Catch Up

2022/23: this page contains historical information as catch-up funding has been superseded by recovery funding which is incorporated into the Pupil Premium Strategy.

Introduction

The government has announced £1 billion of funding to support children and young people to catch up. This includes a one-off universal £650 million catch-up premium for the 2020 to 2021 academic year to ensure that schools have the support they need to help all pupils make up for lost teaching time. Although all children have had their education disrupted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, it is likely that disadvantaged and vulnerable groups will have been hardest hit. That is why, alongside the universal catch-up premium, the government has launched a £350 million National Tutoring Programme to provide additional, targeted support for those children and young people who need the most help.

Funding Allocation

This funding will be provided in 3 tranches. The first payments have been received by school:

Use of the funds

Schools should use this funding for specific activities to support their pupils to catch up for lost teaching over the previous months, in line with the guidance on curriculum expectations for the next academic year.

Schools have the flexibility to spend their funding in the best way for their cohort and circumstances.

This plan sets out the school’s approach in greater and operational detail. Accountability and monitoring As with all government funding, school leaders must be able to account for how this money is being used to achieve our central goal of schools getting back on track and teaching a normal curriculum as quickly as possible. Given their role in ensuring schools spend funding appropriately and in holding schools to account for educational performance, governors should scrutinise schools’ approaches to catch-up, including their plans for and use of catch-up funding. This should include consideration of whether schools are spending this funding in line with their catch-up priorities and ensuring appropriate transparency for parents.