Responding to this morning's new ONS report looking at the impact of the pandemic on inequalities in learning between GCSE pupils from poorer and better off backgrounds, Sarah Hannafin, head of policy at school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“Children from disadvantaged backgrounds have disproportionately suffered from funding cuts over the last decade, not just to schools, but to wider services that should be there to help them.

“This research suggests that despite schools and their staff going and above and beyond to help, Covid hit these pupils particularly hard – not because they were less motivated than their more affluent peers, but due to additional barriers faced by families in these communities.

“Yet, shockingly, the government refused to fund the ambitious recovery plan proposed by its own education recovery tsar, failing the children and  young people who need help the most.

“The government must do far more if it is serious about tackling inequalities, investing much more in both schools and community services like social care and mental health which are so important in supporting pupils and helping them to progress in their learning and education.”

The report found a higher proportion of young people living in the most deprived areas reported that they had fallen behind their classmates because of disruption caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic (42%), compared with those in the least deprived areas (26%).