Two million children have done almost no home learning during lockdown, UCL report shows

More than two million children have done virtually no schoolwork during the lockdown, a study has found.

One in five pupils in the UK – equating to around 2.3 million children – either did no home learning at all or less than one hour a day, according to a new report by University College London's Institute of Education.

Researchers analysed the findings of a study in which over 4,500 British households were asked about their children's schoolwork during the second half of April.

They found that children spent an average of 2.5 hours each day doing schoolwork. This is around half the amount suggested by previous research, which implies that "learning losses are much greater than feared", academics said.

The poorest children, defined as those eligible for free school meals, did the least schoolwork at home. Only one in 10 spent more than four hours a day on schoolwork, compared to nearly one fifth (19 per cent) of their wealthier peers.

Professor Francis Green, who led the study, said the new findings paint a "gloomy picture" about the amount of work children have done during lockdown.

"The closure of schools, and their only partial reopening, constitute a potential threat to the educational development of a generation of children," he said.

"Everyone is losing out in this generation, some much more than others. Better home schoolwork provision, and better still an early safe return to school for as many as possible, should now become a top priority for the Government."

The study found that there was a huge gulf between the amount of home learning carried out by pupils at state and private schools.

Nearly a third (31 per cent) of private schools provided four or more online lessons each day, compared with just six per cent of state schools. Researchers also found regional disparities, with just nine per cent of children in the north-east of England doing at least four pieces of schoolwork a day, compared to the UK average of 20 per cent.

The report comes amid rising concern about the plight of children who face being out of school for six months. 

Downing Street has come under fire for its policy on schools reopening, having rowed back on plans to allow all primary school pupils back to the classroom before summer.

This week, Gavin Williamson, the Education Secretary, is expected to announce a series of "catch-up" programmes for children who have fallen behind during the lockdown. They will include a national plan for setting up summer camps at which children will be able to do arts and crafts and other activities.

Downing Street defended the Government's "significant support" for children's education at home during the lockdown. The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "We are making over £100 million available to support children to learn at home, providing laptops, tablets and 4G routers to those without internet access."

Last month, the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) published a tranche of documents detailing the evidence that had been provided to the Government on whether it was safe to allow pupils to return to the classroom.

The Sage advice revealed that ministers were warned ahead of the decision to open schools that children would suffer life-long damage because of lockdown.