COVID-19 (recovery) Catch up

“Children and young people across the country have experienced unprecedented disruption to their education as a result of coronavirus (COVID-19). Those from the most vulnerable and disadvantaged backgrounds will be among those hardest-hit. The aggregate impact of lost time in education will be substantial, and the scale of our response must match the scale of the challenge.

We know that we have the professional knowledge and expertise in the education system to ensure that children and young people recover and get back on track. Returning to normal educational routines as quickly as possible will be critical to our national recovery, and the government intends for schools and colleges to fully open in September.  The government has announced £1 billion of funding to support children and young people to catch up. This includes a one-off universal £650 million catch-up premium for the 2020 to 2021 academic year to ensure that schools have the support they need to help all pupils make up for lost teaching time.” 

Department for Education website, 2020

What catch-up funding is for

In June 2020 the government announced £1 billion of funding to support children and young people to catch up on missed learning caused by coronavirus (COVID19). This is especially important for the most vulnerable pupils and pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds who we know have been most affected. This funding includes:

• a one-off universal £650 million catch-up premium for the 2020 to 2021 academic year to ensure that schools have the support they need to help all pupils make up for missed learning
• a £350 million National Tutoring Programme to provide additional, targeted support for those children and young people who need the most help, which includes:
  • a schools programme for 5 to 16-year-olds – for more information, see the National Tutoring Programme FAQs
  • a 16 to 19 tuition fund
  • an oral language intervention programme for reception-aged children

This guidance applies to the catch-up premium only.

Funding Allocation

Schools’ allocations will be calculated on a per-pupil basis, providing each mainstream school with a total of £80 for each pupil in years reception through to Year 6.

As the catch-up premium has been designed to mitigate the effects of the unique disruption caused by coronavirus (COVID-19), the grant will only be available for the 2020 to 2021 academic year. It will not be added to schools’ baselines in calculating future years’ funding allocations.

Using catch-up funding

Schools should use this funding for specific activities to support their pupils’ education recovery in line with the curriculum expectations in the actions for schools during the coronavirus outbreak guidance.

While schools can use their funding in a way that suits their cohort and circumstances, they are expected to use this funding for specific activities which will help pupils catch up on missed learning. Schools should particularly focus on disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils as we know they have been most affected.

To support schools to make the best use of this funding, the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) has published a coronavirus (COVID-19) support guide for schools with evidence-based approaches to catch up for all students.

To support schools to implement their catch-up plans effectively, EEF has published the school planning guide: 2020 to 2021. This will provide further guidance on how schools should implement catch-up strategies and supporting case studies to highlight effective practice.

Schools can use catch-up premium funding to support any summer catch-up provision that they are offering and can carry funding forward to future academic years.

**For recovery premium breakdown, please see pupil premium page**