Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in which approximately 1.5 billion children and youth (nearly 85% of the world’s learners) were affected by school closures,1 the AEWG anticipates that catch-up programmes will be deployed extensively to meet the needs of learners who missed out on several months to approximately one year of education due to the disruption. Therefore, building on the AEWG’s programme definitions and our expertise in AE and other non-formal or alternative education options that accelerate the acquisition of knowledge and skills, the AEWG developed this set of principles and action points for catch-up programmes.