Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Covid-19: Learning Catch-up

Monday 1 March 2021 · 6 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 5 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Government invested 1.7 billion to help pupils catch up on learning lost due to the covid-19 outbreak.
  • The spectrum of children needing extra support is broad, and funding flexibility is crucial.
  • Children in areas of high deprivation will be prioritized for targeted support.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Jack Brereton Con
Education
Context

The MP is concerned about the impact of school closures on pupils' education.

Question

What support his Department is providing to help children catch up on learning lost during the covid-19 outbreak?

Answer from Gavin Williamson

Helping pupils make up learning is vital, which is why the Government have invested £1.7 billion in helping education settings boost pupils' learning, including additional funding for tutoring, early language support and summer schools. We have appointed an education recovery commissioner to advise on this work.

Answered
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Q2 Julian Sturdy Con
Education
Context

The MP notes that the educational divide will persist due to school closures over the past year and welcomes the Government's catch-up programme.

Question

Sadly, the impact of school closures over the past 12 months will be felt for a long time to come, with a gaping educational divide opening up as a result. I therefore very much welcome the Government's intention to provide a catch-up programme over the summer, but will my right hon. Friend clarify how he proposes to target support to reach students who have fallen behind most over the past year—those who have been really affected by this lockdown?

Answer from Gavin Williamson

My hon. Friend raises an important point. The spectrum and range of children who are perhaps needing that extra support is broad and wide. That is why it has been so important to give schools the flexibility to target the funding at the children who are most in need of that support, regardless of their background. Showing confidence in teachers to be able to target that support is very important.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not specify any concrete measures or timelines for targeting support effectively

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Q3 Jack Brereton Con
Education Children & Families
Context

The MP highlights the impact of less teaching time on disadvantaged children during the pandemic.

Question

Children in areas of high deprivation, of whom, as my right hon. Friend knows, there are many across Stoke-on-Trent, have had less teaching time during the pandemic. Will he ensure that those children are prioritised, as we work to ensure that all children can catch up with their education?

Answer from Gavin Williamson

Very much so. Let me take the opportunity to congratulate my hon. Friend on securing a new free school, which will be built in his constituency, really boosting educational attainment for his constituents in Stoke-on-Trent South. He is right to say that we need a targeted approach to supporting students to catch up and to making sure that they do not miss out as a result of the pandemic.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not provide specific measures for prioritising disadvantaged children, only referenced a free school opening

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Q4 Kate Green Lab
Children & Families
Context

The MP highlights pre-pandemic levels of child poverty and stalled progress on narrowing the attainment gap.

Question

Even before the pandemic, child poverty stood at more than 4 million, up more than 700,000 since Labour left office, and progress on narrowing the attainment gap between disadvantaged and other students had stalled. What targets has the Secretary of State set to address those shocking failures?

Answer from Gavin Williamson

We recognise that there is a broad impact on so many young people. We recognise that our work on closing the attainment gap between the richest and the poorest has been impacted as a result of the pandemic, which is why we are taking a targeted approach to our investments, looking at things such as catch up. That is why we have asked Sir Kevan Collins to look in detail at the actions that we can best take on helping children, especially those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds, to catch up.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not specify any concrete targets or timelines for addressing child poverty and attainment gaps

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Q5 Kate Green Lab
Education Benefits & Welfare Children & Families
Context

The MP questions the adequacy of current measures and commitment to address child poverty and educational standards.

Question

But just days from the Budget, there is still no commitment to keep the £20 uplift in universal credit, no sign that the Secretary of State will abandon the public sector pay freeze, and he has allocated just 43p per pupil per day to support catch up. Does he really believe that that is good enough, or will he stand up for children and families and tell the Chancellor that they must come first in the Budget?

Answer from Gavin Williamson

We on the Conservative Benches believe passionately in driving up educational standards, because we recognise that for children, especially those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds, that is the best way to give them the opportunities in life that we want to see every child have. That is why we have so passionately pursued that agenda for the past 11 years, and we will continue to pursue that agenda of raising standards for all children in all schools across the country. Our £1.7 billion package supporting children to catch up will make a real difference because it is targeted and evidence based, making sure that children will be supported to help them to get the very best as they come out of this lockdown and go back to school next week.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not commit to specific actions or funding beyond current £1.7 billion package

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Q6 Robert Halfon Con
Education
Context

The MP refers to previous difficulties in ensuring attendance of summer schools for disadvantaged pupils.

Question

When the Department for Education previously delivered a programme of summer schools for disadvantaged students in 2013, it identified that only 50% of disadvantaged pupils who were invited actually attended, and the Education Endowment Foundation found particular difficulties with attendance in areas outside London. What specific measures is the Department taking to ensure that the most disadvantaged benefit from the catch-up programmes and summer schools on offer? Will the Department set out a timetable for publishing regular data about the progress in children's outcomes as a direct result of the catch-up programme, and how will we use that data to adapt the programme to ensure transparency that the schemes are working and the money is being well spent?

Answer from Gavin Williamson

We commissioned Renaissance Learning to look at the evidence and ensure that we are properly tracking how the money is being spent and the outcomes. My right hon. Friend raises a really important point about the summer schools programme. We want to see this money being used by schools right across the country. We do not want only children in London to benefit from this, but children in every part of the nation. Our regional schools commissioners will be working closely with multi-academy trusts, individual schools and local authorities to do everything we can to ensure that all schools take up this fantastic offer and that there is the widest possible participation in the scheme.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Did not specify concrete measures for ensuring disadvantaged students' benefit or a timetable for publishing data on outcomes

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