Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Fifty-Fifth Report - Education recovery in schools in England
Public Accounts Committee
HC 998
Published 7 June 2023
Recommendations
2
Accepted in Part
Develop understanding of reasons for higher absence rates among disadvantaged pupils and take action
Recommendation
Effective recovery relies on pupils being at school but absence is higher than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among disadvantaged pupils. In the autumn and spring terms of 2021/22, the average absence rate for all pupils was 7.4%, …
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Government Response Summary
The government accepts the recommendation to develop a better understanding of why disadvantaged pupils have higher absence rates, committing to build on existing analysis by July 2024. However, it disagrees with the need for *new* targeted action, stating that comprehensive measures and existing programmes (like HAF and Pupil Premium) already address this.
HM Treasury
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3
Accepted
Increase participation in National Tutoring Programme by understanding reasons for non-participation via evaluation
Recommendation
We share the Department’s disappointment that 13% of schools did not take up the National Tutoring Programme in 2021/22, meaning pupils at these schools missed out on the benefits of subsidised tutoring. Take-up of the two centrally run National Tutoring …
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Government Response Summary
The government accepts the recommendation to increase participation in the National Tutoring Programme, stating it has simplified the programme, increased the subsidy rate to 50% for 2023-24, and will use administrative data and ongoing evaluation to understand barriers by August 2024.
HM Treasury
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4
Accepted
Monitor tutoring provision after subsidy withdrawal and intervene if levels drop significantly
Recommendation
We are not confident that schools will be able to afford to provide tutoring on the scale required to support all the pupils who need it once the Department withdraws its subsidy. By the end of 2021/22, pupils had started …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees with Recommendation 4, committing to monitor tutoring volumes via school census and year-end statements, develop interventions for significant drops, and has already increased the 2023-24 subsidy rate from 25% to 50% to improve programme deliverability.
HM Treasury
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5
Not Addressed
Publish progress measures for 2030 attainment targets, starting with primary pupils, and report annually
Recommendation
The Department has no interim targets to track progress towards the 2030 attainment ambitions set out in the Schools White Paper. The Department has not specified the impact it wants to achieve from its interventions to support education recovery because …
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Government Response Summary
The government response provided addresses a different set of recommendations from the Public Accounts Committee concerning investment, and therefore does not engage with the substance of the recommendation regarding education attainment targets.
HM Treasury
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27
Rejected
Set clear metrics and specific targets for education recovery programme impact.
Recommendation
In 2021, we recommended that the Department should set out clear metrics that it would use to monitor the catch-up programme, and indicate what level of performance would represent success, and the Department agreed with this recommendation.53 However, although the …
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Government Response Summary
The government rejects the recommendation to set clear metrics and targets for the impact of education recovery interventions. It states it already publishes national attainment data, key performance indicators, and outlines ambitions in the Schools White Paper to measure progress across the school system.
HM Treasury
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28
Rejected
Department set long-term attainment ambitions but lacks interim progress milestones.
Recommendation
In the March 2022 Schools White Paper, the Department set ambitions that, by 2030, 90% of primary school children would achieve the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, and the percentage of children meeting the expected standard in the …
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Government Response Summary
The government disagrees with the recommendation to set explicit milestones for its 2030 ambitions, arguing that existing national attainment data, KPIs, and forthcoming statistics already provide sufficient measures of progress.
HM Treasury
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Conclusions (23)
1
Conclusion
Not Addressed
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Education (the Department) on education recovery in schools.2
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges that the Committee took evidence from the Department for Education about education recovery in schools based on a report by the National Audit Office.
6
Conclusion
Evidence submissions from the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition, Young Minds and Adoption UK highlighted the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had had on young people’s mental health.10 The Department agreed with Young Minds’ recommendation calling for a whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing, and said that …
7
Conclusion
Rejected
Disadvantaged pupils have, on average, lower attainment than other pupils, and results from the Key Stage 1, 2 and 4 tests taken in 2022 showed that this disadvantage gap had grown.12 The Department told us that it had been successfully closing the disadvantage gap before the COVID-19 pandemic, and that …
Government Response Summary
The government rejects the implied recommendation, stating that narrowing the disadvantage gap is central to all existing departmental programmes rather than requiring a separate plan. It highlights ongoing £5 billion recovery programmes, the Schools White Paper, and a commitment to continue reviewing progress.
