Last month the government announced a £1 billion catch-up package to support pupils who may have fallen behind due to lost teaching time as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. Part of the catch-up fund is a £350 million National Tutoring Programme to provide additional, targeted support for those children and young people who need the most help. The National Tutoring Programme will be available from the second half of the 2020/21 autumn term and will provide support to disadvantaged pupils aged 5-16. As part of the tutoring fund, the DfE has announced that it will provide a one-off, ring-fenced grant of up to £96 million for colleges, sixth forms and other 16-19 providers, to provide small group tutoring activity for disadvantaged 16-19 students whose studies have been disrupted. Comment from the government, opposition parties and the sector can be read here. Other comment on this news is available here.
The ESFA has published guidance about the new 16 to 19 tuition fund and how it will be allocated.