Extending the school day is still “very much on the agenda”, despite the move being conspicuously absent from the government’s new Covid catch-up plan, the education secretary has said.

It was announced today that £1.4 billion will be invested in tutoring pupils and training teachers as part of the education recovery effort.

However, as Tes revealed on Sunday, the new fund represents only a fraction of the £15 billion that the Department for Education and 10 Downing Street had been hoping to secure from the Treasury, and does not include extending the school day, which was expected to be central to the plans.

Covid catch-up: No extended school day in new £1.4bn catch-up plan

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Revealed: The plans on the table for extending the school day

Despite this, education secretary Gavin Williamson today signalled that longer school hours were still a key policy goal and suggested his department would continue to seek funding for the policy from the Treasury.

Covid catch-up: Plan for an extended school day ‘will be reviewed’

Prime minister Boris Johnson sent out a similar message today saying there would be “more coming through” to support children catching up on missed education during the coronavirus pandemic.

He said there was no doubt “many kids are incredibly resilient… but a lot of them also need help to catch up”.

Mr Williamson also hinted at plans to clamp down on schools that do not open for a full day, as first revealed by Tes, saying: “We’ve seen some schools now close, you know, the school gates for pupils at sort of 2.45[pm] - I do question as to whether that is too early.”

The DfE said today that the next stage of its plans will include “a review of time spent in school and college and the impact this could have on helping children and young people to catch up”.

It said the findings will be set out later in the year to inform the government’s spending review. But sources have pointed out that backers of the extended school day will still have to persuade the Treasury to change its mind, with the levelling up agenda competing for cash.  

Asked on BBC Radio 4‘s Today programme if extending the school day was still on the cards, Mr Williamson said: “It’s very much on the agenda. That’s why we’ve announced the review looking at this.”

He said: “I look at some of the highest performing schools...it’s not just about extra academic time, it’s also about extra enrichment time for children to be able to do more things in terms of a school day, whether that’s sporting activities and whether that’s the arts as well.”

He added that the government’s “key focus” was “how the structure of the day best serves pupils”.

Education recovery commissioner Sir Kevan Collins warned today that “supporting every child to get back on track will require a sustained and comprehensive programme of support” and more investment “will be needed to meet the scale of the challenge”.

Teachers’ and heads’ leaders have hit out at the £1.4 billion plan, calling it “paltry”, “disappointing” and a “damp squib”.

Challenged over the limited scale of today’s package, the education secretary suggested the department would be seeking further investment.

“As I’ve touched upon, over the last 12 months we have announced two previous packages,” he said.

“And as we look forward to the spending review, there’s a real sense about how we can do more, how we can go further, how can we ensure that we’re capturing all children and delivering for them.”

On the amount secured from the Treasury for the new plan, he said: “It is quite unprecedented to be getting this quantum of money outside of a spending review.

“But what we decided that we needed to do is deliver interventions and support and invest in children immediately - that’s why we’ve...over the last few months announced a total of over £3 billion of money...in terms of targeted help with children.”

He added: “I have no doubt that in order to be able to deliver everything we have ambitions for, for our children, there will be more that is required.”