All schools and colleges to receive extra funding for catch up

Every school and college in England will have more money to support young people’s recovery from the impact of the pandemic, as the government confirms billions of pounds of additional investment in education.

Every pupil in every school to benefit from significant new investment in education to help young people catch up on lost learning.

This will give schools and colleges the tools they need to help get pupils back on track – from raising teachers’ salaries, to recovery cash for schools, to increased learning time in colleges.

Schools will receive an additional £4.7 billion in core funding in 2024-25, including £1.6 billion in 2022-23 on top of already planned increases from the 2019 Spending Review, and meaning a total cash increase of £1,500 per pupil between 2019-20 and 2024-25.

This additional investment will also support the delivery of a £30,000 starting salary for all new teachers.

The funding sits alongside a further £1.8 billion dedicated to supporting young people to catch up on missed learning, following on from the existing investment in catch up for early years, schools and colleges, including for tutoring and teacher training opportunities.

The dedicated recovery investment includes a one-off £1 billion recovery premium to support disadvantaged pupils in all state-funded primary and secondary schools, while £800 million will be allocated across the period to ensure all 16-19 students will benefit from an additional 40 hours of education across the academic year – the equivalent of one additional hour a week in school or college.

The funding takes the government’s direct investment in education recovery to almost £5 billion, building on the high-quality tutoring for millions of pupils and world-class training for thousands of teachers and early years staff, already being provided.

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said:

Our mission is to maximise the potential of every single young person, regardless of their background, circumstances or the ways in which the pandemic has affected them. This settlement is a landmark investment in our skills, schools and families. 

The pandemic has taken precious time in young people’s lives, including the vital learning they need to reach their potential. Today’s investment will enhance the recovery we know is already underway for young people, building on the real impact of the steps we’ve taken so far – whether that’s tutoring, world class teacher training or summer schools. We have been and we will continue to be ambitious about the futures of our children and young people.

This additional investment in recovery will mean every school and college will have extra dedicated funding to support those who most need help catching up.

Primary schools will continue to benefit from the same per pupil rate as this year’s recovery premium, while secondary schools are expected to receive nearly double that amount, meaning an average secondary school could attract around £70,000 a year. This extra support in secondary reflects evidence showing the greater gaps in older pupils’ learning and lower amount of time those pupils have left in education.

Schools will be able to use the funding in ways that best support their young people to catch up – from specialist small group support in reading and maths, to after-school provision or summer schools.

Students in 16-19 settings who have the least time left to recover learning lost will benefit from an additional 40 hours of education across the academic year, equivalent to an additional hour per week. This time will be used for extra teaching and learning – including in English, maths and other subjects – depending on students’ individual needs. This, alongside the 16-19 tuition fund, will help to prepare these students for their future.

These new catch up interventions follow on from the Chancellor’s recent announcement, bringing new skills investment for young people to £3.8 billion over the Parliament, and detailing £500 million to support families of young children. 

They also build on the recent £153 million announcement to strengthen teaching in the early years and address the impact of the pandemic on the youngest children, with a focus on the most disadvantaged areas of England, along with a commitment to investing over £200 million each year to continue the Holiday Activities and Food programme.

The dedicated education recovery funding will complement the significant expansion of the National Tutoring Programme, with millions of children set to benefit from high quality tutoring over the next 3 years, alongside world-class training for thousands of teachers and the summer schools that took place up and down the country through the school holidays.