The essential journalist news source
Back
9.
February
2021.
Lockdown Learning Loss - 8 Months And Counting

Lockdown Learning Loss - 8 Months And Counting

Pupils struggling to add up with pencil and paper, reveals data

NEARLY half of school children within the UK are behind in mathematics by an average of eight months due to the pandemic, according to a new study.

Research by learning outcomes organisation Whizz Education found that 46% of pupils have suffered a reduction in their maths knowledge, when compared to the level their learning was prior to the first lockdown.

The finding is based on a detailed analysis of 1,721 children in the UK aged 5 to 13, who were originally assessed prior to March 31 2020 and then reassessed again at the end of last term.

"This is among the first quantifiable data to demonstrate the true scale of lost learning within a specific core subject of the curriculum, " said Richard Marett, founder of Whizz Education.  

"We found that on average pupils have fallen behind by eight months across different mathematics topics, including core skills such as mental calculation strategies."

The findings are likely to further add to concerns that the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) in England and Wales, which relies solely on human tutors, cannot be sufficiently scaled-up to cope with the pandemic.

Based on previous studies it has been found that children who benefited from weekly use of virtual tuition platforms, which enable teachers to set tailored lessons using a virtual assistant, were able to maintain and boost their maths knowledge.

Research shows that just 60 minutes of online tuition per week over the course of a year can boost a child's maths ability by the equivalent of 18 months learning.

One such school to benefit is Little Sutton Primary School in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, where pupils at the school are in the top 20% nationally for achievement in Key Stage 2 in mathematics.

Rachel Davis, Headteacher at the school said: "Our use of the virtual tutoring platform in mathematics has enabled us to tailor lessons to the ability of each pupil during lockdowns. We can monitor student progress as they work through the program and it typically requires 45-60 minutes per week, so screen fatigue is not an issue." 

Meanwhile the NTP website has warned: "Tuition Partners have initially been funded to provide subsidised tutoring for up to 250,000 pupils, from November 2020. This will substantially increase the amount of tutoring available to disadvantaged children, but is not enough to provide support to every disadvantaged pupil in England."

Richard Marett, whose organisation is a member of the British Educational Suppliers Association and has tutored 1.5 million students via its Maths-Whizz program, added: "By adopting a narrow approach that relies on human tutors without support from virtual tuition, the National Tutoring Programme is in an unsustainable position that will result in pupils losing further ground."

[ENDS]

NOTE TO EDITORS

Whizz Educationis based in the UK and is also currentlyimplementing projects inschools as far afield as Kenya, Mexico, Thailand, Republic of Ireland, Russia, New Zealand, United States of America, and United Arab Emirates.

Whizz Education's internal metrics consistently demonstrate that students who use Maths-Whizz for 60 minutes per week improve their maths age by, on average, over 18 months in their first year of use. For more information contact Melanie Faldo or Gary Thompson via melanie@kbapr.cm or gary@kbapr.com

 

 Contact details

 

E:support@whizz.com W:www.whizz.com

 

Whizz Education, Macmillan House, Paddington Station, London, W2 1FT