Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support students whose academic performance has been adversely impacted by the covid-19 pandemic.

Helping children and young people to catch up is a key priority for the government and overall direct investment announced for education recovery is almost £5 billion. This includes an additional £1.8 billion of funding announced in the recent Spending Review to support young people to catch up on missed learning.

We have consistently targeted recovery funding where the evidence tells us it will be most effective: on tutoring, teaching and extra time for those with the least time left. Our latest investment continues to support these interventions and to help those that need it most.

Our education recovery investment includes funding for up to 100 million tutoring hours for 5 to 19 year olds by 2024, multi-year direct funding so schools can deliver evidence-based interventions based on pupil needs, summer schools in 2021, extra time in 16 to 19 education, 500,000 training opportunities for school teachers and early years practitioners, and the opportunity for year 13 students, where it is judged beneficial, to repeat their final year in 2021/22.

Direct recovery funding comes on top of wider increases to early years, schools and college funding. Schools will receive an additional £4.7 billion in core funding in the 2024/25 financial year, including £1.6 billion in 2022/23 financial year on top of already planned increases from the 2019 Spending Review, which is equivalent to a total cash increase of £1,500 per pupil between the 2019/20 and 2024/25 financial years.

The department recognises that students taking exams this year will have experienced disruption to their education caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. That is why, together with Ofqual, we consulted on and have confirmed a range of adaptations to GCSE and A/AS level exams. Exam boards will be releasing advance information about the focus of the content of exams in most GCSE and A/AS level subjects on 7 February. Other adaptations include a choice of content or topics and the provision of exam aids in some GCSEs. Additionally, Ofqual have confirmed that 2022 will be a transition year for grading. Grades will be set around a midpoint between 2021 and pre-COVID-19 grades.

The department recognises that the extended school and college closures have had a substantial impact on children and young people’s learning. All schools should continue to teach a broad and balanced curriculum in all subjects. The optional guidance, ‘teaching a broad and balanced curriculum for education recovery’, offers suggestions to help schools decide how to prioritise elements within their curriculum for education recovery, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teaching-a-broad-and-balanced-curriculum-for-education-recovery. These suggestions are based on the good practice evident in many schools, as exemplified in the case studies.

Oak National Academy was created in April 2020 as a rapid response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Teachers and colleagues from leading education organisations came together to support schools’ efforts to keep children learning through the provision of remote education. Since its launch, more than 40,000 free online learning resources and video lessons in a broad range of subjects have been developed across 35 subjects from early years to key stage 4. Specialist content for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities is also available.