The government’s education catch-up plan isn’t good enough – here’s how we fix it

The £1.4bn in additional funding announced pales in comparison to the leaked £15bn proposal set out by Collins. 

The Education Policy Institute’s figures show the £1.4bn package equates to an extra £50 per pupil funding per year, barely scratching the surface of what is needed to reverse the significant learning loss suffered by pupils since March 2020. 

Placed in context, the Netherland’s £7bn funding package stands at £2,500 per pupil; in the US, this is approximately £1,600. Such a meagre offering is all the more surprising given that the Prime Minister is on record as saying that education recovery will be his post-pandemic priority.

What’s more is that there are worrying gaps in the package, particularly on 16-19 provision which, often overlooked, is receiving only £220m of this new tranche of funding. We already know that there is a significant attainment gap at this age – between the disadvantaged and their non-disadvantaged peers – which is set to widen given the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on those most in need. 

Further Education specifically has seen the largest fall in per pupil funding of any part of the education system – a setting most likely to attract disadvantaged learners. To be serious about levelling up, the Government needs to put in place policy solutions addressing the places and ways that these young people want to study.

We cannot keep treating our 16-19-year-olds as a side note, given our weak basic skills attainment in the UK compared to our OECD competitors. Ahead of the spending review, we must see these issues prioritised. Otherwise, a generation of young people will fall through the cracks.

As part of the recovery package, here are three things we know would make a real difference.

Firstly – let's extend the Pupil Premium to 16-19-year-olds, forming a ‘Pupil Premium Plus’, given to those facing multiple disadvantage.

At £1,000 per learner per year, this funding will help to level the playing field for disadvantaged 16-19 year olds. Education providers will be able to provide additional wrap-around support for those faced with barriers to participation in education. Received at 16, 17 and 18, the funding would cover engagement and pastoral support, along with funding for extra-curricular activities. 

It would be placed alongside a simplified bursary process so that the most disadvantaged students can receive the maximum £1,200 figure.

New measures need to reflect the different pathways young people take through the education system. Not every young person – through no fault of their own – follows an uninterrupted path towards higher or further education, and into employment. There must be a range of quality, vocationally focused level 2 qualifications available, acting as a direct entry point into the workforce or as a route to higher level qualifications.

We also need to close the digital divide through a Digital Inclusion Guarantee giving every young person access to sufficient data and appropriate equipment, providing digital training to all staff and putting the necessary digital infrastructure in place at all further education providers. Startlingly, 50% of our learners don’t have access to their own laptop.

As England’s largest, not-for-profit, independent training provider of study programmes, we work with some of the most disadvantaged young people every day. But our current education system doesn’t always work for these learners. So let’s target interventions at the hardest-to-reach young people, to level up educational outcomes and ensure that everyone has the opportunity to achieve their potential.

Please join us in our upcoming campaign calling for an education system that works for all young people. Find out more at our website or social media.

Campbell Robb is chief executive at Nacro