- One million courses have started through the National
Tutoring Programme
- New changes announced to make tutoring easier for schools to
access
- Programme remains on track to deliver target of two million
courses during this academic year
One million courses have been started by children across the
country through the National Tutoring Programme, the Education
Secretary, , announced today (Friday 11
March).
Speaking at the Association of School and College Leaders
conference in Birmingham, the Education Secretary announced the
milestone alongside measures to further boost the number of
children who can benefit from tutoring this year.
Of the estimated 1 million courses started since the beginning of
the programme, an estimated 532,000 were provided through the
School-Led Tutoring route, which provides funding directly to
schools giving them greater flexibility to source their own
tutors, whether external or staff already working in the school.
As a result, up to £65m will be transferred into this route from
the Academic Mentor and Tuition Partner pillars of the programme,
giving more schools the autonomy and support to deliver high
quality tutoring to as many children and young people as
possible, and reflecting the department’s continued focus on
following the evidence of what works.
The programme remains on track to deliver the ambitious target of
two million courses overall this academic year.
To further support schools and meet increasing demand, the
eligibility for recruiting Academic Mentors and schools has been
updated, with minimum A level requirements replacing the
requirement for a degree, along with increasing the rate of pay
for all graduate mentors looking to enrol and support the
programme.
Separately, while the Government expects group sizes of 1:3 to
remain standard, schools working with tuition partners can now
use their discretion when determining group sizes, with a cap of
up to 1:6 to allow greater flexibility where needed (such as for
phonics, where pair work is required).
Speaking at ASCL, , Education Secretary,
said:
“It’s important to step back and look at what we’ve achieved with
the National Tutoring Programme.
“Tutoring used to be something that was the preserve of only
a fortunate few.
“Thanks to this Government, today it’s benefitting all
children who want it and need it, from Bristol to
Blackpool and Newquay to Newcastle, helping
them realise their potential.
“I am proud to announce that more than one million tutoring
courses have been delivered since we rolled out this programme
last year.
“I hope you will agree with me that what we are doing together on
tutoring is an invaluable addition to our education system, and I
am continuing to look at how we can make sure it is having as big
an impact as possible.”
In addition to the estimated 532,000 courses have started through
the school led route this year, 114,000 starts have been made on
courses through Tuition Partners and an estimated 74,000 pupils
have started packages through the Academic Mentor pillar of the
programme.
The government is working closely with Randstad and the sector to
make sure these numbers continue to rise, and tutoring continues
to reach the students who need it most.
311,000 courses were delivered in the 2020/2021 academic year.
The Government intends to continue building on the success of the
National Tutoring Programme this year, in particular the
School-Led route.
Schools, tutors and other stakeholders have continued to provide
feedback to the department over the course of the year – in
particular regarding the need for a programme that is as simple
as possible – and the department is exploring all options to make
sure that feedback is reflected in the programme next year.
