Is Gavin Williamson doing enough for deprived children?

There are just days until all pupils return to English schools, and Conservative MPs are becoming increasingly concerned about what state many of these students will be in when they arrive back in the classroom after the best part of a year trying to learn from home.

At today’s Education Questions in the House of Commons, a number of backbenchers pressed Education Secretary Gavin Williamson on the work the government is doing to get the most disadvantaged children back up to speed. Both Jack Brereton and Julian Sturdy had tabled questions asking ‘what support his department is providing to help children catch up on lost learning during the Covid-19 outbreak’. Williamson’s response was to point to the £1.7 billion in funding announced over the past few months for ‘helping education settings boost pupils’ learning, including additional funding for tutoring, early language support and summer schools’, as well as the appointment of Sir Kevan Collins as the education recovery commissioner.