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Coronavirus: Early years sector snubbed by Government in catch-up funding plan

Early years organisations have slammed their omission from sharing any of the £1bn funding package that schools will receive as part of a catch-up plan for children who have fallen behind from missing education in lockdown.
Nurseries, pre-schools and childminders are not included in the Government's £1 bn 'catch-up' funding plan
Nurseries, pre-schools and childminders are not included in the Government's £1 bn 'catch-up' funding plan

The announcement was also mired in confusion and frustration for both the early years and further education sectors, who were included in the initial announcement of £700 million and then removed.

The Department for Education sent out a revised statement just two hours later to say that those eligible were state primary and secondary schools, and not currently early years or 16-19 colleges.

It also reduced this part of the fund down to £650m to be shared in schools over the 2020/21 academic year.

While head teachers can decide how the £650m is spent, the Government said it expected that this would be used for small group tuition. 

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