Education Recovery in Schools

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 20 Jan 2023 Closed: 24 Sep 2023 Parliament page
The disruption to schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic led to learning loss, particularly in certain parts of the country and among children with special educational needs and disabilities, and disadvantaged children. In response to the loss of learning the Department for Education (DfE) developed various catch-up learning initiatives for the … Read more
6 Recommendations
23 Conclusions
1 Report
1 Oral session
1 Letter
1 Event
Activity timeline 5 events
24 Sep
2023
Report published
7 Jun
2023
Report published
17 Apr
2023
Correspondence
9 Mar
2023
Oral evidence
9 Mar
2023
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
Oral evidence sessions 1 session
9 Mar 2023
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Education recovery in schools
Andrew McCully · Department for Education Graham Archer · Department for Education Susan Acland-Hood · The Department for Education
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Fifty-Fifth Report - Education recovery in schools in England HC 998 7 Jun 2023 29 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
11 results
Clear
3 Recommendation Accepted
Fifty-Fifth Report - Education rec…
Increase participation in National Tutoring Programme by understanding reasons for non-participation via evaluation
We share the Department’s disappointment that 13% of schools did not take up the National Tutoring Programme in 2021/22, meaning pupils at these schools missed out on the benefits of subsidised tutoring. Take-up of the two centrally run National Tutoring … Read more
Government Response
The government accepts the recommendation to increase participation in the National Tutoring Programme, stating it has simplified the programme, increased the subsidy rate to 50% for 2023-24, and will use administrative data and ongoing evaluation to understand barriers by August 2024.
HM Treasury
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4 Recommendation Accepted
Fifty-Fifth Report - Education rec…
Monitor tutoring provision after subsidy withdrawal and intervene if levels drop significantly
We are not confident that schools will be able to afford to provide tutoring on the scale required to support all the pupils who need it once the Department withdraws its subsidy. By the end of 2021/22, pupils had started … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with Recommendation 4, committing to monitor tutoring volumes via school census and year-end statements, develop interventions for significant drops, and has already increased the 2023-24 subsidy rate from 25% to 50% to improve programme deliverability.
HM Treasury
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15 Conclusion Accepted
Fifty-Fifth Report - Education rec…
Improved real-time attendance data from schools enables better trend analysis and benchmarking.
The Department highlighted that it was now collecting better data, drawn directly from state-funded schools’ own management information systems, which it could look at in detail, in real time. Schools voluntarily signed up to provide data and about 80% were … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the committee's observation on the importance of data, committing to build on existing absence analysis and use available data during 2023-24 to better understand absence rates among disadvantaged pupils.
HM Treasury
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18 Conclusion Accepted
Fifty-Fifth Report - Education rec…
School-led tutoring boosted National Tutoring Programme take-up, compensating for other scheme shortfalls.
By the end of 2021/22, pupils had started 2.5 million courses under the National Tutoring Programme.35 However, take-up of the two centrally run National Tutoring Programme schemes was below the Department’s expectations: in 2021/22, the number of courses was 45% … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the committee's observation of the National Tutoring Programme's performance, committing to simplify the programme by providing direct funding to schools and increasing the subsidy rate for 2023-24 to 50% to improve deliverability and understanding barriers to participation.
HM Treasury
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19 Conclusion Accepted
Fifty-Fifth Report - Education rec…
A significant 13% of schools failed to participate in the National Tutoring Programme.
In 2021/22, 87% of schools in England participated in some form of tutoring under the National Tutoring Programme.39 When we asked the Department why 13% of schools had not taken part at all in the National Tutoring Programme, it told … Read more
Government Response
The government has simplified the National Tutoring Programme, provided funding directly to schools, and increased the subsidy rate for 2023-24 to 50% to reduce barriers to participation. It is also using administrative data and evaluation to understand why some schools do not engage.
HM Treasury
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20 Conclusion Accepted
Fifty-Fifth Report - Education rec…
Department actively persuades reluctant schools to engage with National Tutoring Programme.
The Department said there were a range of different reasons for why schools chose to engage with tutoring; some would be about their view of the value of tutoring and some would be about the process of engaging people to … Read more
Government Response
The government has simplified the National Tutoring Programme, provided funding directly to schools, and increased the subsidy rate for 2023-24 to 50% to reduce barriers to participation. It is also using administrative data and evaluation to understand why some schools do not engage.
HM Treasury
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22 Conclusion Accepted
Fifty-Fifth Report - Education rec…
Department progressively reduces National Tutoring Programme subsidy, shifting funding responsibility to schools.
The Department provided funding of £594 million for the National Tutoring Programme taking 2020/21 and 2021/22 together, and plans to provide a further £527 million in the following two years.45 It is progressively reducing the rate of subsidy it provides … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the committee's observation regarding funding and subsidy reduction, committing to monitor tutoring volumes and ensure tutoring is embedded across schools in England from 2024 as a staple offer, with further details to follow.
HM Treasury
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23 Conclusion Accepted
Fifty-Fifth Report - Education rec…
Schools struggle to fund tutoring costs amidst reducing Departmental subsidy rates.
Written evidence we received from The Tutor Trust noted that some schools, particularly smaller primary schools, were struggling to fund the cost of tutoring in 2022/23, when the Department was providing a subsidy of 60%.47 We also heard from Action … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the committee's conclusion about schools struggling to fund tutoring due to subsidy reductions, and has responded by increasing the 2023-24 subsidy rate from 25% to 50% to make the programme more deliverable for schools, alongside ongoing monitoring of tutoring volumes.
HM Treasury
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24 Conclusion Accepted
Fifty-Fifth Report - Education rec…
Department expects schools to fund tutoring from mainstream budgets, citing overall funding increases.
We asked the Department how, as the level of subsidy reduced, schools would be able to meet the cost of continuing to participate in the National Tutoring Programme. The Department told us that it had always been clear that the … Read more
Government Response
The government has set the National Tutoring Programme subsidy rate for 2023-24 at 50% to make it more deliverable for schools, allowing them to meet costs with less of their own money. It also continues to monitor tutoring volumes and is developing further interventions.
HM Treasury
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25 Conclusion Accepted
Fifty-Fifth Report - Education rec…
Department acknowledges significant subsidy reduction and commits to monitoring tutoring impact.
The Department acknowledged, however, that the fall in the level of subsidy was significant and told us it had accepted the NAO’s recommendation that it should model the impact of moving from 60% to 25% in a single year.50 It … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the committee's conclusion that monitoring tutoring levels and intervening if necessary is important. It confirms ongoing monitoring and is developing interventions, having already increased the 2023-24 tutoring subsidy rate from 25% to 50% to make the program more deliverable.
HM Treasury
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26 Conclusion Accepted
Fifty-Fifth Report - Education rec…
Department prioritises quality and training to build a sustainable National Tutoring Programme market.
We asked the Department how it would create a sustainable tuition market, given the different skills needed for tutoring and classroom teaching. It told us that quality was key and that, important though finding additional tutors was, effective practice and … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the committee's conclusion regarding a sustainable tuition market, committing to embed tutoring across all schools in England from 2024 and expecting it to continue as a staple offer, with further information to be provided in due course.
HM Treasury
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Government Response AI assessment · 25 of 6 classified
Accepted 11
Accepted in Part 5
Not Addressed 2
Rejected 7
Total 6 recs + 23 conclusions
Correspondence 1 letter
17 Apr 2023 Correspondence from Susan Acland-Hood, Permanent Secretary, Department for Education, re Public Account Committee Oral Evidence Session “Education recovery in schools”– 9 March – corrections 30 April 2023
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