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Covid: Frustration at ringfenced recovery funding amid March 8 fears

School finance Government policy Coronavirus
Boris Johnson’s insistence that all students will return to school on March 8 and the ‘salami-slicing’ of the latest £702m funding for learning recovery have left school leaders and teachers anxious and frustrated in equal measure. Pete Henshaw reports


Ringfencing Recovery

There is frustration this week after the Department for Education (DfE) ringfenced much of the additional £702m being allocated to recovery support, potentially reducing its effectiveness according to school leaders.

And in true Westminster style, the £702m “announcement” included £300m that had already been announced by Boris Johnson in January.

The £702m includes £200m to expand tutoring programmes, including £83m for the National Tutoring Programme (NTP), £102m for the 16 to 19 Tuition Fund, and £18m for language development support in the early years. It will mean that much of this money will end up once again in the hands of private companies, with schools being invited to pay for subsidised tuition services.

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