Having to homeschool children after education establishments were forced to close in March has been tough on the majority of parents, especially those who have had to juggle their own work commitments as well. However, recent figures have shown that one-fifth of pupils across the UK have done no schoolwork at all during this time.

According to research by UCL Institute of Education, two million youngsters have done no work over the last three months, or less than one hour a day.

Its working paper, published by its LLAKES centre, revealed a huge number of students will have suffered educational losses as a result of school closures, putting them considerably further behind where they should be.

Professor Francis Green, study lead, said: “The closure of schools, and their only-partial re-opening, constitute a potential threat to the educational development of a generation of children.”

While the study showed 17 per cent of pupils have been working for more than four hours a day since their school closed, the average amount of time students spend doing homework is just 2.5 hours.

This disparity is likely to widen the educational gap between children, particularly considering that 31 per cent of private schools have provided four or more lessons a day compared with just six per cent in state schools.

Mr Green added a “safe return to school for as many as possible should now become a top priority for government”.

To help some students, the Department of Education in Northern Ireland is considering running a summer school for two weeks before the autumn term for those going into Years 5, 6 and 7, reported BBC News.

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