This summer, the Government announced a catch-up premium fund to help students catch up.
According to the Department for Education: “Those from the most vulnerable and disadvantaged backgrounds will be among those hardest hit. The aggregate impact of lost time in education will be substantial, and the scale of the challenge.”
Updates involving the payment of this fund was confirmed this week. This blog post takes a look at these updates.
Catch up premium: a reminder
Schools were closed for all students from March until June, before reopening for primary school pupils, Year 10s and Year 12s.
This month they have reopened full-time to all students, though some schools remain closed due to positive Covid-19 cases.
Two funding packages have been announced to support students catching up on lost learning.
An additional £650m has been announced in funding to schools and a further £350m has been announced in subsides for a one-year national tutoring programme.
How will the catch-up funding work?
This funding will be provided in 3 tranches – with the first installment now paid.
The Government states:
Allocations are based on the latest available data on pupils in mainstream schools and high needs place numbers in special, AP, hospital schools and special schools not maintained by a local authority.
The Government will then distribute a second grant payment in early 2021, based on updated pupil and place data. “For mainstream schools, we will use the 4 to 15 pupil headcount from the October 2020 census.”
For special, AP and hospital schools, we will use:
- 2019 to 2020 academic year place from the published local authority 2019 to 2020 financial year budget returns for local authority-maintained schools
- The published high needs place numbers for the 2020 to 2021 academic year for academies and special schools not maintained by a local authority
The second grant payment will also take account of the initial part payment made in autumn 2020 so that schools will receive a total of £46.67 per pupil or £140 per place across the first 2 payment rounds.
A further £33.33 per pupil or £100 per place will be paid during the summer term 2021.
Though funding has been calculated on a per pupil or per place basis, schools should use the sum available to them as a single total from which to prioritise support for pupils according to their need.
As the catch-up premium has been designed to mitigate the effects of the unique disruption caused by coronavirus (Covid-19), the grant will only be available for the 2020 to 2021 academic year. It will not be added to schools’ baselines in calculating future years’ funding allocations.
How EDClass can help with catch up learning
EDClass is the ideal resource for catch up learning.
11,000+ lessons in a wide range of subjects are ideal for KS3 and KS4 studies. A tailored learning pathway means that specific lessons can be set to student’s individual learning needs.
Access to live and recorded lessons and highly trained teachers ensure a high quality education. Learning materials, tasks, quizzes and assessments are available.
A sophisticated tracking system means teachers can log-in to monitor student progress – and unlike many online alternatives to classroom learning – means attendance can be monitored.
A range of safeguarding features mean it is highly suitable for student catch up at home.
For more information call 01909 568 338.
