The share of in-class content covered by remote learning materials at schools in the United Kingdom increased significantly between December 2020 and January 2021, rising from 56 percent to 85 percent in Primary schools, and from 73 percent to 87 percent at Secondary schools. This increase was due to schools generally closing their doors to regular attendance in early 2021, as the Coronavirus pandemic situation worsened in the UK.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought many disruptions to children’s education, including the education of children with intellectual (learning) disability and/or autism. We investigated the educational experiences of autistic children and children with an intellectual disability about a year after the COVID-19 pandemic started in the UK.

An online survey collected data during the summer/autumn of 2021 from 1,234 parents of 5 to 15 year-old children across all 4 UK countries. The study investigated school attendance and home learning experiences of children with intellectual disability and/or autistic children who were registered to attend school in 2021. The study also investigated the experience of Elective Home Education in families of children with a neurodevelopmental condition whose child was de-registered from school before and after the pandemic started in the UK in March 2020.

The study provided evidence on the impact of COVID-19 on school attendance and home education for children with a neurodevelopmental condition.

Education changed dramatically due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools closed in 2019/20. There was compulsory return to school in September 2020 with measures in place to control infection and new regulations about COVID-19-related absences. School attendance in the first term of 2020-21 was lower compared to other years. Many children were de-registered from school. In early 2020-21, there was a second prolonged period of national school closures. The pandemic has caused many disruptions to children's education.

Children with neurodevelopmental conditions (NDCs), in particular intellectual disability and autism, are the most vulnerable of vulnerable groups. Among children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), children with intellectual disability and/or autism consistently struggle to meet the required standards in education. Our study will focus on these two groups of children.

Before the pandemic, many children with NDCs missed school. Then the pandemic disrupted everyone's education. Approximately one year after the pandemic started, we will investigate the educational experiences of children with NDCs.

Our project will investigate: - School absence and reasons for absence among children with intellectual disability and/or autism - Child, family, and school factors associated with school absence - Barriers and facilitators of school attendance - Parents' experiences of home schooling

An online survey will collect data from approximately 1,500 parents of 5 to 17 year-old children with NDCs across all 4 UK countries. We will recruit parents of: (i) children registered with a school in spring/summer 2021; (ii) children not registered with a school in spring/summer 2021 but who were registered with a school at the start of the pandemic in March 2020; and (iii) children not registered with a school on either date. We will collect data on school attendance for those registered with a school, and data on home learning experiences for those not registered with a school. For all children, we will collect data on their mental health.

The first analysis will investigate school absence with a focus on children registered with a school. We will summarise school absence data as well as reasons for absence as reported by the parents. The second analysis will investigate school attendance: attending school or home schooling. We will describe the children currently registered to attend school (group 1), those not currently registered who were registered in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic (group 2), and those not registered on either point (group 3). We will summarise the reasons parents give for de-registering their child from school. Our final analysis will focus on home learning support during home schooling. We will describe the types of support schools offer to school-registered students during remote learning (when students are self-isolating/shielding, or schools are closed because of lockdown). We will describe the home learning experiences of school de-registered children and parents' satisfaction with these arrangements.

We will work closely with parents of children with NDCs, seeking their advice on the study. Our team includes the Council for Disabled Children, the largest umbrella organization in the UK bringing together many charities supporting disabled children and their families. We will share the study findings widely, including key messages for policies related to the education of children with special educational needs and disabilities.

Impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on young people and schools, including analysis of face coverings and remote learning, and breakdowns by age and sex where possible. Indicators from the Schools Infection Survey.

According to data from Pi Datametrics, the search term related to electricals that saw the biggest year-on-year growth on Google in the UK from January to April 2020 compared to the same period in 2019 was "free online learning". "Free online learning" saw the second highest increase, followed by "security training courses".

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

As the UK went into the first lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic, the team behind the biggest social survey in the UK, Understanding Society (UKHLS), developed a way to capture these experiences. From April 2020, participants from this Study were asked to take part in the Understanding Society COVID-19 survey, henceforth referred to as the COVID-19 survey or the COVID-19 study.

