MORE than four in five children in need in Cumbria failed to meet the expected standard in writing, reading and maths last year, according to government figures, laying bare the impact of the Covid pandemic on education.

Across England, looked-after children, pupils in care and those with a child protection order performed worse compared to all pupils in the 2022-23 academic year.

In Cumbria, Department for Education (DfE) figures show that just 24 out of the 130 children in need in key stage two - or 18 per cent - met the required standard for reading, writing and maths in 2022-23.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT union, said while teachers do their best to support pupils, they are not equipped to tackle the root causes of poverty.

“The disadvantage gap will continue to have a pernicious impact on children’s life chances, especially the most vulnerable, and it will only begin to close when the government properly invests in those services that support schools’ social care, family support and mental health services,” Mr Whiteman added.

Across England, 30 per cent of vulnerable children were up to the requirements for reading, writing and maths compared to an average of 60 per cent of all children - though this latter figure includes children considered in need as well.

While the gap remained the same since 2018-19, both groups had a worse performance. Before the pandemic, 35 per cent of children in need made the grade, while 65 per cent of all pupils did.

A DfE spokesperson said: “We want to make sure that children from all over the country, regardless of background, have the same opportunities to succeed and attain the highest levels.

“We have made almost £5billion available since 2020 for education recovery initiatives, including high-quality tutoring for the children who need the most support.

“We are also supporting disadvantaged pupils through the pupil premium, which is rising to almost £2.9billion in 2024-25, the highest in cash terms since this funding began.”

A spokesperson from Westmorland and Furness Council said: “There is currently no validated data for the academic year 2022-23, which would be Westmorland and Furness only.

“The pre-LGR (local government reform) Cumbrian data for KS2 children in need is 28 per cent, which is equivalent to the national, also 28 per cent, in the academic year 2021-22, and the last validated set.

“The number of vulnerable children is classed as disadvantaged, which is a wider group.

“Disadvantaged pupils in Westmorland and Furness gained 39.8 per cent and Cumbria as a whole 37 per cent.

“Covid has affected outcomes due to lost learning. A great deal of work has been supported including focus on phonics, curriculum and adaptive teaching within a partnership with schools.”

Carlisle teacher and former president of the National Education Union (NEU), Louise Atkinson, said the figures are ‘shocking and really sad’ and added: “We have the highest class sizes in Europe and the largest primary class sizes since records began.

“In the years I have been teaching I have watched a haemorrhaging of experienced, qualified and skilled support staff due to overwork and underpay, along with a well-documented recruitment and retention crisis in teaching staff meaning that we as educators are struggling to provide the high-quality education that all children deserve particularly those that have any additional needs.

“This is a crisis that we at the NEU have been talking to the DfE about for some time yet they continue to fail to properly address the crisis, to fund education adequately and to value education and value educators.

“I hope that any future government will take education seriously and invest in our children’s futures properly.”

A child in need is defined under the Children Act 1989 as a child who is unlikely to reach or maintain a satisfactory level of health or development, or their health or development will be significantly impaired without the provision of children's social care services, or the child is disabled.

Cumberland Council was approached for a comment.