Search

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact on all areas of society, including education. On 20 March 2020, schools closed their gates to all pupils apart from vulnerable pupils and children of keyworkers. In June, primary schools opened to selected year groups (Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6) and secondary schools invited pupils in Years 10 and 12 to have at least some face-to-face contact with their teachers. On 23 June, the Prime Minister confirmed that primary and secondary schools in England would return with full attendance in September (Danechi and Roberts, 2020). The Government (DfE, 2020e) acknowledged the challenge of achieving a balance between the priority of fully opening schools and controlling the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Schools are asked to ensure high standards of hygiene (for example through regular hand sanitising, deep cleaning and avoiding pupils sharing equipment). They are also asked to promote social distancing as far as possible (for example by splitting classes into smaller groups and keeping these separate from one other, and by separating year groups, reducing movement around the school, arranging desks in forward-facing rows, asking staff to socially distance and minimising the number of staff working with each group). This research investigates the impact of COVID-19 on mainstream primary and secondary schools in England. It follows an earlier National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) survey of schools' responses to COVID-19 in May (ED608586) and focuses on the challenges schools will face from September. It considers the extent to which pupils are behind in their curriculum learning in relation to teachers' normal expectations for the end of the school year; the impact of COVID-19 on the 'disadvantage gap'; the need for catch-up support from September; and the logistical issues and resource implications of opening schools fully while taking measures to reduce the risk of infection. It also considers schools' experiences of offering remote learning from March, and blended learning (remotely and in-school) from June, in order to inform decisions about the support and resources that schools will need in the event of future lockdowns.

When the British Government ordered all schools to close to the majority of pupils on March 20th, 2020, they were asked to provide on-site education for vulnerable pupils and the children of keyworkers (such as those working in public health, transport and supplying food). Since then, the level of school attendance for both vulnerable pupils and the children of keyworkers has been low, with only 15 per cent of vulnerable pupils attending school (DfE, 2020a). This report focuses on the engagement of vulnerable pupils and the children of keyworkers in-school; remote provision and welfare support for vulnerable pupils; and the challenges involved in continuing to offer this provision as schools begin to open more fully. The report is based on findings from a national survey of 1,233 senior leaders and 1,821 teachers in publicly-funded, mainstream primary and secondary schools in England. Responses between May 7th and 17th have been weighted by phase and free school meal (FSM) eligibility to provide a nationally representative picture. [For a summary report, "Schools' Responses to COVID-19: Key Findings from the Wave 1 Survey," see ED608586.]

On May 10th, 2020 the Prime Minister announced a phased return of some children to school in England from June 1st. Schools have been closed to all but vulnerable and keyworker children since March 20th, meaning that most children have been educated at home for a period of 10 weeks, and some year groups are not expected to return to school until the autumn. Nevertheless, opening their schools to selected year groups (Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and 6 in primary schools and Year 10 and 12 pupils in secondary schools) as well as continuing on-site provision for vulnerable and keyworker children and providing distance learning for others is a considerable challenge for school leaders. In this report the authors set out initial findings on how prepared school leaders are for opening more fully, what challenges they face and what guidance and support they need. This report is based on findings from a national survey of 1,233 senior leaders in publicly-funded, mainstream primary and secondary schools in England. Responses between May 7th and 17th have been weighted by phase and free school meal (FSM) eligibility to provide a nationally representative picture. [For a summary report, "Schools' Responses to COVID-19: Key Findings from the Wave 1 Survey," see ED608586.]

On March 20th, 2020, the British Government ordered schools to close to the majority of pupils. This was a pivotal moment as the majority of pupils transitioned to learning remotely from home and schools had to adapt rapidly to this new way of teaching. With the majority of pupils not expected to return to the classroom until the autumn, remote learning remains at the heart of how schools will need to continue to support pupils' learning in the coming months. Given the potential impact of this extended period of remote learning, National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) undertook an independent assessment to see how engaged pupils are, and the factors that might be driving this, as well as how schools are providing remote learning support for pupils. The report is based on findings from a national survey of 1,233 senior leaders and 1,821 teachers in publicly-funded, mainstream primary and secondary schools in England. Responses between May 7th and 17th have been weighted by phase and free school meal (FSM) eligibility to provide a nationally representative picture. The authors recognise that a number of factors are likely to influence pupils' engagement, including access to IT, their parents' engagement, and the type of support received from their schools. These issues are explored throughout the report. [For a summary report, "Schools' Responses to COVID-19: Key Findings from the Wave 1 Survey," see ED608586.]

Prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, England faced a considerable teacher recruitment and retention challenge. The last ten years have been characterised by insufficient numbers of new teachers joining the profession and an increasing proportion leaving the state sector, particularly in secondary schools. This research is designed to shed some light on the immediate effects of the pandemic on senior leaders' and teachers' working lives. Based on the findings of a national survey of 1233 senior leaders and 1821 teachers in publicly-funded, mainstream primary and secondary schools in England, this report explores their levels of job satisfaction, their sense of control over teaching and learning practices, their weekly working hours, and the manageability of those hours. In doing so, it outlines the key pressures and challenges they are facing, together with the support mechanisms they are using to help them get through the current crisis. This report has found that, despite overall reductions in working hours, 41 per cent of senior leaders are still working more than 50 hours per week; a quarter are finding their workload unmanageable; and 31 per cent are not satisfied with their jobs. Key recommendations include the need for government, local authority services (LAs) and Trusts to ensure that schools have access to sufficient teaching capacity. Senior leaders need to use teaching assistants (TAs) effectively, and address the home working needs of the 22 per cent of teachers who are only able to work from home. In order to give leaders and teachers a greater sense of control, the Government needs to ensure that new directives are clear, kept to a minimum, reflect the concerns of the profession, and are sensitive to the pressures school leaders are facing. [For a summary report, "Schools' Responses to COVID-19: Key Findings from the Wave 1 Survey," see ED608586.]

This report provides a follow-up to the T Levels Research Study report, which was published by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) in June 2019. It is based on discussions that took place at NFER's T Levels round table event, which was held in October 2019. The aim of the round table was to: (1) explore whether the T Levels research findings still resonated with providers and key sector representatives; (2) discuss the progress that had been made since the research was completed, as well as the challenges that had been tackled and those that remained; and (3) suggest the actions that needed to be taken by providers, policy makers and other key stakeholder to make T Levels a success. During the round table, providers reiterated that they welcomed being involved in T Levels from the beginning, were generally optimistic about the future of T Levels and were embracing the opportunity to be involved in the development phase. However, a number of challenges remain which they are proactively tackling and seeking solutions. Two appendices are included in the report. [For "T Levels Research: How Are Providers Preparing for Delivery?" see ED599354.]

T Levels are a major part of the Government's reforms to strengthen England's skills system by improving vocational and technical education. These two-year technical programmes for young people aged 16 to 19 years will combine classroom theory, practical learning and an industry placement. Each T Level will be equivalent to three A Levels. The first three T Levels to be delivered are in Digital, Construction, and Education and Childcare. Fifty providers--further education (FE) colleges, independent training providers, sixth form colleges, a University Technical College (UTC), academies, schools and a university--will deliver one or more of these T Level programmes across England from September 2020. This qualitative research provides an independent evidence-informed picture of how provider organisations are preparing to deliver these first three T Levels. The study objectives were to investigate: (1) providers' views on how they are preparing to deliver the first T Levels and their progress to date; (2) the perceptions of organisations who represent and support the post-16 education and training sector on providers' preparation for the introduction of T Levels, within the wider context of level 3 technical provision; and (3) the challenges being faced and learning points for current and future providers of T Levels. The research involved in-depth, semi-structured interviews with senior/middle leaders with organisation-wide responsibility for T Levels in half (25) of the first 50 providers of the three T Levels to be delivered in 2020. The authors additionally interviewed ten senior sector representatives with extensive knowledge of vocational and technical education. Sector representatives were from: associations and unions of teachers, lecturers and education leaders; expert bodies covering applied learning, technical qualifications and professional development; and representative bodies of education and training providers and employers. Interviews with providers primarily focused on their preparation for delivery. Interviews with sector representatives provided broader perspectives on the sector's preparation for the delivery of T Levels.

The overall aim of this two-year study is to understand effective practice and lessons learned from approaches to curriculum design and employer engagement by University Technical Colleges (UTCs). Researchers used a case-study methodology supplemented with management information and a survey of UTC students' views. Key findings include: (1) Project-based learning (PBL) represents a different way of learning; projects are industry-relevant and most effectively developed in collaboration with employers to ensure that the outcomes achieved help students to secure positive future pathways; (2) The evidence indicates that PBL and employer input, where delivered in a high-quality embedded way, deliver wide-ranging impacts for students, including work-readiness, enhanced emotional skills, high-level technical skills, and qualifications/awards; (3) The main challenges UTCs faced were recruiting: a suitable range of employers (including SMEs) providing high-quality input into the curriculum; appropriate motivated students with an interest in the specialism; high-calibre staff with relevant knowledge, experience and skills; and (4) Advice for schools included: be proactive and target the 'right' employers; develop and train staff so they fully embrace the importance of employer input into PBL; promote UTCs (or the school) and their educational approach; in order to improve the evolving PBL model, consider including timetable changes; employ key staff with industry backgrounds and connections; make employer contributions clear and easy to understand; and celebrate successful completion of projects. [The Royal Academy of Engineering and the Edge Foundation commissioned this work.]