2020 United Kingdom education shutdown

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In March 2020, schools, nurseries and colleges in the United Kingdom were shut down in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. By 20 March, all schools in the UK had closed to all children except those of key workers and children considered vulnerable.

GSCE and A-level exams were cancelled, with grades assigned based on teacher predictions after controversy about the method.

Education in the United Kingdom is delegated to the four nations: education in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is devolved to the Scottish Government,[1] the Welsh Government[2] and the Northern Ireland Executive, respectively, whilst the UK Government is responsible for England.

Timeline[edit]

Late February to mid-March – individual closures[edit]

Following cases in Italy, the Cransley School in Northwich, Cheshire, and Trinity Catholic College in Middlesbrough closed, as some of their pupils had returned with symptoms from Italy. Fourteen schools in England had closed by 28 February.[3] Loughborough University reported a student confirmed to have the virus after recent travel to Italy, and indicated that several staff members and students began self-isolation.[4]

Mid-March – nationwide shutdown[edit]

On 18 March, the Welsh government announced that all schools in Wales would be closing by 20 March.[5] On the same day, the First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon announced that Scottish schools would also be closing from 20 March, and may not reopen before the summer.[6] Later that day, it was announced that schools in Northern Ireland would close to pupils immediately and to staff on 20 March.[7] Shortly thereafter, the Secretary of State for Education, Gavin Williamson announced that schools in England would close from 20 March for an unspecified length of time.[8] Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that schools would still look after the children of key workers, and vulnerable children,[9] and for England the Department for Education published guidance on eligibility on 19 March.[10]

The Coronavirus Act 2020, which came into force on 25 March, gave the relevant ministers and departments across the UK powers to shut educational institutions and childcare premises.[11]

The UK government also announced that GCSE and A Level exams were to be cancelled, an unprecedented action in UK educational history, and that grades were to be given out based on predicted grades and teacher assessment.[9][12][13]

June to January – reopening and second wave[edit]

Kirsty Williams, Education Minister at one of the Welsh Government's daily press announcements. Here, she announces that schools in Wales will reopen on the 29th June.

Primary schools in England began to open more widely on 1 June, beginning with nursery classes and children in the year groups Reception (aged 4–5), Year 1 (aged 5–6) and Year 6 (aged 10–11), although many schools and local councils delayed until after this date.[14] It was planned that all primary-age pupils would be back in school by the end of June, but on 9 June the government announced that primary schools would not reopen further to other year groups due to concerns on the impact this could have on the rate of infection. Instead, most primary school children returned to classes in early September, almost six months after schools closed.[15][16]

Secondary schools in England reopened for year groups 10 (aged 14–15) and 12 (aged 16–17) from 15 June. However, schools had been instructed to continue to primarily educate young people in these age groups at home, and to keep face-to-face lessons to a minimum.[17] Secondary students returned in full at the start of the new academic year in September.[16]

School attendance was not compulsory for pupils in England, regardless of whether they have a place available or not, until the start of the 2020–21 academic year.[14]

Meanwhile, schools in Wales reopened on 29 June, and although all year groups returned, until the summer holidays attendance was non-compulsory and part-time.[18] In the new academic year schools reopened at full capacity with some changes to ensure social distancing remained in place.[19][16] Scottish schools reopened between the 11 and 18 August; it was at first intended that they would operate a "blended model" of part-time study at school and at home, though it was later decided that schools would aim to open full-time as soon as they returned.[20][21][22] Schools in Northern Ireland reopened for "key cohorts" (students studying for exams or transitioning between schools) in August, and for others in September.[23][24]

Amidst exponential growth of cases, on 13 December the London borough of Greenwich instructed its schools to switch to remote learning.[25] The London boroughs of Islington and Waltham Forest took similar steps the following day,[26][27] while Redbridge council stating it would support its schools if they want to move to online teaching.[28] Gavin Williamson ordered the schools to stay open for face-to-face teaching, and Greenwich council reversed its decision in the face of threats of legal action from the government.[29][30]

