Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason he did not implement grant funding for Year Seven catch-up proposals.

Last autumn, the Department invited teaching schools to submit outline bids for grants to be made from an additional £500,000 funding (to be used within the 2017-18 financial year) to enable them to deliver small-scale projects to support other schools in making more effective use of their Year 7 catch up premium funding. In the event, the Department decided that awarding these grants so close to the end of the financial year would not provide best value for money and no funding was awarded.

The Department provides £50 million of funding per year directly to secondary schools through the Year 7 Catch Up Premium. This funding is for activity to help Year 7 pupils who did not meet the expected standard at Key Stage 2 catch up in mathematics and reading.