Outlets, including the Surrey Comet, report on an open letter published to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson MP from 55 northern MPs and peers calling for action to prevent disadvantaged children from falling behind when schools reopen

The Northern Powerhouse Partnership, chaired by George Osborne, argue that without it, the attainment gap, ‘which affects Northern children even more than most’, will get even bigger. They urge the Government to provide funding for tuition for poorer pupils in England as they warn ‘the north-south education divide’ will widen amid lockdown.

The coalition has notably won cross-party support in a mark of clear pressure from some of the newly Conservative northern seats to address the issue of regional disparity.

This comes the same week as social mobility experts have warned that school closures during the COVID-19 lockdown could leave disadvantaged children with a ‘learning loss of up to six months’.

Academics at the universities of Exeter and London School of Economics (LSE) have urged the Government to support the idea of a national tutoring service where university graduates help children catch up with education missed during school closures.

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Surrey Comet - Covid-19 ‘could leave disadvantaged children with learning loss of six months’