London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Aug 28, 2025

Ex-tsar angry at neglect of pupils in England left behind in pandemic

Ex-tsar angry at neglect of pupils in England left behind in pandemic

Sir Kevan Collins says recovery plan may end up little more than ‘a few kids in the corner doing a bit of tutoring’

The former education recovery commissioner, Sir Kevan Collins, has accused the government of burying its head in the sand over the loss of learning among children in England due to Covid, warning the problem will not just “go away”.

He expressed regret about lost opportunities after the government rejected his ambitious £15bn plan for recovery, including an extended school day for all, and warned that the flagship national tutoring programme (NTP) was in danger of becoming little more than “a few kids in the corner doing a bit of tutoring”.

Speaking a year after Covid restrictions were finally lifted on what the government called “freedom day”, Collins voiced concern about a tax-cutting arms race in the Conservative leadership contest, which he warned would result in cuts to education spending.

Collins resigned from his job as education catch-up tsar in June last year in protest at the prime minister’s decision to scale back recovery plans, warning the new offer did not come close to meeting the needs of children whose education was thrown into chaos by the pandemic. The government has so far pledged around £5bn in catch-up funding for schools and colleges.

In an interview with the Guardian, Collins said he remained convinced the country was underinvesting in education overall, and warned that the evidence emerging in recent months about the impact of lost learning suggested that the NTP, set up with great fanfare to help left-behind children catch up, was not delivering.

“I worry we’re into that ‘Don’t mention the war – don’t mention Covid. Let’s just pretend we can put that behind us. Let’s put our head in the sand.’ And that won’t wash because the impact of this isn’t going to go away unless we do something about it. We’re letting down a generation of children if we don’t do it,” he said.

The delivery of the NTP, which has been led by the Dutch HR giant Randstad this year, has been widely criticised with low participation rates in some areas of the country. As a result, the Department for Education (DfE) announced that all funding would go direct to schools next year so they can arrange their own tuition, a move welcomed by headteachers.

On the risk of tax cuts, promised by various contenders in the Tory party leadership race, Collins warned of “restraint on spending on public services including education”, an area where there is “no fat”.

Speaking of his own time dealing with the Treasury, he said the department saw education spending as something to control, rather than core to long-term investment.

“I was given lots of encouragement and was being told to be ambitious by No 10 people, including the prime minister, but it was at the Treasury where the brakes came in,” he said, calling the thinking a false economy.

“Every piece of evidence indicates that the investment I was asking for was tiny compared to the long-term hit if people lose earning power and economic productivity.”

He added: “I’m incredibly disappointed – and there is an anger – because our children and our schools deserve more You’ve got children who never had any time in reception, or in the early years – and that’s a big part of your life missing. Huge rites of passage are missing – your prom. All missed. And in the long term they matter.”

“Then you’ve got all the children that didn’t sing in a choir for two years, or didn’t take up a musical instrument or play sports. They’re reluctant now to go back to those things, so we’ve seen a drop off in some of those activities.”

Collins had hoped that high-quality, well trained tutors and tutoring, which has been shown to make a difference to outcomes, could become a new arm of the education system, available to everyone, rather than just for the better off.

“But we’ve ended up with tutoring that isn’t as well supported and developed as it should be. There were issues around how the government decided to award the contract for those who were going to do the training and broker the programme and make it available to schools,” he said.

He added: “Unfortunately it hasn’t worked out as well as it should have done. So now the money is going to schools, but are they getting the support they need to develop the tutors? Are they being supported to make sure the tutoring is high quality? I’m not so sure.

The biggest issue in education, however, is the attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their wealthier peers, said Collins. “The gap has been exacerbated and I fear that’s just going to become – well, that’s how the system is, we live with this, it’s nature’s course. And of course that’s unacceptable. I worry about this notion that we can’t do anything about it.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “The government has been driving forward work to get children back on track after the pandemic, including through our revolutionary national tutoring programme – with over 1.5 million courses already started – and targeted support for whole areas of the country where standards are weakest.

“From September the programme will be simplified, with all £349m of funding being provided directly to schools, while additional funding to support education recovery in secondary schools will double.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
A new faith called Robotheism claims artificial intelligence isn’t just smart but actually God itself
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner Purchases Third Property Amid Housing Tax Reforms Debate
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Italian Facebook Group Sharing Intimate Images Without Consent Shut Down Amid Police Investigation
Dutch Foreign Minister Resigns Amid Deadlock Over Israel Sanctions
Trump and Allies Send Messages of Support to Ukraine on Independence Day Amid Ongoing Conflict
China Reels as Telegram Chat Group Shares Hidden-Camera Footage of Women and Children
Sam Nicoresti becomes first transgender comedian to win Edinburgh Comedy Award
Builders uncover historic human remains in Lancashire house renovation
Australia Wants to Tax Your Empty Bedrooms
MotoGP Cameraman Narrowly Avoids Pedro Acosta Crash at Hungarian Grand Prix
FBI Investigates John Bolton Over Classified Documents in High-Profile Raids
Report reveals OpenAI pitched national ChatGPT Plus subscription to UK ministers
Labour set to freeze income tax thresholds in long-term 'stealth' tax raid
Coca‑Cola explores sale of Costa coffee chain
Trial hears dog walker was chased and fatally stabbed by trio
Restaurateur resigns from government hospitality council over tax criticism
Spanish City funfair shut after serious ride injury
Suspected arson at Ilford restaurant leaves three in critical condition
Tottenham beat Manchester City to go top of Premier League
Bank holiday heatwave to hit 30°C before remnants of Hurricane Erin arrive
UK to deploy immigration advisers to West Africa to block fake visas
×