The COVID-19 survey regularly asked people about their situation and experiences. The resulting data gives a unique insight into the impact of the pandemic on individuals, families, and communities. The COVID-19 Teaching Dataset contains data from the main COVID-19 survey in a simplified form. It covers topics such as

• Socio-demographics
• Whether working at home and home-schooling
• COVID symptoms
• Health and well-being
• Social contact and neighbourhood cohesion
• Volunteering

The resource contains two data files:

• Cross-sectional: contains data collected in Wave 4 in July 2020 (with some additional variables from other waves);
• Longitudinal: Contains mainly data from Waves 1, 4 and 9 with key variables measured at three time points.

Key features of the dataset

• Missing values: in the web survey, participants clicking "Next" but not answering a question were given further options such as "Don't know" and "Prefer not to say". Missing observations like these are recorded using negative values such as -1 for "Don't know". In many instances, users of the data will need to set these values as missing. The User Guide includes Stata and SPSS code for setting negative missing values to system missing.

• The Longitudinal file is a balanced panel and is in wide format. A balanced panel means it only includes participants that took part in every wave. In wide format, each participant has one row of information, and each measurement of the same variable is a different variable.

• Weights: both the cross-sectional and longitudinal files include survey weights that adjust the sample to represent the UK adult population. The cross-sectional weight (betaindin_xw) adjusts for unequal selection probabilities in the sample design and for non-response. The longitudinal weight (ci_betaindin_lw) adjusts for the sample design and also for the fact that not all those invited to participate in the survey, do participate in all waves.

• Both the cross-sectional and longitudinal datasets include the survey design variables (psu and strata).

A full list of variables in both files can be found in the User Guide appendix.

Who is in the sample?

All adults (16 years old and over as of April 2020), in households who had participated in at least one of the last two waves of the main study Understanding Society, were invited to participate in this survey. From the September 2020 (Wave 5) survey onwards, only sample members who had completed at least one partial interview in any of the first four web surveys were invited to participate. From the November 2020 (Wave 6) survey onwards, those who had only completed the initial survey in April 2020 and none since, were no longer invited to participate

The User guide accompanying the data adds to the information here and includes a full variable list with details of measurement levels and links to the relevant questionnaire.

• Socio-demographics;
• Whether working at home and home-schooling;
• COVID symptoms;
• Health and well-being;
• Social contact and neighbourhood cohesion;
• Volunteering.

According to data from Pi Datametrics, the most searched term relating to E-learning on Google from January to April 2020 in the United Kingdom was "online courses". "Elearning"" was the second most searched term, followed by "e-learning for health".

19 interview transcripts (verbatim) from UK education staff in various regions, settings and roles (leadership, teachers and teaching assistants) including those working from home or in school during the early lockdown period.

The interview schedule aimed to address the following research questions: 1) What changes have school staff experienced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in their own lives, in the school climate or their professional role? 2) What has the impact of these changes been on school staff mental health and wellbeing? 3) What factors do school staff perceive to have sustained or improved wellbeing during the pandemic?

Therefore data consists of participant responses to these questions.

Original Project details (please read on for Covid-19 related adjustments): The integration of health and education policy and practice, with a specific focus on the role of schools in mental health education and preventative intervention, is of major topical concern. There is strong support in the existing literature on the importance of taking a whole systems approach to supporting young peoples' mental health through schools. However, there is a need to further understand the complexity of this process, including the potential impact on school climate, as well as staff and pupil outcomes.

In 2015, I began my PhD research study in order to investigate this research gap, focusing on an example of whole-system (WS) mental health intervention across a county in the North of England. The initiative was commissioned by Public Health England and developed in partnership between local authority services and schools. Eighteen schools participated in the resulting locally facilitated WS implementation, which was based on the Academic Resilience Approach (ARA, Hart; Williams, 2018), developed by Professor Angie Hart and other colleagues at the UoB and partner organisations. The ARA aims to improve outcomes for the most vulnerable pupils by building resilience across the school community, taking a whole systems perspective.

