Education recovery commissioner Sir Kevan Collins has resigned following the government’s proposal of an additional £1.4bn for the UK’s education catch-up, on top of the £1.7bn already pledged, instead of the £15bn he had recommended.

Sir Kevan is a widely respected education adviser who was knighted in 2015 for services to education. He had previously been Chief Executive of the Education Endowment Foundation, which examines evidence for what works in education. He was appointed to this role in February, to develop a long-term plan to help pupils make up for learning lost during the Covid-19 pandemic.

He advised the government that a £15bn budget was necessary for the scale and size of this project. Thus, with the proposal being almost a tenth of this, Sir Kevan believes that the government’s plan is “far from what is needed.”

In his resignation statement, Sir Kevan described the government’s budget as a “half-hearted approach” to the country’s education catch-up, with thousands of pupils now at risk of further educational failure. This comes after nearly two years of upheaval within education already due to COVID-19.

In particular, he said not enough is being done to help vulnerable children, children in early years or 16 – 19-year-olds. This prompts us to ask ‘who’ is the government supporting to catch up?

It is important to recognise that catching-up will not be the same nor involve the same issues for all pupils. Some pupils, in particular disabled children, will require additional support that extends beyond academic assistance for the school time missed over the past 2 years.

A No 10 spokesperson has said that the government is working to ensure “no child is left behind in their learning.” However, Sir Kevan believes this is not achievable on the current financial proposal, which he states as equating to, on average, £22 per primary school child.

Many have extended understanding and support for Sir Kevan’s decision to resign, with many disappointed with the government’s proposal.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has responded to the resignation, reassuring the public that additional funding is “coming down the track.” As it stands, the government has committed just over £3bn for the education catch-up.

CSIE welcomes the government’s promise of additional funding, albeit in the wake of such upheaval, and looks forward to more evidence that the education catch-up will become a top government priority