The differential impact of COVID-19 lockdown on pupils’ writing skills

This project will examine the impact of the COVID-19 lockdowns on pupils’ writing skills, focusing on children in Years 1 to 7.

The impact of COVID-19 on education and inequality is a priority for policy makers and teachers. Current research predominantly focuses on the impact on reading and maths in primary schools. However, the lockdowns have impacted all aspects of education. Writing is a crucial tool for improving reading and comprehension, and it is a skillset which will be used throughout people’s lives. To support evidence-based interventions and targeted funding, the research team will build on and extend existing research in the following ways:

1. Focusing research on the impact of the pandemic on writing.
2. Using the No More Marking dataset, which contains writing assessments for over 1000 primary schools across England, based on comparative judgements that help capture the complexity of writing.
3. Employing sophisticated methods, such as multilevel modelling to compare writing attainment and progress across individual and school characteristics.

Completion of the research will provide evidence on the extent of attainment gaps in writing, information for teachers and policy makers on how to address inequalities, and on the impact of being in a particular teaching group.

Policy makers (civil servants within the Department for Education, Parliamentarians and Parliamentary staff) and practitioners (school staff, managers and organisations representing schools) are the main stakeholder groups. Research outcomes will be of interest to academics, potentially leading to further research into successful teaching methods and longer-term research trajectories. The findings will also be communicated to parents and the wider public to contribute to ongoing debate regarding the impact of Covid-19.

Journal articles and a main project report will provide technical information and recommendations for policy and practice. A public summary will summarise the findings in non-technical language. Policy briefings will be provided to parliamentary select committees and the Education Recovery Analysis Division.