Select committee: Education Committee
Conclusion 6
Fourth Report - Is the Catch-up Programme fit for purpose?
Published 10 Mar 2022
Paragraph 33
Addressed to Department for Education
Education Committee The Government’s Catch-up programme All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The impact of school closures and the pandemic has resulted in a reversal of the progress made in narrowing the attainment gap, with children in the North disproportionately affected. It is also alarming that children and young people in the North, particularly the North-East and Yorkshire and the Humber, have suffered greater learning loss during the last two years compared to many in the South. Nor is it acceptable that such striking variations exist between young people in the North who were able to take up the support offered by the National Tutoring Programme in its first year (59% of schools compared with upwards of 96% schools in the South). We discuss the performance of the NTP and its current provider Randstad in the next Chapter.
From: Education Committee, Fourth Report - Is the Catch-up Programme fit for purpose? (HC 940), paragraph 33, 10 March 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 25 May 2022 (deadline 10 May 2022).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government says it "agrees with the overarching ambition of the report" and that it accepts "most of the recommendations", while not fully accepting or only partially accepting others because existing or planned policies will support its vision.
- On tutoring, it will not extend Randstad's contract beyond its initial term, which "expires on 31 August 2022", and will reprocure delivery partners. All tutoring funding will go directly to schools next year.
- On a national register of children not in school, it reaffirms its commitment to local authority registers and says "We hope to legislate for this at the next suitable opportunity."
- On a mental health assessment for all pupils, it states "we do not believe that it is practical, nor necessary, for every child to undergo a clinical assessment of their mental health and wellbeing."
- On the school day, it will introduce a minimum expectation of a 32.5 hour week in state-funded mainstream schools, which it expects schools to work towards "as soon as possible and by September 2023 at the latest".