By Gavin Mackintosh-
The British government has re-iterated its Promise of Quality Tutoring backed by £1.5bn to secondary school students, improving their chances of success in GCSE and A level exams in the future. The tuition offer does not go beyond GCSE students, but helps build their foundation upon which they can develop. Expectation that this will be reflected in overall performance for GCSE pupils for the next two years are fairly high.
The provision of tutoring as part of the National Tutoring Programme has been lauded as a critical initiative to address learning loss and bridge educational gaps exacerbated by the pandemic. With nearly four million courses initiated through the program since 2020, including 1.3 million this academic year, it demonstrates a commitment to supporting students in their academic pursuits. The program aims to provide personalized attention, targeted intervention, and additional support to enhance students’ understanding of subjects and improve their exam performance.
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As from this September, Year 10 pupils in many secondary schools will all begin to benefit from government funded tuition, preparing them for their own GCSE exams in two years time. The form and standard of the tuition will be crucial, and how widespread it is applied. The extent to which tuition improves the work ethic of students is also very important.
Ongoing research conducted by The Eye Of Media.Com on secondary school 14 and 15 year olds through both parental contact and tutor groups suggest that many pupils are extremely idle at home, during the schooling year, doing next to no private reading at home. Many 15 year olds managing fine in school also revealed that they rarely picked up a book at home, during the schooling term, apart from when they needed to submit homework, and they feel no need to do so.
Good tuition ought to keep pupils relatively busy, when they get home, in order to sustain the development of their skills and prepare them for the academic rigour demanded by both GCSE and A level exams years ahead, particularly the latter
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As the effects of tutoring extend into the future, the long-term benefits are likely to materialize in a gradual manner. While instantaneously translating into higher exam grades is one outcome, the broader impact encompasses enhanced critical thinking, analytical skills, and resilience. The investment in tutoring is a forward-looking endeavour, aimed at nurturing well-rounded individuals capable of navigating complex challenges beyond the examination hall.
The National Tutoring Programme provides schools access to high quality subsidies tutoring through three separate routes – tuition partners, academic mentors, and school-led tutoring.
These tutors – who have all been subject to robust high-quality training and safeguarding checks – can provide additional capacity to schools to support disadvantaged pupils who have been impacted by disruption to their education.
There are three routes to tutoring – tuition partners, academic mentors, and school-led tutoring.
The Department of Education said the National Tuition Programme can only be accessed by schools for their pupils and is open to all children and young people who need the most support catching up, including pupils with SEND. It has been developed to provide additional, targeted support to children and young people having lost time in education during the pandemic, with schools provided the flexibility to identify the pupils who will benefit the most.
All state funded schools in England are able to access this additional resource to support disadvantaged pupils.
According to the department, tuition is very flexible and can happen in-school, either online or face-to-face, or during the school holidays. These arrangements will depend on individual circumstances such as suitability for schools and parents, and tutor availability.
Tutoring sessions should be delivered at times convenient for both pupils and the school, for example, immediately before or after the school day. If tutoring is taking place during the holidays, it should happen broadly in line with school hours.
The subjects covered by tutors include English, Humanities, Maths, Modern foreign languages, Science Primary (literacy, numeracy and science)
Form and Access to Tuition
The high-quality tutoring within the National Tutoring Programme encompasses a range of formats, from one-on-one sessions to small group lessons.
It is not clear what the criteria is for qualifying for one to one tuition, and why some groups of children benefit from that over those who benefit from group tuition. The expertise of tutors for small groups is also important, and the number of pupils in those groups may determine the level of attention given to each student.
The goal is to cater to varying learning needs and styles. Despite the substantial investment, access to tutoring may not be universally equitable across all schools and students. Resource allocation, geographical disparities, and logistical challenges can affect the extent to which students can benefit from this additional support.
However, the British government has given schools discretion to decide which students fall into what categories of tuition whether they be one to one, or group tuition.
Monitoring the process of delivery to ensure the funds are not mismanaged by those to whom they are delegated is also crucial in the whole cycle of regulating the government’s flagship tuition.
It is unclear what strong systems of oversight the Department Of Education has put in place to ensure the equitable distribution of the tuition programme on offer.
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