Education recovery funding doubles for secondary schools

Yesterday the Government announced the doubling education recovery funding next year to supporting young people as they catch up on lost learning so they can reach their full potential.

Children and young people faced unique challenges during the pandemic, and the £1 billion Recovery Premium, shared between schools, is turbo-boosting schools’ work to get pupils back on track by funding evidence-based activities from additional tutoring, to extra time in school, or speech and language therapy.

The funding will enable schools to provide further support for pupils above and beyond that already provided by the vital National Tutoring Programme.

Indicative rates for schools published earlier this week show a typical secondary school will receive over £60,000 next year - up from around £30,000 this year. A typical primary school will receive almost £7,000 - a further increase from last year.

The funding will help support schools deliver on the Education Secretary’s pledge to parents, that any child falling behind in English or maths, will receive targeted support to get back on track – with parents kept up to date on their progress.

The announcement comes as new data is published on the National Tutoring Programme, showing over 1.5 million courses have started since the programme’s launch, with almost 1.2 million courses starting this academic year.

Tutoring continues to be fundamental to children and young people’s recovery, and parents are encouraged to check in with their school if they believe their child is eligible.

The Government’s ambitious, education recovery plan - worth nearly £5 billion - is key to driving forward efforts to level up education across the country, ensuring that where a child lives has no bearing on the opportunities available to them.

Earlier this year, I welcomed the news that schools in Norwich will receive a share of £40 million in extra support over three years as a Priority Education Investment Area. Norwich is already one of 55 new Education Investment Areas under plans to Level Up education for disadvantaged children and young people across England. You can read more about this here: https://www.chloesmith.org.uk/local/news/i-welcome-intensive-investment-boost-for-schools-in-norwich-under-conservative-governments-levelling-up-plans

Yesterday, I was also pleased to receive an update from the Department of Education which details the next steps of the Priority Education Areas Programme which you can read below.

As MP for Norwich North, ensuring that our young people get the best possible start in life is one of my priorities. To find out more about what action I am taking both in Norwich and Westminster for this work, please visit: https://www.chloesmith.org.uk/myplan/children.

For further information on this announcement, please visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/education-recovery-funding-doubles-for-secondary-schools