A tutoring scheme to help pupils catch up on learning lost during lockdown will not now begin until deep into the autumn, months later than the government originally suggested, it has emerged. 

Last month prime minister Boris Johnson pledged “a massive catch-up operation over the summer and beyond” to ensure “that kids get the remedial help that they need for the stuff that they’ve missed” due to coronavirus school closures. 

A week later when the £1 billion “Covid-19 catch up plan” was announced with the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) as the centrepiece, little was said about catch-up over the summer. But education secretary Gavin Willamson did promise that “the plan will be delivered throughout the next academic year”.

However, today, as part of a wider funding announcement, the Department for Education has revealed that the NTP will, in fact, not begin until “the second half of the 2020-21 autumn term”.

Pledge: Prime Minister promises a big summer of catch-up

Coronavirus: PM says schools should draw up catch-up plans by the end of term

Exclusive: £650m of catch-up funding not targeted at the poor

The Covid catch-up package includes £350 million for the National Tutoring Programme.

Tes revealed last night that, as part of this programme, Teach First is to recruit up to 1,000 academic mentors who will be sent to schools with disadvantaged pupils to work either one-to-one or in small groups to help primary and secondary school pupils to catch up.

Coronavirus: Funding to help pupils catch up on lost learning

Teach First will receive £6.45 million in DfE funding to recruit and train mentors, who will then be paid £19,000-a-year by the department to work in schools.

The DfE said Teach First had been “invited” to join the NTP based on its “expertise in supporting schools and teachers serving disadvantaged communities and their ability to deliver quickly across the country from the autumn”.

“There will be a competitive funding round next academic year,” the DfE added.

The National Tutoring Programme will also see schools in all regions be able to access heavily subsidised tuition from organisations on a list of approved partners.

As part of the tutoring fund, the government is providing a one-off, ring-fenced grant of up to £96 million for colleges, sixth forms and all 16-19 providers, to provide small group tutoring activity for disadvantaged 16-19 students whose studies have been disrupted.

Russell Hobby, the chief executive of Teach First, said: “We’re honoured to join the National Tutoring Programme and kick-off recruitment of the first wave of academic mentors. 

“Their salaries will be funded for schools and evidence shows that, by working under the direction of experienced teachers, they can be precisely deployed to support the children who need them most.”

The DfE also confirmed today that allocations from the £650 million catch-up premium - the other part of the Covid catch-up plan - will be based on the number of pupils a school has and will be paid once a term over the 2020-21 academic year.   

A 1,000-pupil secondary school will receive £80,000 and a 200-pupil primary school will receive £16,000 to tackle the impact of lost teaching time on pupils as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.