A fully integrated and embedded mixed method design was utilised. This enabled me to research the experiences of multi-professional staff from schools and local authority services, exploring the perceived impact of the intervention at multiple system levels and considering the potential sustainability of this project in the future. Results of the study showed that there was a significant improvement in staff perceptions of school climate as a result of school engagement in the ARA. In addition, both school and local authority staff reported improved communication, a greater sense of shared values, and increased participative decision making. Existing research suggests that these changes establish the foundation to improve outcomes for the most disadvantaged pupils, although further research is required in order to understand the mechanisms that result in impact for YP.

This fellowship provides the opportunity to maximise the impact of these important PhD findings, through disseminating the results of the study with key stakeholders in four local areas in the UK that are engaging in WS approaches to health promotion in schools. These findings will be beneficial to both practitioners (e.g. school staff) and policy makers (e.g. Local Authorities) because they will help to understand the potential school wide outcomes and optimal conditions associated with WS approaches. My results also help staff in local areas to identify 'school readiness' to engage in this type of approach and help to prepare and support school staff, making it more likely the approach will have a positive impact for pupils. Building on established networks in these four local areas, learning can be shared between different regions. During the fellowship, further research will also be carried out in order to explore pupil experiences of WS approaches, extending the findings from my PhD. Learning from my PhD will be distributed via multiple and diverse platforms including on online blogs, at national conferences, and through paper publications in internationally recognised journals. This fellowship is also ideally suited to develop my own research skills and networks, and to enable me to contribute to the urgent priority of developing dynamic and collaborative approaches to multi-sector promotion of public health and other social policy priorities.

Covid-19 Impact and changes:

Due to Covid-19 the original research proposed for this grant (workshops with young people in schools to explore whole school approaches to mental health and wellbeing) was not possible. Therefore a new application for ethics was made for a new research project which explored school staff mental health and wellbeing during the first national lockdown and partial school closure, and this research, having gained ethical approval, was carried out online in June 2020 towards the end of the grant period. Data in this collection relates to that...

Parent's responses to a survey investigating the main challenges children faced with remote education during the Coronavirus pandemic in the UK showed that 40 percent believed that their child's lack of focus on studying was an issue. Only 2 percent of parents believed that no internet connection was a challenge when learning remotely from home.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, schools in England closed their buildings to all but vulnerable pupils and the children of key workers on 20 March 2020, representing an unprecedented disruption to the education of children and young people. This project explores schools' responses to the Covid-19 emergency and the impact this is having on pupils and teachers. Data will be collected via two school surveys, each administered to the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) Teacher Voice panel, and all remaining publicly-funded mainstream primary and secondary schools in England. The survey is offered for completion by a senior leader and a number of teachers within each school. The first survey (Wave 1) was administered in schools between 7 and 17 May 2020. The second (Wave 2), focused on the challenges schools would face from September, and was administered between 8 and 15 July.

Further information and research findings may be found on the NFER Schools' responses to Covid-19 webpage.

Latest edition information
For the second edition (December 2020), data and documentation for Wave 2 were added to the study.

Senior Leaders' survey:

Wave 1:

• Mechanisms for supporting remote learning
• Curriculum, teaching and learning and assessment via remote learning
• In-school provision for vulnerable children and the children of keyworkers
• Remote support for vulnerable pupils who are not attending school
• Job satisfaction
• Preparing schools for opening more fully
• Personal characteristics

Wave 2:

• The school’s provision during the Covid-19 crisis
• 'Catch-up' arrangements
• Preparing for the new school year
• Staffing in the school
• Personal characteristics

Teachers' survey:

Wave 1:

• Mechanisms for supporting remote learning
• Curriculum, teaching and learning
• Provision for vulnerable children and the children of keyworkers
• Job satisfaction
• Personal characteristics

Wave 2:

• Questions about teaching and learning during the Covid-19 crisis
• Identifying pupils' needs and deciding where support is most needed
• Personal characteristics

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Understanding Society COVID-19 Study is a regular survey of households in the UK. The aim of the study is to enable research on the socio-economic and health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, in the short and long term. The surveys started in April 2020 and took place monthly until July 2020. From September 2020 they take place every other month. They complement the annual interviews in the Understanding Society study.

