This paper provides new evidence on educational inequality and reviews the literature on the causes and consequences of unequal education. We document large achievement gaps between children from different socio-economic backgrounds, show how patterns of educational inequality vary across countries, time, and generations, and establish a link…

Background: On 20 March 2020, in response to COVID-19, UK schools were closed to most pupils. Teachers were required to put remote teaching and learning in place with only two days' notice from the government. Aims: The current study explores teachers' experiences of this abrupt change to their working practices, and during the 5-6 weeks that…

This article looks at the consequences of COVID-19 for English education and the injustices it has illuminated. Homeschooling under the pandemic has revealed significant inequalities of class and race. The article maps these, particularly in relation to online learning and the differential class and racial access to education during the school…

This report is based on a survey of 1,653 primary teachers in state schools in England. The survey was conducted by Teacher Tapp during May half-term 2020, just before schools started re-opening. It forms part of the ESRC-funded project "A Duty of Care and a Duty to Teach: educational priorities during the COVID-19 crisis", based at the…

This article focuses on the delivery of two primary English workshops delivered on the BA Primary (with QTS) degree course to first year trainees studying in the School of Education at University of Brighton. These interactive sessions include practical activity, specifically drama, and are typically delivered on campus. This is a significant…

Aims: 'I am…' Digital Stories are short videos designed to provide a holistic, strengths-based representation of the child through enabling them to contribute their perspectives to transition planning. Digital Stories have potential during periods in which professionals are unable to physically visit settings or spend time getting to know a child.…

In this chapter I describe the emergency delivery of the Cambridge University institution-wide Language Programme (CULP) during the COVID-19 lockdown in March-July 2020. I am the Director of the Programme and report from a managerial point of view. I begin by outlining the institutional context and the student and teaching staff backgrounds. I…

This exploratory study employed mixed-methods to investigate outcomes associated with an online self-determination theory (SDT) based teacher professional development (PD) intervention, and explored teachers' perspectives about re-engaging students following COVID-19. Participants were 33 secondary school teachers from across England and Wales.…

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) assesses the knowledge and skills in mathematics, reading and science of 15-year-old pupils in countries around the world. PISA is run by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and assessment is typically undertaken every 3 years, allowing us to chart how…

England has been living with COVID-19, through peaks and troughs since March 2020. Policymakers see schools as integral to economic and social maintenance and recovery and have thus placed a high priority on education as a stable provision operating throughout a very long period of considerable uncertainty and instability. Because of rapidly…

This chapter offers a chronological narrative of the steps taken by the Centre for Foreign Language Study (CFLS) at Durham University to move language teaching, learning, and assessment online following the announcement of the global COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. This includes immediate steps to suspend classroom teaching, a move to online…

Since the schools in the United Kingdom (UK) closed to most pupils in March 2020 to try to stop the spread of COVID-19, the internet has delivered a flood of materials for 'home-schooling'. Finding the most appropriate resources has been overwhelming for teachers and parents alike. The majority of pupils in the UK (71.3-85.1%, depending on region)…

The author has drawn on interviews conducted with 24 education professionals in Norfolk to present an overview of teachers' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. The teachers address the immediate aftermath of school closures from a logistical and emotional point of view. They also discuss the different strategies that schools have adopted for…

This briefing note considers the place for statutory testing in primary schools during 2020-21, in the light of the COVID crisis. The English system of primary statutory assessment, culminating in SATs tests in Year 6, was suspended during the 2020 lockdown. Yet many questions remain about how primary assessment should resume, given that COVID-19…

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the reality of life in all aspects of human endeavors. The education sector was not spared--the school system was uprooted and procedures had to be made quickly for the safety of students and faculty. As a result, educators struggled with keeping students engaged academically during online learning and the stress…