Educational gaps are growing during lockdown

By Nuffield Foundation

A specially-designed online survey of over 4,000 parents in England between 29 April and 12 May shows that children from better-off households are spending 30% more time each day on educational activities than are children from the poorest fifth of households. 

With schools shut for most pupils since 23 March, new Nuffield-funded research from the IFS examines children’s learning during lockdown.

The gap of an hour and a quarter every day means that children in better-off families will already have done extra home learning hours equivalent to a week and a half of full-time school compared with poorer children by 1 June, when some students could return to school. If schools were to remain closed until the end of the current term, that gap would grow to over three weeks. 

As well as spending more time on educational activities overall, pupils from better-off households are more likely to spend time on activities that may be particularly beneficial, such as online classes and with private tutors. Online classes and other active teaching are far more prevalent in the private sector than in the state sector. And even within the state sector, higher-income pupils are more likely to attend schools that provide online teaching. 

As a result, school closures are almost certain to increase educational inequalities. Pupils from better-off families are spending longer on home learning; they have access to more individualised resources such as tutoring or chats with teachers; they have a better home set-up for distance learning; and their parents report feeling more able to support them. Policymakers should already be thinking about how to address the gaps in education that the crisis is widening. 

The report also finds that:

  • The schools of better-off students provide more resources for home learning. Even within state secondary schools, 64% of parents in the richest fifth of families report their child’s school offering interactive resources such as video or text chatting, compared with 47% for children in the poorest fifth of families. Four-fifths of private school students get some online teaching.
  • Children from the top fifth of the income distribution are twice as likely as the poorest children to be getting private tutoring. And among children who have tutors, more affluent students spend longer being tutored. 12% of the most affluent students receive an hour or more of private tuition each school day.
  • Better-off students also have more resources for home learning. Technology is a challenge for the 14% of less well-off students who do not have a computer or tablet to access schoolwork. But study space – which is harder for policy to address – seems to be an even bigger constraint: 58% of primary school students in the poorest families do not have access to their own dedicated study space.
  • The majority of parents are finding supporting home learning difficult. Almost 60% of the parents of primary school children, and almost half of the parents of secondary school children, report that they are finding it quite or very hard to support their children’s learning at home. However, most students – 74% of those in primary school and 79% of those in secondary school – are completing most or all of their schoolwork. 
  • Even so, under half of parents currently state they would be willing to send their child back to school if given the choice. And less affluent parents, whose children appear least equipped for coping with home learning, are more likely than others not to want to send their children back to school.

Lucy Kraftman, Research Economist at IFS and an author of the report, said:

“There are significant differences in how children are spending their time during school closures. Children in lower-income households are spending significantly less time on both schoolwork and non-school learning activities than their better-off peers. Compared with children in the poorest fifth of families, those in the richest fifth are spending more than 75 minutes longer every day on work assigned by their school. Even for those pupils returning to school on 1 June, over the 34 school days that closures will have been in place, this will translate to a week and a half of full-time school. Children in better-off families are also more than twice as likely to receive private tutoring, with around 12% of these students being tutored for an hour or more each day. These differences will likely widen pre-existing gaps in test scores between children from different backgrounds.”

Alison Andrew, Senior Research Economist at IFS and another author of the report, said:

“Children in lower-income households are less likely to have their own space for schoolwork and less likely to have a computer or tablet to use for school. On average, the state schools that lower-income children attend are also less likely to provide online classes and other interactive activities than the state schools that higher-income children attend, leaving children more reliant on their parents for help. But less than a third of parents in the poorest fifth of families would send their child back to school if given the choice, compared with half of parents from more affluent backgrounds. This risks leaving the children least able to cope with home learning remaining at home even as their better-off classmates return to school.”

Josh Hillman, Director of Education at the Nuffield Foundation, said:

“Children from lower-income families are already disadvantaged in educational terms, but this new research from the IFS shows that this is being compounded in various ways by being at home rather than in school during the lockdown. On average, these children are spending less time on educational activity, have poorer access to technology, educational resources and extra support, and less likelihood of a quiet dedicated working space in the home. The government needs to address these issues, both during the period of lockdown and when pupils start to return to schools bringing this additional disadvantage with them.”

