Covid-19 Catch up Funding

Purpose of Funding

Children and young people across the country have experienced unprecedented disruption to their education as a result of coronavirus (COVID-19). 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 our response must match the scale of the challenge.

In June, a £1 billion fund for education was announced by the government. The catch-up premium is funded on a per pupil basis at £80 per pupil. This funding is based on the number of pupils in school and does not include Nursery children. The school has the job of deciding the best way to spend this money. Before allocating this money, we used the Education Endowment Foundation support guide to investigate evidence-based approaches to catch up for all students. We also spoke to other schools in our federation and in the local cluster of schools to share ideas and to build an evidence base.

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.

Our Catch Up Premium Report can be viewed here.