Education recovery funding doubles for secondary schools

Children across the country will be supported to reach their full potential as funding to support children’s education recovery will be doubled in secondary schools from next year.

Children and young people faced unique challenges during the pandemic, and the £1bn 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 today (Thursday 26 May) 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.

Schools Minister, Robin Walker, said:

“The National Tutoring Programme has transformed the way schools provide support for the young people who need it the most. Children from all backgrounds and all corners of the country have now started over 1.5million tutoring courses, which is testament to the programme’s success.

“The doubling of the Recovery Premium for secondaries will further bolster the support schools are able to offer for pupils who need it, helping each and every young person – wherever they live – get back on track and stay on track. I encourage schools to make full use of all on offer to support children in catching up.”

The £1 billion Recovery Premium means secondary schools will receive £276 per eligible pupil, with primary schools receiving £145 per eligible pupil. Pupils in special units in these schools will attract double the funding rate.

Special schools and alternative provision will receive £290 per primary pupil and £552 per secondary pupil.  

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, while primary pupils have already recovered around two thirds of progress lost due to the pandemic in reading, and around half of progress lost in maths.  

The National Tutoring Programme is being simplified ahead of next year, with all funding to be provided directly to schools – reflecting the success the school-led tutoring route this year. 

That success is demonstrated again in today’s statistics. In this academic year, an estimated 913,000 courses started through the School-led route, 165,000 starts have been made on courses through Tuition Partners and an estimated 118,000 courses have started through the Academic mentor pillar of the programme.

The National Tutoring Programme, alongside recovery funding, 500,000 teacher training opportunities and plans for a stronger and fairer school system, support the government’s Levelling Up mission for education – for 90% of primary school children to achieve the expected standard in Key Stage 2 reading, writing and maths by 2030. In secondary school, the Government’s mission is for the national average GCSE grade in both English language and maths increase from 4.5 to 5, to the same timeline. 

More information on Recovery Premium rates can be found here.

Sector Response

Julia Harnden, Funding Specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, said:

“The government’s announcement that it intends to double the rate of the education recovery premium grant for eligible secondary school students next year is obviously welcome and broadly in line with the extra £1 billion the Chancellor promised in the Spending Review last autumn.

“The confirmation today will allow schools to plan their budgets more accurately for the new academic year and to make important decisions regarding staffing from September. The expansion of eligibility to include all pupils in special and alternative provision settings is also a sensible and welcome addition.

“However, it is disappointing that the allocation for primary school pupils has not been increased. These children have suffered just as much disruption as those in secondary schools and the evidence indicates that there is still a long way to recover progress lost during the pandemic.

“Overall, we cannot share the government’s delight with the funding package announced last autumn, which lacks serious ambition and is far short of what is needed to help education recover. The extra funding will obviously help but the government has grossly underestimated the scale of the issue and needs to back schools with significantly more money to help children and young people whose education has been profoundly affected by the enduring disruption of the pandemic.”