As we move through 2025, the COVID-19 pandemic may feel like a distant memory, but its effects on children’s education in England remain strikingly present. Recent evidence shows that the pandemic fundamentally changed the nature of childhood, leaving lasting marks on learning, wellbeing, and development.
The Learning Loss Crisis
Research reveals that children experienced significant learning losses during school closures, with recovery remaining incomplete years later. By summer 2021, pupils were still behind expected attainment levels – particularly in mathematics and reading. Disadvantaged pupils have been hit hardest, with learning losses consistently greater than their more affluent peers throughout the pandemic’s course.
The Education Policy Institute found that disadvantaged primary pupils lost up to 2.6 months of learning in maths and 1.2 months in reading by summer 2021, while disadvantaged secondary pupils fell even further behind at 2.4 months in reading – representing a loss of up to one-third of the progress made over the previous decade in narrowing the achievement gap.
Which Children Were Most Affected?
Early Years & Year 4 Pupils: Children who were in Reception during the first lockdown (now Year 4 in 2025) are among the worst affected cohorts. These critical early years are crucial for personal, social, cognitive, and academic development – time that cannot be easily recovered.
Year 10 Students: Current Year 10 pupils, who were in Year 6 at the pandemic’s start, experienced disrupted transitions to secondary school and continue to struggle with preparing for GCSEs while catching up on missed content.
Disadvantaged & SEND Pupils: Children from low-income families, ethnic minority backgrounds, and those with special educational needs experienced disproportionate impacts. Only 40% of the estimated 1.78 million children lacking home devices received government support for remote learning.
Beyond Academic Learning
The pandemic’s toll extends far beyond test scores:
Mental Health Crisis: Increased feelings of isolation, loneliness, and anxiety, partly fueled by excessive screen time and social media use during lockdowns
Safeguarding Concerns: With one in 50 children still missing at least half of school in 2025, vital opportunities for professionals to identify and protect vulnerable children are being lost
Social Development: Disrupted peer interactions and social learning opportunities, particularly damaging for youngest learners developing foundational social skills
Speech & Language: Many Reception-aged children now entering Year 4 show limited functional speech at age five, missing vital developmental foundations
Regional & Inequality Impacts
Significant regional disparities emerged, with pupils in parts of northern England and the Midlands seeing greater learning losses than other regions. The most deprived areas experienced the largest overall losses – disadvantaged pupils in the most deprived areas saw losses of 3.0 months in primary maths and 2.7 months in secondary reading.
The pandemic essentially reversed years of progress in closing the disadvantage gap, with the gap at primary school increasing for the first time since 2007.
The Road to Recovery
While £4.9 billion was announced for education recovery, including the National Tutoring Programme and recovery premium, experts warn that recovery will take considerable time. Some education leaders suggest children may need to progress through the entire education system to fully address their learning gaps.
Schools are implementing innovative catch-up strategies including targeted tutoring, adjusted timetables, and renewed focus on social-emotional development. However, concerns remain about long-term sustainability, particularly as funding subsidies are withdrawn.
What Needs to Happen Now
The Children’s Commissioner for England has emphasized that decisions affecting children cannot be made without their voices. Despite witnessing how dramatically government action can change lives during the pandemic, only 20% of children feel their voices are heard by those in power.
The ongoing COVID-19 Inquiry (Module 8, autumn 2025) is examining the pandemic’s impact on children and young people, providing an opportunity to learn lessons and ensure future responses prioritize children’s rights, wellbeing, and education.
The message is clear: We cannot return to pre-2020 approaches. The fundamental changes to childhood wrought by COVID-19 and lockdowns demand redoubled efforts and renewed commitment to delivering for all children – particularly the most vulnerable and disadvantaged who bore the heaviest burden.
References
Bacon, K. (2025). Representations of schooling and childhood during the COVID-19 pandemic in England. British Educational Research Journal. https://bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/berj.4097
Children’s Commissioner for England. (2025, September 30). The legacy of Covid on children and the task ahead. [LINK]
Department for Education, Education Policy Institute & Renaissance Learning. (2021). Education recovery in schools in England. National Audit Office. [LINK]
Education Policy Institute. (2024). EPI research for the Department for Education on pupil learning loss. [LINK]
Education Policy Institute. (2025). Annual Report 2025: Disadvantage. [LINK]
Howard, K., et al. (2021). Leading online learning during a pandemic and beyond: Challenges and opportunities for school leaders in England. PMC. [LINK]
National Literacy Trust. (2021). COVID-19 and literacy: The attainment gap and learning loss. [LINK]
NIESR. (2022, April 13). Covid-19 and the Impact on Early Years Education. [LINK]
Who is Losing Learning Coalition. (2025). Finding Solutions to the School Engagement Crisis. Impetus. [LINK]
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