The COVID-19 pandemic has had profound effects on education in both mainstream and special schools. Education in England was considerably disrupted during the 2020/1 and 2021/22 school years. There were two periods of partial school closure when most pupils stayed at home (March-May 2020 and January-March 2021). Schools were asked to prioritise…

There is a large and long-standing gap in education outcomes between pupils from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers in England (EEF, 2018; Hutchinson et al., 2020). Although there is some evidence of improvement since 2011, the gap has widened recently, largely as a result of school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic…

In the United Kingdom, the Coronavirus Act relaxed the duty on Local Authorities to provide all of the support set out in pupils' educational, health and care plans (EHCPs). They were expected to use 'reasonable endeavours' to deliver as much of this as possible. This relaxation was lifted in September 2020, meaning that from that point the…

Since the initial closure of schools to most children on 20th March 2020, mainstream education has been disrupted as a result of COVID-19. When most pupils returned to school in March 2021, they regained some of their usual routines, but schooling was far from 'back to normal'. Building on the National Foundation for Educational Research's…

Prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, England faced a considerable teacher recruitment and retention challenge. The last ten years have been characterised by insufficient numbers of new teachers joining the profession and an increasing proportion leaving the state sector, particularly in secondary schools. This research is designed to…

This qualitative study set out to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mainstream schools and their pupils in summer 2021. The interviews reported here took place with 50 leaders of mainstream primary and secondary schools in England, most of which were serving disadvantaged areas. This report expands on the interim report (Sharp and…

On May 10th, 2020 the Prime Minister announced a phased return of some children to school in England from June 1st. Schools have been closed to all but vulnerable and keyworker children since March 20th, meaning that most children have been educated at home for a period of 10 weeks, and some year groups are not expected to return to school until…

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted on all areas of society, including education. On 20 March 2020, the British Government ordered all schools to close to all pupils, except vulnerable children and the children of keyworkers (such as those working in public health, transport and supplying food). National examinations were also cancelled. As a…

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact on all areas of society, including education. On 20 March 2020, schools closed their gates to all pupils apart from vulnerable pupils and children of keyworkers. In June, primary schools opened to selected year groups (Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6) and secondary schools invited pupils in Years 10…