Date Updated: July 2023

Key findings

• In (English-medium) reading and maths, learning progress for most broad student groups in 2020 is essentially unchanged or even positive compared to 2019. Where there have been decreases, the differences are small and within the range of regular year-to-year fluctuation.
• Progress in writing is slower than usual, and data suggest moderate impacts that are more educationally meaningful, representing perhaps five weeks of learning.
• There has been no significant change in equity of learning along decile or ethnicity during 2020.
• There is no strong evidence that learning has reduced substantially more for students in Auckland, who have been affected by multiple lockdowns.
• These results should be considered in the context of ongoing issues relating to progress and achievement that existed before COVID-19 (and continue to exist today). In particular, there are persistent inequities in the system between different deciles and for Māori and Pacific students.
• This report examines average learning progress for broad groups. We cannot rule out that individual schools, communities or students within these broad groups have been impacted in different ways that do not affect these averages.