8
Conclusion
Rejected
We asked the Department when we would see the disadvantage gap start to close. The Department insisted that closing the gap in attainment had been the relentless focus of its education recovery work, and that almost every element of the recovery programme, including the National Tutoring Programme and the recovery …
Government Response Summary
The government rejects the implied recommendation, stating that narrowing the disadvantage gap is central to all existing departmental programmes rather than requiring a separate plan. It highlights ongoing £5 billion recovery programmes, the Schools White Paper, and a commitment to continue reviewing progress.
9
Conclusion
Rejected
The Department told us that it hoped to see the disadvantage gap narrowing again from summer 2023.16 It accepted that one could always do more, but believed it now had a strong package of measures in place. The measures included things that were most likely to drive engagement from all …
Government Response Summary
The government disagrees with the committee's conclusion (which they perceived as a recommendation) about the Department's hopes for narrowing the disadvantage gap, reaffirming its commitment to doing so as quickly as possible through current programmes.
10
Conclusion
Rejected
We pressed the Department on when it hoped to eliminate the disadvantage gap completely. It told us that no country in the world had completely eliminated its 10 ERS0003 The Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition page 1; ERS0005 Young Minds pages 1–3; ERS0006 Adoption UK pages 2 and …
Government Response Summary
The government disagrees with the committee's implied challenge to reduce the disadvantage gap faster, stating its commitment to narrowing the gap as quickly as possible through existing programmes and the Schools White Paper, rather than a separate plan.
11
Conclusion
Accepted in Part
The Department recognises that a key element of improving attainment is for children to be in school.19 Rates of pupil absence from school are, however, higher than they were before the COVID-19 pandemic.20 Written evidence we received from Action Tutoring pointed to increases in pupil absence since before the pandemic, …
Government Response Summary
While the committee's item is a conclusion on the high rates of pupil absence, especially among disadvantaged pupils, the government's response commits to developing a better understanding of absence rates among disadvantaged pupils by July 2024. It also states existing comprehensive measures and targeted programmes are already in place for reducing absence.
12
Conclusion
Accepted in Part
The Department told us that illness, rather than unauthorised absence, was the biggest driver of the increase in absence, particularly persistent absence. It noted that this year’s figures were for the autumn term only, when there had been quite a lot of illness. A pupil would only need to have …
Government Response Summary
While the committee's item is a conclusion on the drivers and patterns of pupil absence, the government's response commits to developing a better understanding of absence rates among disadvantaged pupils by July 2024. It also states existing comprehensive measures and targeted programmes are already in place for reducing absence.
13
Conclusion
Accepted in Part
We asked the Department what its plans were to deal with pupil absences. It told us that attendance rates were improving as levels of illness reduced, but there was more to be done.25 The Department said that a lot of its work on attendance started from the principle of providing …
Government Response Summary
While the committee's item is a conclusion on the Department's plans for pupil absences, the government's response commits to developing a better understanding of absence rates among disadvantaged pupils by July 2024. It also states existing comprehensive measures and targeted programmes are already in place for reducing absence.
14
Conclusion
Accepted in Part
The Department said it had set a strong expectation that attendance was everyone’s responsibility, including parents, schools and local authorities. It also stressed the importance of leadership and data. It explained that national leadership was being provided by the Attendance Action Alliance which brought together key players from across the …
Government Response Summary
While the committee's item is a conclusion on existing attendance efforts, the government's response commits to developing a better understanding of absence rates among disadvantaged pupils by July 2024. It also states existing comprehensive measures and targeted programmes are already in place for reducing absence.
15
Conclusion
Accepted
The Department highlighted that it was now collecting better data, drawn directly from state-funded schools’ own management information systems, which it could look at in detail, in real time. Schools voluntarily signed up to provide data and about 80% were doing so. The Department told us how it was now …
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the committee's observation on the importance of data, committing to build on existing absence analysis and use available data during 2023-24 to better understand absence rates among disadvantaged pupils.
16
Conclusion
We have been regularly pressing the Department to improve its support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) since we reported on this subject in May 2020.31 The Department finally published the results of its SEND review in a Green Paper in March 2022, setting out proposals for …
17
Conclusion
We asked the Department why the process was taking so long and specifically why it was not expecting to have a full set of new national standards even by the end of 2025. The Department said that it had made a commitment to start with the national standards that touched …
18
Conclusion
Accepted
By the end of 2021/22, pupils had started 2.5 million courses under the National Tutoring Programme.35 However, take-up of the two centrally run National Tutoring Programme schemes was below the Department’s expectations: in 2021/22, the number of courses was 45% of the Department’s target for the tuition partners scheme and …
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the committee's observation of the National Tutoring Programme's performance, committing to simplify the programme by providing direct funding to schools and increasing the subsidy rate for 2023-24 to 50% to improve deliverability and understanding barriers to participation.
