Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on what basis the £1bn fund announced by the Prime Minister on 18 June 2020 to help children catch up on what they have missed while schools have been closed as a result of the covid-19 outbreak was determined.
Answered on
24 June 2020
Children and young people have experienced unprecedented disruption to their education during lockdown. We expect the most disadvantaged children to have fallen further behind than their peers. The Education Endowment Fund’s (EEF) median estimate suggests the attainment gap between children from economically deprived households and their peers could widen by 36% as a result of school closures [1].
The Government has therefore announced a package of support to ensure that schools have the support they need to help all children and young people make up for lost teaching time, with extra support in the form of a tutoring programme for those who need it most.
This package of measures includes:
- A universal catch up premium for state-funded primary and secondary schools in England of £650 million to help them make up for lost teaching time.
- A new £350 million National Tutoring Programme for disadvantaged pupils.
The evidence strongly shows that tutoring is an effective way to accelerate educational attainment. We therefore believe targeted tutoring is the best way to narrow the gaps that emerged during the closure of schools.
To support schools to make best use of the catch up premium, the EEF has published a COVID-19 Recovery Guide for Schools with evidence-based approaches to catch-up for all students: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/public/files/Publications/Covid-19_Resources/Covid-19_support_guide_for_schools.pdf.