In response to the announcement from the Department for Education, Sir Peter Lampl, founder and Executive Chair of the Sutton Trust and chairman of the Education Endowment Foundation, said:

“Creating an ambitious, sustainable recovery plan to support every pupil is a considerable challenge. The extension of tutoring for the most disadvantaged young people is crucial as it’s a highly cost-effective method of making up for lost learning. The focus on quality teaching, investing in the teaching profession and early years practitioners is also much needed.

However, the proposed funding is only a fraction of what is required. Low-income students who have already been most heavily impacted by Covid-19 will be disadvantaged even more and overall standards, which have fallen dramatically, will be very slow to recover.

Sir Kevan Collins is right that much more will be needed if we are to mitigate the long-term impact of the pandemic.”