Recovery Premium

What is the COVID-19 Recovery Premium? 

Following the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent closure of schools, the government allocated funding to all schools to support pupils with the recovery process. In this page of our website and our COVID-19 Recovery Plan document we outline our school's strategies for recovery and our use of the funding. 

Funding  Allocation

Schools’ allocations will be calculated on a per pupil basis, providing each mainstream school with a total of £80 for each pupil in Reception through to Year 11. As this funding has been designed to mitigate the effects of the unique disruption caused by coronavirus (COVID-19), at this stage the grant will only be available for the 2020/2021 academic year. It will not be added to schools’ baselines in calculating future years’ funding allocations.

Use of funds

Schools should use this funding for specific activities to support their pupils to make up for potentially lost teaching during national lockdowns, in line with the guidance on curriculum expectations for the next academic year. 

Schools have the flexibility to spend their funding in the best way for their cohort and circumstances.

Accountability and Monitoring

As with all government funding, school leaders must be able to account for how this money is being used to achieve the central goal of schools getting back on track as quickly as possible. Given their role in ensuring schools spend funding appropriately and in holding schools to account for educational performance, governors should scrutinise schools’ approaches to catch-up from September 2020, including their plans for and use of this funding. This should include consideration of whether schools are spending this funding in line with their priorities, and ensuring appropriate transparency for parents (DfE guidance - Coronavirus (COVID-19) catch-up premium).