The impact of the pandemic on attainment two years on

Two years after the outbreak of the pandemic and almost a year after schools returned to in-person teaching, we’ve analysed the results from our Progress Test Series, New Group Reading Test and New Group Spelling Test to examine how students and schools have been impacted.

Our latest analysis shows that schools and students have largely bounced back from missed learning during lockdown. According to our data, the average attainment levels in English, maths and science have almost returned to pre-pandemic levels, while reading has been less affected than first feared.

Here are some of the key findings:

• Our data reveals that the average attainment levels in English, maths and science have almost returned to pre-pandemic levels, with the exception of science. Reading has also been less affected than first feared
• However, some areas of concern remain. A wider range of attainment scores suggests that while some schools have matched and even exceeded the scores they last achieved in 2019, others are taking longer to recover
• This pattern is replicated at the individual student level, with students on free school meals finding the situation especially challenging – not only have their scores continued to decline but the gap between them and their peers has also widened.

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