CYP Now - Poorer children 'worst affected by long-term impact' of school closures

Children from lower income families will be most affected by lost schooling as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, with a massive injection of resources from government needed to help pupils properly catch up, a think tank has warned.

Children could lose up to two thirds of a year of school, the IFS has warned. Picture: Adobe Stock

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said that by February half-term, children across the UK will have lost at least half a year of normal, in-person, schooling, which would increase to two thirds of a year if schools do not reopen as normal until Easter.

A briefing note published by the think tank states that the normal cost of half a year of schooling comes to around about £30bn across the UK, but, so far, governments across the UK have allocated about £1.5bn towards the cost of catch-up.

“This is highly unlikely to be sufficient to help pupils catch-up or prevent inequalities from widening,” the briefing states.

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