Covid 'intensified' reading and maths gap between disadvantaged and more affluent schools

The findings are included in one of the final reports to be published by the ‘Children’s School Lives’ study, a landmark report following 4,000 students across almost 200 primary schools around the country. File picture: Danny Lawson/PA Wire

The pandemic “intensified” the gap in reading and maths between the children attending disadvantaged schools, and those who do not, a major study following thousands of children through primary school has found.

It also found poverty and privilege shape children’s engagement in learning, with structured inequalities in educational attainment beginning to emerge early. The data has been captured through standardised testing scores.