This dataset contains school code variables for the Understanding Society COVID-19 study (SN 8644).

A file is provided for the fifth web wave of the Understanding Society COVID-19 study, the only one that school information has currently been gathered for. For each child it contains: state school code, country of state school, private school name and private school town variables for both mother and father responses. A child personal identification serial number (pidp_c) is also provided for matching to the main data in SN 8644.

In addition, this dataset contains a file of school code variables that can be matched to a dataset released with the main Understanding Society COVID-19 study containing data taken from waves 10 and 11 of the main Understanding Society survey specifically for the respondents in the Understanding Society COVID-19 study. Child school codes are only available for Wave 11 as they are only collected in odd-numbered waves. For each child it contains the state school code and country of state school variables as well as a personal identification serial number (pidp) and a household identification serial number for wave 11 (jk_hidp). Further details on the files in this dataset can be found in the Understanding Society COVID-19 User Guide.

Additional information can be found on the Understanding Society COVID-19 website, including Data documentation. A list of Understanding Society COVID-19 Research Outputs (regularly updated) is also available.

New edition information
For the second edition (January 2021), both previously deposited files have been revised to include a significant number of additional school codes resulting from manual coding. For further details please refer to the UKHLS COVID-19: Data Changes document, included in the main COVID-19 study (SN 8644).

The project had Four Research Stages

Stage 1 – Global Mapping Exercise Aim: Map and develop typologies of the pandemic’s impact on the food/education/play-leisure nexus, with a focus on young people’s vulnerabilities globally, based on an international, integrative review of research and policy literatures. Stage 2: – National and Regional Mapping (Brazil, South Africa, UK) Aim: Examine key impacts of pandemic-related policy on young people’s access to and adaptations around food, education and play/leisure at the national, regional and local scale. Stage 3: Zooming in on local adaptations of young people in monetary-poor households Aim: In-depth research with professional stakeholders and young people in each case study region, with a focus on incremental and innovative strategies and the impact of those adaptations on everyday survival and recovery. In England, this research took place in Birmingham and the West Midlands. In total, we worked with 87 young people, using qualitative methods such as interviews and visual mapping. The research was co-produced with young people: we worked with a core group of ten young people from Birmingham City Council’s Youth Voice team, who co-designed some of the methods, undertook peer research with some of the young people in our sample, and co-analysed data. Stage 4: Co-design of solutions to foster young people’s recovery and resilience Aim: Co-design solutions with our community of young people and key professionals that will help vulnerable young people to recover and be prepared in the eventuality of future major health and socio-economic crises. In England, this process took place in Birmingham and the West Midlands and involved the same core group discussing the project’s main findings. Through a series of workshops, young people’s recommendations were created and tested with us and a selected group of professional stakeholders.

Stage 1 - Interviews with key organisations working in the food/education/play sector and with children and youth.

The team conducted 32 interviews with key organisations between February and June 2023. The aim was to situate and identify what had been the key impacts of pandemic-related policy towards the food, education, play/leisure nexus of issues facing young people during and after COVID-19, in England. It also sought to examine what policy/programmes/initiatives were developed, and how local places mattered (including home life/household contexts). To do so, we identified representatives from a range of organisations that played a key role in supporting young people and/ or in assessing the impacts of the pandemic on them.

