The Covid pandemic had a worse effect on girls’ reading and maths results than those of boys, but London pulled further ahead of the rest of the country, new research suggests.
A study by the Education Policy Institute and education provider Renaissance found girls’ results in reading and maths were more negatively impacted by Covid – but girls remain ahead of boys in reading.
It also found “substantial gaps” between different regions, with pupils in London seeing their results increase the most – up by the equivalent of 1.4 months in primary reading.
Six million assessments taken by pupils from years three to nine in 2002 and 2023 were analysed as part of the research.
They found that Yorkshire and Humber was the lowest performing region, with pupils 4.3 months behind peers in London in primary reading.
The research also showed the gap between boys and girls for reading narrowed, but girls are still ahead at both primary and secondary levels.
In maths at primary school, girls’ results fell further than those of boys, meaning the gap has widened by two months to 2.9 months in favour of boys.
In secondary schools results fell for both boys and girls, but the difference has narrowed by 3.6 months to just 0.3 months in favour of girls.
Jon Andrews, EPI head of analysis and director for school performance and systems, said: “What’s particularly striking in this latest analysis is that girls’ attainment appears to have been hit harder by the pandemic than it has for boys, with gaps in reading closing and boys pulling further ahead in primary maths.”
