Funding for the most disadvantaged pupils should be boosted by 10 per cent across the board for the next two years, with the extra cash earmarked for catch-up efforts, Labour has said.

And pupil premium funds should be doubled for those entering the next phase of their education -  pupils in Years 1, 7 and 11 - on a one-off basis for a year, the party has suggested.

The proposals are outlined in Labour’s two-year £14.7 billion education recovery plan, published today, which sets out the party’s vision to help children after months of disruption to their learning.

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Labour’s plan was released after an internal government row over whether to pay the billions needed to extend the school day as part an ambitious post-Covid education plan intensified today, with an unpublished plan for the change being leaked.

On Sunday, Tes had revealed how ministers’ hopes of securing the £15 billion needed to fund the catch-up scheme, which has the controversial longer school day as its centrepiece, are fading.

Labour’s vision for education recovery does not include any proposals to extend the school day.

Covid catch-up: Labour proposes extra pupil premium funding

But the party’s “Children’s Recovery Plan” suggests that extracurricular activities and breakfast clubs should be expanded to boost time for children to play and socialise after months away from their friends.

It also says that quality mental health support should be in every school, small group tutoring should be available to all children who need it, and teachers should be offered continued development over the next two years.

The plan says ministers should invest in a new, two-year “education recovery premium” to support pupils who have faced the greatest disruption.

Labour said the fund should be targeted at children who would typically benefit from pupil premium funding, and those who should receive this help but do not because of their specific circumstances or phase of education.

Over the course of the next two academic years, Labour said the premium would:

• Cover pupils currently in receipt of the pupil premium in schools, at a rate of a 10 per cent uplift to current rates of pupil premium.
• Increase the early years pupil premium to £1,345 per pupil, so that funding is available on the same basis as it is in primary schools.
• Create a new further education recovery premium, available on the same basis as the pupil premium is in secondary schools.
• Cover all children with a Child Protection Plan.

The party said schools would be “accountable” for how they choose to spend this additional cash “on a similar basis to the pupil premium, but with a specific requirement to address the impact of the pandemic on children’s education and wellbeing”.

Labour also proposed that the pupil premium entitlement for children in Years 1, 7 and 11 should be doubled on a “one-off basis”.

Kate Green, the shadow education secretary, said: “Children are excited to be back in the classroom with their friends and hungry to learn. After such disruption, we owe it to them to match their energy and motivation with the support and resources they need to thrive, not just whilst they catch up, but for their school careers and beyond.

“Our plans deliver this, by funding activities to combine learning and play while investing in our teachers and staff, Labour will ensure that children not only recover but are supported to push on.

“In contrast, the Conservatives are showing no ambition for children’s futures.”

She added: “Labour’s innovative plans, informed by parents, teachers and children, will deliver not just a world-class education for all based on play and social development, but fulfilled and confident young people.

“We must match the ambition children have for their own futures and put them at the heart of our national recovery. This is an investment that our children’s futures and the future of our country depends on.”

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union the NAHT, said: “We agree with Labour that children’s happiness and wellbeing should be prioritised as well as their education, and that ‘play’ and ‘develop’ are as important as ‘learn’.

“It is important to be mindful of the trade-offs and unintended consequences of any recovery idea being proposed. For example, the marginal gains that might be possible through extending the school day must be weighed against the costs of such a strategy, including the impact on pupils’ mental health, reduced family time and less time for extracurricular activities.”