More about this project


Explore our projects

New

Education | 2025 - 2026

Investigating performance across Key Stage 2 maths topics

View project
Teacher with secondary pupils
New

Education | 2024 - 2028

Teaching improvement through data and evaluation (TIDE)

View project
New

Education | 2024 - 2026

Long-term outcomes of high-achieving disadvantaged children

View project
New

Education | 2024 - 2026

Exploring academic selection and grammar schools in Northern Ireland

View project
New

Education | 2024 - 2026

Pupil school mobility: types, pathways and implications for education

View project
New

Education | 2024 - 2026

Can digital parenting interventions benefit early language development?

View project
Little girls in primary school uniform

Education | 2024 - 2026

Developing a classroom intervention to improve conversation skills

View project
New

Education | 2024 - 2026

Vocabulary for Reading: the power of words

View project
New

Education | 2024 - 2026

A feasibility and pilot trial of the Early Years Library

View project
Secondary school music teacher smiles at students working together at a keyboard.
New

Education | 2024 - 2025

Teacher recruitment & retention challenges in England

View project
New

Education | 2024 - 2026

Spending across different stages of education

View project
Sixth form student smiling in a classroom while a teacher helps a classmate in the row behind him

Education | 2023 - 2025

Unequal access to higher learning: can the EPQ help with levelling up?

View project
New

Education | 2024 - 2026

Pupil school mobility: types, pathways and implications for education

View project
Teacher with secondary pupils
New

Education | 2024 - 2028

Teaching improvement through data and evaluation (TIDE)

View project
Secondary school music teacher smiles at students working together at a keyboard.
New

Education | 2024 - 2025

Teacher recruitment & retention challenges in England

View project
New

Education | 2024 - 2026

A feasibility and pilot trial of the Early Years Library

View project
New

Education | 2024 - 2026

Can digital parenting interventions benefit early language development?

View project
New

Education | 2025 - 2026

Investigating performance across Key Stage 2 maths topics

View project
New

Education | 2024 - 2026

Vocabulary for Reading: the power of words

View project
New

Education | 2024 - 2026

Spending across different stages of education

View project
New

Education | 2024 - 2026

Exploring academic selection and grammar schools in Northern Ireland

View project
New

Education | 2024 - 2026

Long-term outcomes of high-achieving disadvantaged children

View project
In progress

Education | 2023 - 2024

Artificial intelligence and education

View project
Little girls in primary school uniform

Education | 2024 - 2026

Developing a classroom intervention to improve conversation skills

View project
In progress

Education | 2023 - 2024

Artificial intelligence and education

View project
Two little boys and a little girl, all wearing primary school uniform, work together to solve a puzzle in their classroom.
In progress

Education | 2023 - 2025

What has ‘Free School Meals’ measured and what are the implications?

View project
Father and daughter having fun at home
In progress

Education | 2023 - 2024

Optimisation and feasibility of Triple P parenting programme for remote delivery

View project
Early years professionals playing with children
In progress

Education | 2022 - 2024

Understanding the take-up of early education entitlements

View project
Primary school children using a microscope during a lesson outside at school
In progress

Education | 2023 - 2025

Purposeful and effective practical work in primary school science

View project
Male and female apprentices looking at car engine
In progress

Education | 2022 - 2025

Work or study? Gender and the transition from school to work

View project
Two teenage male pupils study a science lesson as part of their post-16 options
In progress

Education | 2019 - 2024

Post-16 pathways: the role of peers, family background and expectations

View project
Teacher helping primary school girl with schoolwork in the classroom
In progress

Education | 2023 - 2024

The impact of additional learning needs identification in Wales

View project
Teenage sixth form students taking notes in a lesson
In progress

Education | 2022 - 2024

Comparing inequality and outcomes across post-16 education in the UK

View project
Teenage sixth form students walking into college
In progress

Education | 2022 - 2025

The long-term impact of the Education Maintenance Allowance

View project
Little girl watches TV on her own at home
In progress

Education | 2023 - 2025

Do same language subtitles help children learn to read?

