Hundreds of thousands of children across the country benefited
from catch up tutoring in the first term of the academic year,
new figures from the Department for Education reveal today
(11thJanuary 2022).
Over 300,000 tutoring courses began last term, nearing the total
figure for the previous academic year, keeping the National
Tutoring Programme on track to deliver the ambitious target of 2m
courses this academic year.
Of the 302,000 courses begun last term, an estimated 230,000 were
provided through the new, school-led tutoring pillar, showing
that the introduction of greater flexibility for schools in
providing tutoring is proving powerful in making sure the
programme is reaching as many young people as
possible.
The Government’s ambitious education recovery plan includes
investment of almost £5bn, including £1.5bn for tutoring, but the
best way for young people to catch up on any missed learning is
to make sure they are in school, learning face to face, and last
week saw millions of children across the country return to
classrooms to be with teachers and friends.
Schools Minister, , said:
“We are now seeing the real reach and impact of the unprecedented
investment this Government is making in supporting children’s
education recovery. Every pupil – wherever they live – should be
supported to get back on track and reach their potential, and
that’s what this tutoring programme is doing.
“We know there is still work to do, but it’s hugely encouraging
to see so many students from all backgrounds have been directly
reached through the Government’s tutoring programme, and I
encourage all schools to take advantage of it.”
A further 52,000 courses began through Tuition Partners and an
estimated 20,000 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.
As schools manage the higher than expected absence among staff
and pupils, the National Tutoring Programme will continue to
offer access to tutoring through all three strands for the
remainder of this academic year to ensure schools have greatest
possible flexibility in offering pupils the support they need,
including access to online tutoring.
The Department will also today published research conducted with
primary and secondary schools to understand how schools have
responded to the impacts of the pandemic.
According to the research, schools faced complex challenges in
the Autumn 2020 term, relating to pupils’ academic progress,
wellbeing, and behaviour, as well as managing ongoing to COVID-19
restrictions. Schools responded to these by employing varying
strategies targeting specific groups, such as those who had
fallen behind in their learning, disadvantaged pupils, pupils
with SEND, or transition year groups.
Evidence suggests that small group tuition can boost progress by
an average of two months in
secondary schools and four months in primary schools. By
providing high-quality tuition to pupils through the NTP, we
want to extend this catch-up opportunity to pupils whose
education has been impacted the most by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The £5bn investment in education recovery is in addition to the
significant increases in core schools funding being delivered
over the next three years, including a boost of £4bn - or 5 per
cent per pupil in real terms – next year alone.
ENDS
- One course, or package, of tutoring consists of 15 hours of
tutoring.
