If only Michael Gove was still education secretary

Children of richer families are studying six hours a day compared with four-and-a-half hours for children from poorer families. Which translates, says the IFS, which conducted a survey of 4,000 parents, to a gap of seven days advantage for the haves over the have nots by next month. Surprise! I don’t, myself, think they’ve quite got a grip of the thing yet, although they do point out that over half of parents of all backgrounds find it hard to support their children’s learning at home. Which I’d say is getting a bit closer to the truth.

Because if quite a few of the richer children surveyed are educated privately, the difference between the fee paying secondary schools and the state ones is a matter of kind as well as degree. Most private schools are offering their pupils virtual classes. So the children have some sort of structured school day, with classes in different subjects and contact with an actual teacher who asks them questions and things.