'Catch-up premium' needed for disadvantaged pupils

A number of Northern MPs and Peers have signed a letter to the Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, calling for a catch-up premium for disadvantaged pupils when schools reopen.

The funding, which they suggest should be at least £700 for every secondary pupil on free school meals, would pay for tuition for those that have fallen behind.

They say that without, it the attainment gap, which affects Northern children even more than most, will get even bigger.

The letter from the Northern Powerhouse Partnership says: "The most disadvantaged children fall behind their peers over a long summer holiday, and the shutdown will widen the North's disadvantage gap, and with it the North South education divide. We need to deal with the consequences of this crisis for the most vulnerable in our society, and that must include children from low income households.

"A catch up premium of at least £300m across England is what is required for secondary schools alone - which would equate to at least £700 for every pupil on free school meals - to fund timely interventions which would require around 30 minutes of tuition, three to five times a week over a six to twelve week period."