After the Christmas break, teaching unions recommended keeping schools closed.[31]

Exams[edit]

Main article: 2020 UK GCSE and A-Level grading controversy

On 20 March 2020, the government announced that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all secondary education examinations due to be held in 2020 were cancelled. As a result, an alternative method had to be designed and implemented at short notice to determine the qualification grades to be given to students for that year.[32] In their place, qualification grades were to be based on teacher-predicted grades combined with a moderation process to be defined by Ofqual.[33] An outcry ensued when, after the release of the A level results on 13 August, it became apparent that the moderation algorithm used had delivered some controversial results.[34][35] Following increasing pressure to and public opinion, the regulator decided to withdraw the computed results, and to regrade students based solely on the original teacher predictions.[36] Before the GSCE grades were released on 20 August, it was decided that they would be based on the teacher predictions too.[37] Similar moderation systems and reversals to teachers predictions took place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.[38][39][40]

Universities[edit]

Cambridge University was criticised for their incoherent response to the pandemic which required international students and staff to make arrangements to return home with only two days' notice. On 13 March, students and staff were advised that international travel was discouraged and university facilities would stay open at reduced capacity. On 18 March, Vice Chancellor Stephen Toope announced a sudden U-turn: all university buildings would be indefinitely shut to staff and students from the afternoon of Friday 20 March, and all students were strongly encouraged to leave Cambridge.[41] The president of Cambridge UCU criticised this sudden shutdown, saying it would exacerbate the pandemic as students from countries with weaker healthcare provisions were forced to return home.[41]

Over a thousand Cambridge students signed an open letter requesting to have multiple assessment options in lieu of the cancelled examinations, including the option to retake part or all of the academic year in 2020–21.[42]

Coventry University first suspended graduation ceremonies due to be held in March and April,[43] and from 20 March, suspended all face-to-face teaching, in favour of on-line delivery.[44] Other higher education institutions took similar steps around the same time.[45] Many students from overseas, who could not afford to travel or found their flights cancelled, were unable to return home.[46]

Home learning[edit]

Students were encouraged to keep on studying at home with many parents becoming responsible for their children's education.[47] Many teachers continued to set work for and interact with pupils online.[48] Fitness coach Joe Wicks released a series of training videos targeted primarily at schoolchildren to help them remain active whilst at home.[49] BBC Bitesize also provided a range of resources to help children, young people and parents.[50]

