Pupils in England ‘facing worst exam results in decades’ after Covid closures

An empty classroom during lockdown. The study said learning losses would harm the prospects of children aged five at the time of closures. Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian

Children in England could face the worst exam results in decades and a lifetime of lower earnings, according to research that blames failures to tackle the academic and social legacies of school closures during Covid.

The study funded by the Nuffield Foundation predicts that national GCSE results in key subjects will steadily worsen until 2030, when it expects fewer than 40% of pupils to get good grades in maths and English.