Sampling was done through desk-based research based on a review of national and regional review of the literature and reports and further on snowballing, we identified non-governmental and non-profit organisations that played a key contribution in supporting young people and/or assessing the impact and repercussions of the pandemic on them. Selection of the interviews was made either through their role across the country or because of their contribution at regional and city levels. The number of 30 was considered as commensurate with the methods used in similarly-sized comparative projects of similar scale. This included representatives from the following types of organisations:

• Charities (incl. Foundations and Think-Tanks) working either across England or in specific English regions, and specialized in the following sectors: food education, food policy, food provision (including food banks) and healthy food; education provision, education and digital technology, education policy, education and youth, social mobility and educational disadvantage; play provision, play policy; support to disadvantaged and vulnerable young people. • Not-for profit social enterprises focusing on youth education, youth employment, food and nutrition. • Schools/Colleges. • Private Companies specialized in supporting education organisations and play provision. • Research Institutions with specific expertise in education, food and health and children/young people. • Local and Combined Authorities. • Diocesan and Faith groups. • National networks representing community organisations in the faith and play sector. • Young People Ambassadors.

While looking at England as a whole, we also zoomed on West Midlands/Birmingham. The West Midlands was one of the hardest-hit parts of the UK during COVID-19. The region includes some of the most deprived neighbourhoods and a younger than average population. The intent of the interviews was twofold: 1) to understand each organisation’s response to supporting young people during/after COVID-19, and 2) from the organisation’s views, to identify what adaptations and tactics young people used to deal with the challenges that COVID-19 and associated lockdowns presented. Interview questions focused on the following themes: The role of the organisation and how they engaged with young people, the impact of the pandemic of the food/ education/play-leisure nexus, the connection between vulnerability, place, social networks and adaptation, the legacy of Covid-19 and the importance of the cost of living crisis. All interviews were recorded, and our research fully conformed with UCL’s ethical guidance. The interviews were transcribed, coded and analysed, with 37 core themes extracted.

Stage 2 - Interviews with Young People

Aim: In-depth research with professional stakeholders and young people in the West Midlands with a focus on incremental and innovative strategies and the impact of those adaptations on everyday survival and recovery.

In total, we worked with 89 young people, aged 10-24. The research was co-produced with young people: we worked with a core group of ten young people from Birmingham City Council’s Youth Voice team, who co-designed some of the methods, undertook peer research with some of the young people in our sample, and co-analysed data. Data archived relates to interviews with young people conducted by the Panex Youth Research Fellow.

Young people were recruited from a range of settings across the case study region. Predominantly, young people were recruited from youth groups, youth centres and schools. Sampling was done based on age, gender, ethnicity, status (i.e. student or in employment), place of living.

While not ‘representative’, per se, this has ensured coverage of a range of different living conditions and (along with working with established schools networks and NGOs in each region) enable recruitment of young people. This was commensurate with the methods used in similarly-sized comparative projects working with youth (Kraftl et al., 2019) and enables sampling for diverse youth while again not seeking ‘representativeness’ in this qualitative study. The main methods for this strand of research were interviews and visual web discussions conducted through workshops between June 2023 and May 2024 Some activities were not recorded and transcribed, for example the workshops done with 32 primary school pupils nor the other workshops done with young people. Owing to the impossibility of anonymising the mapping exercise and visual webs (which were intensely personal in nature and showed data about young people’s homes, schools and workplaces), we cannot deposit these data. We have not taken this decision lightly but this is the only way that we can conform to our project’s ethical principles.

Additional file 1: Pre-conference Questionnaire. Post-conference Questionnaire

Experimental statistics from the Student Experiences Insights Survey (SEIS) in England. Includes information on the mental health and well-being, behaviours, plans, and opinions of first year higher education students in the context of guidance on the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Medical students providing support to clinical teams during Covid-19 may have been an opportunity for service and learning. We aimed to understand why the reported educational impact has been mixed to inform future placements. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of medical students at UK medical schools during the first Covid-19 ‘lockdown’ period in the UK (March–July 2020). Analysis was informed by the conceptual framework of service and learning. 1245 medical students from 37 UK medical schools responded. 57% of respondents provided clinical support across a variety of roles and reported benefits including increased preparedness for foundation year one compared to those who did not (p 

Experimental statistics from the Student Experiences Insights Survey (SEIS) in England. Includes information on the behaviours, plans, opinions and well-being of higher education students in their third year or higher in the context of guidance on the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The period covered in this dataset is 29 November to 20 December 2021.