When Corona Infested Everything—A Qualitative Interview Study Exploring the Impact of COVID-19 Mitigation Measures on School Life from the Perspectives of English Secondary School Staff and Students

Sarah Bell (), Jane Williams, Jeremy Horwood and Sabi Redwood
Additional contact information
Sarah Bell: The National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaboration West (NIHR ARC West), University Hospitals Bristol, Bristol BS1 2NT, UK
Jane Williams: School of Psychology, University of Bedfordshire, Luton LU1 3JU, UK
Jeremy Horwood: The National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaboration West (NIHR ARC West), University Hospitals Bristol, Bristol BS1 2NT, UK
Sabi Redwood: The National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaboration West (NIHR ARC West), University Hospitals Bristol, Bristol BS1 2NT, UK

IJERPH, 2025, vol. 22, issue 6, 1-15

Abstract: To reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection, transmission and illness during the pandemic, the Department for Education (DfE) issued guidance to schools. However, research on how the school community perceives the impact of the COVID-19 mitigation measures outlined remains limited. This qualitative study aims to explore the effects of school closures and in-school mitigation measures on daily school life, as well as their impact on mental health and wellbeing from the perspective of English secondary school staff and students. Participants were purposively sampled from English secondary schools serving diverse communities participating in the COVID-19 Mapping and Mitigation in Schools study (CoMMinS). Selection ensured representation of staff roles and student demographics. Semi-structured interviews were conducted remotely, and data analysed thematically. Interviews took place between January and August 2021 with participants from five secondary schools (20 staff and 25 students). Both staff and students reported significant disruption to school life, with four themes identified: (1) teaching and learning impact, (2) social impact, (3) safeguarding impact, and (4) and mental health and wellbeing impact. Findings highlight widespread negative effects across every aspect of school life, for both staff and students. This study suggests that COVID-19 mitigation measures in UK secondary schools led to a sense of loss and uncertainty as well as increased self-reported stress among both staff and students.

Keywords: secondary schools; teachers; students; COVID-19; education; social behaviour; child welfare; mental health; psychological well-being; qualitative research (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/6/915/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/6/915/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:6:p:915-:d:1675447

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().