Commenting on the data, Louis Hodge, Associate Director for School System and Performance at the Education Policy Institute (EPI), said:
“Headline attainment results for primary school pupils show whilst there have been some small improvements in reading and writing since last year, maths attainment has stagnated, and overall results are still below pre-pandemic levels.”
“The data published today paints a particularly worrying picture for social mobility in England, as some of the country’s most vulnerable children continue to be considerably behind their peers.”
“According to the government’s own data, whilst the disadvantage gap has closed since last year, it is still around the same level as it was in 2014. With the gap only closing a third of the way back to its pre-pandemic level, illustrating the lasting impacts the pandemic had on younger cohorts of primary-school pupils.”
“Pupils with special educational needs appear to have recovered more strongly post-pandemic. The same per cent of pupils on EHC plans, and a greater fraction of pupils with SEN support achieved the expected standard across all subjects (reading, writing and maths) this year compared to in the year prior to the pandemic. This should be interpreted with some caution though as makeup of these pupil groups has changed and grown over the same period.”
