Responding to the government’s announcement that education
recovery funding for secondary school pupils will double next
year, Julia Harnden, Funding Specialist at the Association of
School and College Leaders, said:
“The government’s announcement that it intends to double the rate
of the education recovery premium grant for eligible secondary
school students next year is obviously welcome and broadly in
line with the extra £1 billion the Chancellor promised in the
Spending Review last autumn.
“The confirmation today will allow schools to plan their budgets
more accurately for the new academic year and to make important
decisions regarding staffing from September. The expansion of
eligibility to include all pupils in special and alternative
provision settings is also a sensible and welcome addition.
“However, it is disappointing that the allocation for primary
school pupils has not been increased. These children have
suffered just as much disruption as those in secondary schools
and the evidence indicates that there is still a long way to
recover progress lost during the pandemic.
“Overall, we cannot share the government’s delight with the
funding package announced last autumn, which lacks serious
ambition and is far short of what is needed to help education
recover. The extra funding will obviously help but the government
has grossly underestimated the scale of the issue and needs to
back schools with significantly more money to help children and
young people whose education has been profoundly affected by the
enduring disruption of the pandemic.”
