£700 catch-up premium for poorer pupils

MPs from the North of England have argued that a catch-up premium of £700 for every pupil on free school meals should be given to secondary schools when they reopen.

In total, 50 MPs from the North of the country have written to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson to make the case for £300 million of funding ahead of the Secretary of State’s appearance before the Education Select Committee.

It is suggested that such a premium would help prevent poorer children in England falling behind their classmates because of school closures due to coronavirus, and would fund up to two-and-a-half hours of tuition for six to 12 weeks.

In a letter to Williamson, the Northern Powerhouse Partnership says the current situation has kept children away from their teachers and schools, stating that the shutdown will ‘widen the North’s disadvantage gap’. The letter says children from the North of England are particularly likely to be from economic and ethnic groups that make the slowest progress at secondary school, including white working-class pupils.

Data shows that the North East has the highest percentage of children on free school meals at 18.7 per cent. This is followed by London at 17.4 per cent and the North West at 16.8 per cent, while the South East has the lowest percentage at 9.5 per cent.

Lord O'Neill, Northern Powerhouse Partnership vice-chairman, said: “Schoolchildren in the North from longstanding disadvantaged backgrounds were already falling behind their peers in other parts of the country, widening the North-South divide in educational attainment.

"The Covid-19 crisis has made that situation even worse, as many children have little or no learning resources at home. The catch-up premium today supported by so many of our MPs and peers from all parties is vital to allow children all over the North, and the whole of the nation, to have the same chances as everyone else. Otherwise we risk those affected falling even further behind, possibly never to catch-up."