Launching our Pandemic Learning Loss Report

Today Navitas has launched its report on pandemic learning loss, ‘The Post-Pandemic Classroom: Navigating a new era in international education’. 

The report considers the needs of the next generation of international students  – those that were most profoundly impacted by Covid-19 disruptions.

Drawing on extensive post-pandemic research conducted by academics, organisations and governments, and supplemented with Navitas’ own research with agents, educators and sector leaders, our report explores: 

• Learning loss and academic underachievement caused by the pandemic 

• Decreasing student engagement and shifting attitudes to learning  

• Impacts on mental health and wellbeing  

Jon Chew, Chief Insights Officer at Navitas, and co-author of the report said: “The long-term implications of extended disruption to education during the pandemic, and the disproportionate impact on students in many of the countries that universities recruit from, are already being felt in universities around the world. With the publication of this report, I hope institutions will take some time to asses and respond to the different needs of the next generation of students so that they are fully supported to succeed.” 

Summary of the report’s findings: 

• Extended school closures have resulted in pandemic learning loss and academic under achievement; and prospective international students experienced higher rates of pandemic learning loss than their domestic peers 

• International students may be entering classrooms with upwards of one year of lost learning; and Navitas educators have noticed a significant decline in academic preparedness of students 

• Levels of engagement and attitudes to learning have also shifted since the pandemic resulting in a fresh set of challenges for educators 

• Young people and those from lower income countries were disproportionately at risk of mental health repercussions of the pandemic: international students sit within this intersection and their mental health challenges can be compounded by established stress factors related to moving to a new country to study. 

The report concludes that learning institutions need to effectively respond to pandemic learning loss in order to support student success, but also to increase their competitive advantage.