As part of the next step in the government’s plans to boost education recovery, a total of £1.4bn is being invested, including £1bn to support up to six million, 15 hour tutoring courses for disadvantaged school children.
As well as this, there will also be an expansion of the 16-19 tuition fund, targeting key subjects, such as maths and English.
Children and young people across England will also be offered up to 100 million hours of free tuition to help them catch up on learning lost during the Covid-19 pandemic.
£400m will help give early years practitioners and 500,000 school teachers across the country training and support, and schools and colleges will be funded to give some year 13 students the option to repeat their final year.
It builds on the £1.7bn already announced to help children catch up on what they missed during the Covid-19 pandemic, which includes summer schools and mental health support, bringing total investment to over £3bn.
The government has committed to a long-term education recovery plan and the next stage will include a review of time spent in school and college and the impact this could have on helping children and young people to catch up.
The findings of the review will be set out later in the year to inform the spending review.
Commenting, Prime Minister, Boris Johnson said:
“Young people have sacrificed so much over the last year and as we build back from the pandemic, we must make sure that no child is left behind.
“This next step in our long-term catch up plan should give parents confidence that we will do everything we can to support children who have fallen behind and that every child will have the skills and knowledge they need to fulfil their potential.”
One course of high-quality tutoring has been proven to boost attainment by three to five months, with the government saying that tutoring will be vital for young people in recovering the teaching hours lost in the last year.
The government expects the £1bn investment to transform the availability and approach to tuition in every school and college over the next three years.
This will make sure that when teachers identify a disadvantaged child is in need of support as a result of the pandemic, extra support is available, the government said.
£153m will provide the opportunity for evidence-based professional development for early years practitioners, including through new programmes focusing on key areas, such as speech and language development for the youngest children.
£253m will expand existing teacher training and development to give 500,000 school teachers the opportunity to access training appropriate for whatever point they are at in their career, from new teachers to headteachers.
The government said this represents a significant overhaul of teacher training in this country and that it will ensure children are supported by world-leading teachers.
Schools or colleges will be able to offer students in year 13 the option to repeat the year if they have been particularly badly affected by the pandemic.
They will be funded by the Department for Education to help accommodate the additional student numbers.
Commenting, Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson said: “This is the third major package of catch-up funding in 12 months and demonstrates that we are taking a long-term, evidence-based approach to help children of all ages.
“I am incredibly proud it recognises the efforts and dedication of our teachers who are at the forefront of children’s recovery, making sure every teacher has the opportunity to access world-leading training, giving them the skills and tools to help every child they work with to fulfil their potential.
“The package will not just go a long way to boost children’s learning in the wake of the disruption caused by the pandemic, but also help bring back down the attainment gap that we’ve been working to eradicate.”
