How has COVID-19 affected education?

We've recently begun work on a project led by ODI HQ to look into the impact of COVID-19 on education. The team is still ironing out the fine details of the study, but we can say that we'll be looking at ways in which children, teachers and parents have coped with the disruption to their routine since March. We also hope to uncover what schools need to succeed while faced with the ongoing pandemic. We're delighted to be working on a project that aspires to identify the data infrastructure that will support the resilience of our education sector in a period of uncertainty.

When considering education, it's tempting to focus on academic progress. This is obviously important, but such a narrow view fails to consider the important role that schools have in the development and wellbeing of young people. This pastoral role is so often overlooked, yet so critical in these uncertain times. We're making a special point to look for data which helps tell the story of the challenges and successes in the broadest way possible: both academic and pastoral.

We have already made some great contacts with organisations that work with children and families. We've also lined up some directed polling of teachers to test the research findings. We're keen to hear from anyone with an interesting story to tell about their experiences: even more so if it's backed by data. We're particularly interested in data that describes the experience of education or social care within either councils or the voluntary and community sector. Even a view of the changing demand that is being placed on services by the prevalence of website search terms could help tell the story of the service users. We'd love to help you open this data out in a safe and usable format.