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This qualitative research looked at how the learning and wellbeing of 16-19-year-olds has been impacted by the [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the research was to explore young people's experiences of lost learning and to find out how they have been affected by restricted school and college attendance since March 2020. The research explored young people's experiences of educational recovery support and how they felt about the support measures that have been introduced. The purpose was to gather evidence and insight to inform ongoing policy work that supports young people's educational recovery. The sample consisted of 15 online paired interviews with young people aged 16-19 in full time education. All young people were recruited from deprived areas of Middlesbrough, Sheffield, Leeds and Manchester. Sub-groups of the 30 young people included Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME), English as a second language, disadvantaged learners, and Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND).

The research found that participants' experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic had been challenging. Online learning was difficult for many of the young people interviewed, and participants wanted more support to help them with the transition back to the classroom. The COVID-19 pandemic had also been challenging for participants' mental health and participants felt they would have benefited from more personalised wellbeing and academic support. The findings of this qualitative research are not generalisable to the population of 16-19 learners, but they do provide an in-depth picture of the experiences of the young people interviewed.

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