19
Conclusion
Accepted
In 2021/22, 87% of schools in England participated in some form of tutoring under the National Tutoring Programme.39 When we asked the Department why 13% of schools had not taken part at all in the National Tutoring Programme, it told us that this had been the “biggest disappointment” of the …
Government Response Summary
The government has simplified the National Tutoring Programme, provided funding directly to schools, and increased the subsidy rate for 2023-24 to 50% to reduce barriers to participation. It is also using administrative data and evaluation to understand why some schools do not engage.
20
Conclusion
Accepted
The Department said there were a range of different reasons for why schools chose to engage with tutoring; some would be about their view of the value of tutoring and some would be about the process of engaging people to do tutoring. It told us that it was seeking to …
Government Response Summary
The government has simplified the National Tutoring Programme, provided funding directly to schools, and increased the subsidy rate for 2023-24 to 50% to reduce barriers to participation. It is also using administrative data and evaluation to understand why some schools do not engage.
21
Conclusion
The Department told us of a number of ways it had been sharing best practice on the National Tutoring Programme. These included offering direct support to schools and having webinars and shared promotions and research. It highlighted in particular research by the Education Endowment Foundation and the National Foundation for …
22
Conclusion
Accepted
The Department provided funding of £594 million for the National Tutoring Programme taking 2020/21 and 2021/22 together, and plans to provide a further £527 million in the following two years.45 It is progressively reducing the rate of subsidy it provides for tutoring, from 75% in 2020/21 to 25% in 2023/24, …
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the committee's observation regarding funding and subsidy reduction, committing to monitor tutoring volumes and ensure tutoring is embedded across schools in England from 2024 as a staple offer, with further details to follow.
23
Conclusion
Accepted
Written evidence we received from The Tutor Trust noted that some schools, particularly smaller primary schools, were struggling to fund the cost of tutoring in 2022/23, when the Department was providing a subsidy of 60%.47 We also heard from Action Tutoring that, with the drop in the subsidy to 25% …
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the committee's conclusion about schools struggling to fund tutoring due to subsidy reductions, and has responded by increasing the 2023-24 subsidy rate from 25% to 50% to make the programme more deliverable for schools, alongside ongoing monitoring of tutoring volumes.
24
Conclusion
Accepted
We asked the Department how, as the level of subsidy reduced, schools would be able to meet the cost of continuing to participate in the National Tutoring Programme. The Department told us that it had always been clear that the subsidy would taper and, if tutoring was to become a …
Government Response Summary
The government has set the National Tutoring Programme subsidy rate for 2023-24 at 50% to make it more deliverable for schools, allowing them to meet costs with less of their own money. It also continues to monitor tutoring volumes and is developing further interventions.
25
Conclusion
Accepted
The Department acknowledged, however, that the fall in the level of subsidy was significant and told us it had accepted the NAO’s recommendation that it should model the impact of moving from 60% to 25% in a single year.50 It also undertook to keep monitoring this area and, if there …
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the committee's conclusion that monitoring tutoring levels and intervening if necessary is important. It confirms ongoing monitoring and is developing interventions, having already increased the 2023-24 tutoring subsidy rate from 25% to 50% to make the program more deliverable.
26
Conclusion
Accepted
We asked the Department how it would create a sustainable tuition market, given the different skills needed for tutoring and classroom teaching. It told us that quality was key and that, important though finding additional tutors was, effective practice and use of evidence for how effective tutoring is delivered were …
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the committee's conclusion regarding a sustainable tuition market, committing to embed tutoring across all schools in England from 2024 and expecting it to continue as a staple offer, with further information to be provided in due course.
29
Conclusion
Rejected
The Department pointed us to the performance metrics that it published every year in its Outcome Delivery Plan. It said that it published a wide range of metrics at Key Stages 2 and 4, and the results of Key Stage 1 tests such as the phonics screening check. The Department …
Government Response Summary
The government rejects the implicit recommendation concerning its performance metrics, stating it already publishes national attainment data for various key stages and critical programmes. It indicates these, along with ambitions in the Schools White Paper, collectively provide measures for progress.