ASCL responds to the government’s planned overhaul of the National Tutoring Programme

Responding to the news that ministers will overhaul the National Tutoring Programme, Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said:

“We welcome a restructuring of the National Tuition Programme so that all funding goes directly to schools. We have argued since the outset of the programme that this is what should happen and that the way it has been structured through various funding streams and providers is overly and unnecessarily complicated for something that should really be very simple.

“There is good evidence that small group tutoring helps students to progress, and it makes perfect sense for the entirety of the funding to go to schools so that they can decide how this would best be delivered.

“Experience has shown that by far the most popular route is through the use of existing staff rather than via private tutors. This is not surprising as existing staff know the students and their needs already whereas private tutors do not.

“We await further details about exactly how this scheme will work next academic year.”