While significant learning loss and social-emotional setbacks could be expected in the United States, where some students were home for more than a year, what is emerging in Europe is in some ways more surprising. Early studies suggest that even relatively short classroom closures were detrimental.

It’s still too early to assess the full extent of learning loss over the past two years. In Europe, as in the United States, many countries canceled their standardized tests during the pandemic.

One country where testing continued, though, was the Netherlands. When the pandemic first hit, Dutch students participated in virtual learning for eight weeks before their school buildings reopened. Per Engzell, a researcher at Oxford University’s Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science, says those weeks were a waste in terms of academic learning.

“What we learned from our study is that children learned basically nothing at home,” Engzell said. “And it’s clear that this learning loss has not been completely recovered, even now, one and a half years later.”