Research conducted by the Office of National Statistics suggested that school aged children in Great Britain completed on average 11 hours of study at home per week this was roughly the same regardless of how many children or adults were in the household, however, children tended to do less schoolwork if they were younger or when there was a child under five-years-old in the household.[51] Other studies suggested that many students had completed little or no academic work during the lockdown.[52]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ The Scottish Government Archived 27 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine scotland.gov.uk, accessed 6 June 2009
  2. ^ About Archived 18 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine wales.gov.uk, accessed 6 June 2009
  3. ^ Bedingfield, Will (28 February 2020). "Will shutting down UK schools stop coronavirus? It's complicated". Wired UK. ISSN 1357-0978. Archived from the original on 2 March 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  4. ^ Fagan, Ciaran. "Leicestershire's first Coronavirus case is confirmed as a university student". Leicester Mercury. Archived from the original on 8 March 2020.
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  11. ^ "Coronavirus Act 2020 s.37: Temporary closure of educational institutions and childcare premises". legislation.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 20 August 2020.
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  13. ^ Weale, Sally; Batty, David (19 March 2020). "Fears that cancelling exams will hit BAME and poor pupils worst". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 20 March 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  14. ^ a b "Which children are going back to school?". BBC News. 29 May 2020. Archived from the original on 1 June 2020. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
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  18. ^ "Schools in Wales to reopen this month". BBC News. 3 June 2020. Archived from the original on 3 June 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
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  20. ^ "Scottish schools to reopen in August". BBC News. 21 May 2020. Archived from the original on 17 June 2020. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  21. ^ "Scottish schools aim to reopen full-time in August". BBC News. 23 June 2020. Archived from the original on 13 August 2020. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  22. ^ "Pupils return to classrooms after lockdown". BBC News. 11 August 2020. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  23. ^ "Some pupils to return to school in late August". BBC News. 21 May 2020. Archived from the original on 26 May 2020. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  24. ^ "Return to schools 'good day for young people'". BBC News. 1 September 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  25. ^ Davis, Barney (13 December 2020). "Greenwich schools to close as Covid-19 cases soar". www.standard.co.uk. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  26. ^ Burford, Anna Davis, Joe Murphy, Sophia Sleigh, Rachael (14 December 2020). "Battle lines are drawn over closing schools early in London". www.standard.co.uk. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  27. ^ "COVID-19: London councils defy government and offer schools option to close amid spiralling cases". Sky News. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  28. ^ "COVID-19: London councils defy government and offer schools option to close amid spiralling cases". Sky News. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  29. ^ "COVID-19: Greenwich council backs down in fight with government over closing schools due to rising coronavirus rates". Sky News. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  30. ^ "Heads angry after two councils forced to back down over Covid school closures". the Guardian. 15 December 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  31. ^ "Primary schools reopening: Call for remote learning as Covid cases rise". BBC News. 2 January 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  32. ^ Richardson, Hannah (20 March 2020). "Teachers to estimate grades after exams cancelled". BBC News. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  33. ^ Parker, Kate (20 March 2020). "GCSE resits: students to receive 'calculated' grades". TES. Archived from the original on 11 May 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  34. ^ "Anger over 'unfair' A-level results". BBC News. 13 August 2020. Archived from the original on 17 August 2020. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  35. ^ Coughlan, Sean (14 August 2020). "Why did the A-level algorithm say no?". BBC News. Archived from the original on 15 August 2020. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  36. ^ "U-turn on A-levels and GCSEs as teacher grades used". BBC News. 17 August 2020. Archived from the original on 18 August 2020. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  37. ^ "Protests and calls to postpone GCSE results as appeals 'mess' deepens A-level chaos - follow live". The Independent. 16 August 2020. Archived from the original on 20 August 2020. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  38. ^ "U-turn over SQA results as grades increased". BBC News. Archived from the original on 20 August 2020. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  39. ^ "Teacher estimates to be used for Welsh exam grades". BBC News. 17 August 2020. Archived from the original on 18 August 2020. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  40. ^ "NI GCSE results to be based on teacher predictions". BBC News. 17 August 2020. Archived from the original on 17 August 2020. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  41. ^ a b Batty, David (18 March 2020). "Cambridge colleges criticised for asking students to leave over coronavirus". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  42. ^ Batty, David (18 March 2020). "Cambridge students urge university to let them retake the final year". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  43. ^ Layton, Josh (11 March 2020). "Coventry University suspends graduation ceremonies to guard against coronavirus". Coventry Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 March 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  44. ^ "Our response to COVID-19". Coventry University. Archived from the original on 20 August 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
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  46. ^ Weale, Sally (24 March 2020). "Thousands of students stranded at university amid UK lockdown". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 8 April 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  47. ^ "Tips for Parents and Students During Lockdown". Best Schools. 8 April 2020. Archived from the original on 20 August 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  48. ^ "Life as a teacher during lockdown - Teaching". teaching.blog.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 3 June 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  49. ^ Craig, David (5 May 2020). "How to watch Joe Wicks PE lesson for kids live every day at 9am". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 25 July 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  50. ^ "How Bitesize will support you while you're learning from home". BBC Bitesize. Archived from the original on 22 July 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
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  52. ^ Weale, Sally (15 June 2020). "Four in 10 pupils have had little contact with teachers during lockdown". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 August 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
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