Queen's Speech 2021 - Education Recovery Plan

Education Recovery Plan

“My Ministers will address lost learning during the pandemic and ensure every child has a high quality education and is able to fulfil their potential.”

• ● As we build back from the pandemic, we are putting in place a package of measures to ensure no child is left behind as a result of the education and extracurricular activities they may have missed out on. We are working with the Education Recovery Commissioner – Sir Kevan Collins – to develop an ambitious, long-term plan that builds back a better and fairer education system in England and delivers significant reforms to address the scale of this challenge.

• ● As a first step, over the past year we have already provided over £2 billion to schools, colleges and early years settings to support pupils’ academic and wider progress. This includes £1.7 billion in funding to support education recovery and over £400 million is being invested to support access to remote education including securing 1.3 million laptops and tablets.

  Wider Education Reform

• ● We are continuing our long-term reform of school funding, investing over £14 billion more in our schools over the next three years to 2022-23, meaning all schools will receive more money for every pupil. We will also progress towards a single national funding formula that determines every school’s funding, so that schools see greater consistency and fairness in their funding.

• ● We are investing an additional £730 million into high needs in 2021-22, building on the additional £780 million in 2020-21.

• ● We are making a significant investment in teachers. From September 2021 we will be funding an entitlement for early career teachers in England to access world class professional development at the start of their career so they are trained in evidenced-based techniques. These reforms are the most significant reforms to teaching in a generation and will ensure early career teachers are supported to deliver the best outcomes for their pupils.

• ● Post-16 technical education must meet the needs of employers, which is why we will continue with the roll out of T Levels and Higher Technical Qualifications, ensuring that more students can benefit from these high quality qualifications, based on employer led standards. We have already invested £200 million in updating the Further Education estate and we will be investing a further £1.3 billion over the next 5 years.

• ● To support vulnerable children and young people, we are investing £220 million in the Holiday Activities and Food programme, which will be expanded across England this year to provide healthy food and enriching activities during the school holiday. We are also investing £79 million to boost children and young people's mental health support.

• ● We have launched an independent review of children’s social care, looking at the needs, experiences, and outcomes of the children it supports. We are also continuing our work on the Review of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), which aims to ensure the SEND system is consistent, high quality, and integrated across education, health and care.

  Key Facts

• ● So far, we have made available £1.7 billion to support education recovery. In June 2020 we announced a £1 billion catch-up package including a National Tutoring Programme and a Catch-up Premium. In February 2021 we committed to further funding of £700 million. This will fund summer schools, an expansion of our tutoring programmes and a £302 million Recovery Premium for the next academic year, which includes £22 million to scale up well evidenced programmes.

• ● The Sutton Trust found that pupils from the least affluent families are significantly less likely to have been tutored compared to those from the most affluent (18 per cent vs. 43 per cent), a gap that likely widened during lockdown.

• ● We are investing over £400 million to support access to remote education and online social care services, including securing 1.3 million laptops and tablets.

• ● In 2021-22, mainstream school funding will increase by 3.5 per cent overall.

• ● We will recruit and retain the best teachers in our classrooms through our commitment to increasing starting salaries to £30,000 – they have increased by 5.5 per cent this year.

• ● We are investing £10 million through our behaviour hubs programme, to run over the next three years. Good behaviour and discipline in schools is crucial if children are to reach their full potential.

• ● The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care is a manifesto commitment and launched on 15 January 2021. Josh MacAlister, the founder and former Chief Executive of Frontline, has commenced his role as Chair of the Independent Review.