SECONDARY school pupils may have to attend summer schools as part of the Government’s multimillion-pound catch-up programme for children in England who have faced disruption due to Covid-19.

The Prime Minister has announced an extra £400 million of funding – on top of the £300 million pledged in January – to help pupils make up lost learning time following months of school closures.

As part of the recovery package, summer provision will be introduced for pupils who need it the most, such as incoming Year 7 pupils, whilst one-to-one and small group tutoring schemes will be expanded.

The programme includes a one-off £302 million “Recovery Premium” for primary and secondary schools to support disadvantaged pupils – which could include running additional clubs and activities in the summer, or opting for evidence-based approaches to help children from September.

A further £200 million will be available to secondary schools to deliver face-to-face summer schools.

This extensive programme of catch-up funding will equip teachers with the tools and resources they need to support their pupils, and give children the opportunities they deserve to learn and fulfil their potential.

It comes after the Government considered a variety of options as part of the catch-up plans for pupils who have missed out – including extended school days and shorter summer holidays.

But both of these proposals, which had been previously described as “policy gimmicks” by the school leaders’ union, are not included in the details set out on Wednesday.

As part of the package, £200 million will fund an expansion of existing tuition programmes for students – including the National Tutoring Programme (NPP) – as well as funding additional language support for pre-school children.

Mr Johnson said: “When schools re-open and face to face education resumes on March 8, our next priority will be ensuring no child is left behind as a result of the learning they have lost over the past year.

“This extensive programme of catch-up funding will equip teachers with the tools and resources they need to support their pupils and give children the opportunities they deserve to learn and fulfil their potential.”

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “Summers schools will be of value for some pupils but it will be important not to overwhelm students. Recovery cannot happen in a single summer.”

He added: “Fortunately, there already exists a wealth of knowledge within the profession about how to narrow achievement gaps. We need to trust schools to put in place a long-term approach based on what they know about the needs of their pupils.”