A further £1.8 billion will be invested in education recovery over the next three years, the chancellor has announced.
Setting out today’s Budget, Rishi Sunak said the extra cash would take the total Covid catch-up investment to almost £5 billion.
But the amount falls far short of what some experts have called for.
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In June, the government’s education recovery tsar Sir Kevan Collins resigned after the Department for Education announced it would be investing a further £1.4 billion in the catch-up effort, far short of the £15 billion he had called for.
The £1.8 billion announced today will be spread over the next three years, the Treasury said.
Announcing his Budget in the Commons this afternoon, the chancellor said: “We’ve already announced £3.1 billion to help education recovery. Today, as promised by the prime minister and the education secretary, we will go further - with just under £2 billion of new funding to help schools and colleges, bringing this government’s total support for education recovery to almost £5 billion.”
Mr Sunak also said schools would get an extra £4.7 billion by 2024-25.
This, combined with plans announced at the spending review in 2019, will restore per-pupil funding to 2010 levels in real terms - equivalent to a cash increase for every pupil of more than £1,500, he said.
The news comes after Mr Sunak said on Sunday that the government had “maxed out” on funding for the Covid catch-up effort.
He told Times Radio: “It is pretty clear that the two things that do make the biggest difference to children’s learning is tutoring in small groups, and making sure that our teachers have all the development and training and support they need to be absolutely brilliant.
“We have pretty much maxed out on those things because there is just a constraint on how much of that can be reasonably delivered.”
Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi said: “Our mission is to maximise the potential of every single young person, regardless of their background, circumstances or the ways in which the pandemic has affected them.
“This settlement is a landmark investment in our skills, schools and families.
“The pandemic has taken precious time in young people’s lives, including the vital learning they need to reach their potential.
“Today’s investment will enhance the recovery we know is already underway for young people, building on the real impact of the steps we’ve taken so far - whether that’s tutoring, world-class teacher training or summer schools.
“We have been and we will continue to be ambitious about the futures of our children and young people.”
