The poorest children are missing more school and falling further behind classmates, research shared with the BBC suggests.
According to new analysis by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) – which looked at pupil performance after the Covid-19 pandemic – children from the lowest income families are now up to 19 months behind peers by the time they are 16 years old.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told BBC Panorama Covid had led to a “serious and profound shift” in attitudes to attendance. She said lockdowns had cast “a long shadow” over the life chances of the youngest children.
The latest statistics for persistent absence show 15% of primary children in England have missed at least one in ten days of school this school year – up from about 8% before Covid.
It comes as the gap between the poorest students and other pupils had mainly narrowed before the pandemic, following years of effort by schools.
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