Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what arrangements are in place to ensure that the £650 million additional catch-up resources for schools and other educational settings will be allocated to the most deprived neighbourhoods.

We recognise that all children and young people have had their education disrupted as a result of COVID-19. It is our ambition to ensure that all pupils have the chance to make up for this lost education.

That is why we are introducing a universal ‘catch-up premium’ worth a total of £650 million. Our expectation is that this funding will be spent on supporting pupils to catch up after a period of disruption to their education.

Departmental guidance issued on 20 July sets out that all schools should use the total catch-up premium funding available to them as a single total from which to prioritise support for particular pupils according to their need. Additional weighting has been applied to specialist settings – special schools, alternative provision, and hospital schools - recognising the significantly higher per-pupil costs they face.

Alongside this universal offer, we have also announced a new £350 million National Tutoring Programme for disadvantaged pupils. This will increase access to high-quality tuition for disadvantaged and vulnerable children and young people, helping to accelerate their academic progress and tackling the attainment gap between them and their peers.

The departmental guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-catch-up-premium.