Government announces £1 billion education catch-up fund over ‘lost learning’

The scheme will see the most disadvantaged children in England given access to funds to pay for personal tutors, while the majority of the funding will allow schools to step in to cover lost teaching time.

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The Prime Minister said last week that school pupils would undergo a ‘massive catch-up operation over the summer and beyond’ to get up to speed on work they have missed, with thousands of youngsters having been out of class since March.

Announcing the fresh wave of summer funding, Mr Johnson said: “This £1 billion catch-up package will help head teachers to provide extra support to children who have fallen behind while out of school.

“I am determined to do everything I can to get all children back in school from September, and we will bring forward plans on how this will happen as soon as possible.”

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The money will mean the most disadvantaged children will have access to tutors through a £350 million national programme for the 2020/21 academic year, to prevent the attainment gap from widening further.

A further £650 million will be shared across state primary and secondary schools over the 2020-21 academic year to help children from all backgrounds who have lost teaching time, the Department for Education said.

While head teachers will decide how the money is spent, the Government expects it to be used for small group tuition for whoever needs it.

The announcement comes after ministers were put under pressure to get children back to school amid concerns about the damage being caused to pupils' attainment and wellbeing.

Children in nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 have begun returning to primary school in England, and some Year 10 and 12 pupils returned to secondary school and college this week.

But all pupils are not due to return to school until at least September after the Government was forced to abandon plans to get all primary school children back in class before the summer break.