New report highlights need for further funding for education recovery  

The Education Policy Institute has published it’s phase two report on Education Recovery and Resilience in England. The report estimates the cost to pupils whose learning was disrupted during the pandemic could amount to between £8,000 and £46,000 over their lifetime. In total this could equate to between £78bn and £154bn if a 1% earning loss per pupil over a lifetime is taken into account.

Besides the economic impact the report highlights that the true extent of learning loss is likely to affect health outcomes, engagement with civic society and wellbeing. The report echoes that of the former education recovery commissioner, Sir Kevan Collins, in that they consider that £10-15bn investment is needed to ensure recovery is widespread and impactful. It then needs to be considering where the funding will be needed most and tailor the funding to those pupils.

The report highlights some of the progress seen in the use of online technology for learning and engagement of parents and calls for more training to support teaching staff to fulfil the potential of online technology. The report summary concludes: 

“There is cause for optimism. The disruption caused by the pandemic can be overcome by increasing funding for evidence-based interventions and building on the innovation that has necessarily emerged over the past 18 months. But the government and policy makers need to make this an urgent priority and focus their efforts on addressing the widening disparities between the North, the Midlands and the South of the country. This must be prioritised in the forthcoming spending review in order to prevent significant and long-term economic, health and wider societal losses and to deliver on the government’s levelling up ambitions.”