View project
14 year old girl doing homework
In progress

Education | 2022 - 2024

Experiences of 14 to 16 year olds in Further Education in England

View project
Secondary school music teacher smiles at students working together at a keyboard.
New

Education | 2024 - 2025

Teacher recruitment & retention challenges in England

View project
New

Education | 2024 - 2026

A feasibility and pilot trial of the Early Years Library

View project
New

Education | 2024 - 2026

Can digital parenting interventions benefit early language development?

View project
New

Education | 2025 - 2026

Investigating performance across Key Stage 2 maths topics

View project
New

Education | 2024 - 2026

Vocabulary for Reading: the power of words

View project
New

Education | 2024 - 2026

Spending across different stages of education

View project
New

Education | 2024 - 2026

Exploring academic selection and grammar schools in Northern Ireland

View project
New

Education | 2024 - 2026

Long-term outcomes of high-achieving disadvantaged children

View project
Teenager hugging their mother
New

Welfare | 2023 - 2025

Juvenile onset rheumatic diseases: education, vocational readiness, & employment

View project
School children with their bicycles in the school yard. Happy as a girl and boy walk pushing them side by side.
New

Education | Welfare | 2022 - 2024

Modifying school choice for more equitable outcomes in England

View project
New

Education | 2022 - 2023

The medium-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on pupils with SEND

View project
Reception class children using a parachute in a PE lesson
Reported

Education | 2022 - 2023

A movement and story-telling intervention for reception children

View project
Side view of two female high school students in classroom working on laptops social distancing. Student in foreground is in focus and student in background is blurred
Reported

Education | 2021 - 2022

COVID-19 and disadvantage gaps in England 2020 and 2021

View project
Close up of a young girl and her father wearing protective face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic outside.
Reported

Welfare | 2021 - 2023

The Economy 2030 Inquiry: navigating a decade of change

View project
Young boy draws and plays with a globe as part of nursery education
Reported

Education | 2020 - 2022

COVID-19 and childcare: local impacts across England

View project
Reported

Education | 2020 - 2022

Ethical principles underpinning co-production with young people

View project
Reported

Education | 2020 - 2021

COVID-19 mitigation measures: education provision and access to special schools

View project
Young-boy-uses-tablet-with-mother-for-maths-learning-Can-maths-apps-add-value-to-learning-PROJ
Reported

Education | 2020 - 2022

Can maths apps add value to learning?

View project
Toddler-gleefully-eats-baked-beans-How-COVID-19-is-affecting-food-security-proj
Reported

Welfare | 2020 - 2021

How the COVID-19 crisis is affecting food security

View project
Male secondary school student working at home on laptop
Reported

Education | 2020 - 2021

The impact of COVID-19 on mainstream schools in England

View project
Teenage-girl-looks-at-smartphone-next-to-laptop-Growing-up-under-COVID-19-PROJ
Reported

Education | Welfare | 2020 - 2022

Growing up under COVID-19

View project
Mother carrying daughter outside their home
Reported

Welfare | 2020 - 2022

COVID realities: families on low incomes during the pandemic

View project
Woman-looks-at-smartphone-screen-How-the-UK-public-gets-information-about-COVID-19-PROJ
Reported

Welfare | 2020 - 2020

How the UK public gets information about COVID-19

View project
Search projects

We improve people’s lives by funding research that informs social policy, primarily in Education, Welfare and Justice. We also fund student programmes that give young people skills and confidence in science and research.

We offer our grant-holders the freedom to frame questions and enable new thinking. Our research must stand up to rigorous academic scrutiny, but we understand that to be successful in effecting change, it also needs to be relevant to people’s experience.

Profile