28 Accepted

In June 2020, to help make up for the learning that children had lost during...

Conclusion
In June 2020, to help make up for the learning that children had lost during the disruption to schooling, the Department announced £1 billion of funding for a catch- up learning programme. The programme includes a £650 million universal catch-up premium allocated to schools on a per-pupil basis, and a £350 million National Tutoring Programme (NTP) targeted at disadvantaged children.50 The Department set out a further £700 million in February 2021, including: a £302 million ‘recovery premium’ for 45 COE0029 Institute for Fiscal Studies submission, page 2 46 COE0027 Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex submission, page 2 47 COE0025 National Foundation for Educational Research submission, page 5 48 C&AG’s Report, para 3.5 49 Qq 46–48 50 C&AG’s Report, paras 3.7–3.8 COVID-19: Support for children’s education 15 schools; a further £200 million to expand the tutoring programme and support language development in early years settings; and £200 million for secondary schools to provide summer schools for those pupils who need it most.51
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the Committee's observation regarding the catch-up learning programme, committing to develop metrics to monitor lost learning, commission evaluations of specific interventions, and provide a detailed update to the Committee in Autumn 2021.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government Accepted
5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Autumn 2021 5.2 The government’s education recovery strategy aims to reduce year on year lost learning due to COVID-19. The department is currently developing metrics to monitor this and will write to the Committee in Autumn 2021. 5.3 Monitoring overall education recovery, including for specific groups of learners will track and provide evaluation of specific interventions. 5.4 The department has commissioned Renaissance Learning, and their subcontractor, the Education Policy Institute, to provide a baseline assessment of the learning loss and catch-up needs for pupils in schools in England and to monitor progress over the course of the academic year 2020-21; and are seeking commercial agreements for further academic years. 5.5 The department has a contract with Ipsos MORI, in consortium with Sheffield Hallam University and the Centre for Education and Youth to undertake a mixed-methods study design (including surveys, interviews, and case studies) to examine how schools are tackling the issue of lost learning. 5.6 Results from the study will be used to understand how the catch-up premium funds have been spent and how best to support schools to tackle learning loss. 5.7 The department has commissioned evaluations of specific interventions, such as the National Tutoring Programme, to understand the effectiveness of individual interventions and will use management information to track progress against delivery. The department will collate this evidence to assess the performance of the overall programme.
Addressee Bodies
HM Treasury
Timeline
Recommendation age 5.2 yrs
Report published 26 May 2021