Children who started secondary school in September are 22 MONTHS behind on their writing

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Children who started secondary school in September are 22 MONTHS behind on their writing as attainment levels for Year 7 pupils plummet since first coronavirus lockdown

  • More than 112,000 Year 7 pupils attainment levels are below their March levels
  • The stark findings, which point to the pandemic’s devastating impact on learning
  • The National Education Union’s joint General Secretary pushed for a shutdown
  • But poll of teachers reveal the overwhelming majority want to stay in classroom

By Julie Henry For The Mail On Sunday

Published: | Updated:

Children who started secondary school in September are 22 months behind where they should be in writing, test results have revealed.

Assessments of more than 112,000 Year 7 pupils revealed their attainment levels are below where they were in March – when schools were closed in the first Covid lockdown.

The stark findings, which point to the pandemic’s devastating impact on learning, come as teaching unions continue to demand schools and colleges are closed once again.

Assessments of more than 112,000 Year 7 pupils revealed their attainment levels are below where they were in March – when schools were closed in the first Covid lockdown (fie photo)

The National Education Union’s joint General Secretary, Kevin Courtney, described schools as ‘an engine for virus transmission’ and pushed for a shutdown until December and then a rota system.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has accused the union of being ‘content to put pupil progress on hold’ while a poll of teachers reveal the overwhelming majority want to stay in the classroom.

In the assessment, pupils aged 11 and 12 were asked to write an article for a school magazine about their ideal job. Teachers in the 677 participating secondary schools graded their work before it was sent away for moderation.

Assessment company No More Marking asked schools to plot pupil progress and compare scores with other schools.

Daisy Christodoulou, No More Marking’s director of education, said: ‘The results are quite stark. The mean score of the Year 7 pupils is almost exactly the same as the mean score from our most recent Year 5 assessment, held in November 2019. So Year 7 pupils are 22 months behind where we would expect them to be.’

She suggested that writing attainment could have decayed faster than skills such as reading because pupils get less chance to practise in everyday life.

The issue was raised during last week’s Prime Minister’s Questions by former Home Secretary Sajid Javid.

Chris McGovern, the chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said: ‘Schools have to do everything they can to stay open. The evidence does not support school closures.’