared with 3.6, 1.8 and 1.5 months in autumn 2020.
But it adds that key stage 2 tests of pupils in Year 6 in 2022 show “significant” drops in attainment compared with before the pandemic, with 59 per cent of pupils reaching DfE’s expected standard in all of reading, writing and maths, down from 65 per cent in 2019.
And the report notes that there are “limitations” to the data, and that progress in addressing the issues has been “inconsistent”, with the greatest levels of learning loss being in the North of England.
2. Disadvantage gap has grown since 2019
According to the report, DfE research shows that disadvantaged secondary school students were 2.4 months behind where they were expected to be in reading, compared with 1.2 months for all secondary students.
The disadvantage gap index - a measure of the difference in attainment between disadvantaged and other pupils - at the end of primary school was 3.23 in 2022, compared with 2.91 in 2019.
The report also says that just half of the pupils receiving tutoring under the government’s flagship National Tutoring Programme (NTP) were disadvantaged in 2021-22.
Looking at the different strands of the scheme, it says that just 51 per cent of pupils receiving tutoring through the tuition partners strand were disadvantaged, compared with a target in the DfE’s contract with Randstad - the provider that year - that 65 per cent should be disadvantaged.
In total, 25 per cent of disadvantaged pupils received school-led tutoring up to May 2022, compared with 14 per cent of all pupils for the same period.
3. Concern over long-term ‘financial sustainability’ of tutoring
The report states that some sector staff raised “concerns about the long-term financial sustainability of tutoring and mentoring”, given the pressures on school budgets.
It says that the DfE told the NAO that it would like to embed tutoring in the school system because it is recognised as an “effective way to address low attainment”, but the watchdog also notes that it is “progressively reducing the amount of subsidy it provides under the NTP”.
The school-led tutoring subsidy has decreased from 75 per cent last year to 60 per cent this year, and in 2023-24 this subsidy is set to decrease further, to 25 per cent.
The report recommends that the DfE should “model the impact of withdrawing the recovery premium and subsidy for the NTP, to assess whether tutoring in schools is financially sustainable given DfE’s objective for tutoring to become embedded in the school system”.
Several sector leaders have previously warned about the impact of reducing the NTP subsidy, but these warnings have not met with a positive reaction from ministers.
4. Schools have not used all the DfE recovery funding
The NAO estimates in its report that by the end of the 2021-22 financial year, there was a £226 million (14 per cent) underspend against the available funding for education recovery.
When calculating this figure, the NAO used funding including the Accelerator Fund, the NTP, catch-up premium, and more.
And it says that this underspend is, if anything, likely to be “understated” because it does not consider potential underspend relating to school-led tutoring.
School leaders had to fill in a year-end statement outlining how they used school-led tutoring money in 2021-22, and the DfE said any unused cash would be recovered.
The Education and Skills Funding Agency expects to publish data on the amount of cash recovered in the spring.
The DfE has been contacted for comment.
