Catch Up Funding
What is ‘Catch-Up’ funding?
In June 2020, the government announced £1 billion of funding to support children and young people to catch-up on any missed learning as a result of coronavirus (COVID19). In particular, the focus was on targeting the most vulnerable pupils and pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds who we know have been most affected. This funding 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 missed learning
- a £350 million National Tutoring Programme to provide additional, targeted support for those children and young people who need the most help, which includes:
- a schools programme for 5 to 16-year-olds – for more information, see the National Tutoring Programme FAQs
- a 16 to 19 tuition fund
- an oral language intervention programme for reception-aged children
As a local authority maintained primary school, Newchurch was eligible for the funding and received £80 for each pupil from Reception to Year Six inclusive. Funding was based on the October 2020 census.
Schools received the funding in three tranches:
Autumn 2020 – this is 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.
Early 2021 – based on updated pupil and place data. This 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.
Summer 2021 term - a further £33.33 per pupil or £100 per place.
Similar to the pupil premium, schools were advised to use the sum available to them as a single total even though funding is calculated on a per pupil basis. Schools were informed that this funding would only be available for the 2020 to 2021 academic year and would not be added to schools’ baselines in calculating future years’ funding allocations.
How can catch-up funding be used?
Schools were advised to use this funding for specific activities to support their pupils’ education recovery in line with the curriculum expectations in the actions for schools during the coronavirus outbreak guidance.
Whilst schools were able to use their funding in a way that suits their cohort and circumstances, they were expected to use this funding for specific activities which will help pupils catch up on missed learning. Schools were advised to particularly focus on disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils as we know they have been most affected.
To support schools to make the best use of this funding, the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) has published a coronavirus (COVID-19) support guide for schools with evidence-based approaches to catch up for all students.
To support schools to implement their catch-up plans effectively, EEF has published the school planning guide: 2020 to 2021. This provided further guidance on how schools should implement catch-up strategies and supporting case studies to highlight effective practice.
Schools can use catch-up premium funding to support any summer catch-up provision that they are offering and can carry funding forward to future academic years.