By Gavin Mackintosh-
More than £200 million of tutoring cash went unspent by schools, figures show, as the government’s flagship catch-up scheme is called to question.
School leaders were largely discontent with last year’s National Tutoring Programme, run by HR firm Randstad.
AD: Capeesh Restaurant
As figures from Department for Education figures reveal unspent funding, there are questions as to how the cash was spent.
Figures also show that £62 million was unspent in 2021-22, and on top of £220 million unspent from other catch-up schemes, according to the National Audit Office.
Many schools said they could not afford to put their own cash towards tutoring, a requirement to access the subsidy, and others said the scheme was overly bureaucratic.
AD: Oysterian Sea Food Restaurant And Bar
Despite the British government announcing lots of cash contributing to tuition many schools last year were still forced to contribute 25 per cent to the cost of tutoring last year, this figure rising to 40 per cent this year.
Figures published in April confirmed this was £114 million, with nearly half of the England’s schools not using all their catch-up allocation.
Data also reveal that unspent £178 million of the £416 million tutoring funding for the year to March 2023 went unused due to be handed back to the Treasury, will now be kept by the Department Of Education and go towards its new grant to help schools cover pay rises next year, leaving the possibility for more unspent cash, with no knowledge as to where any further unspent cash will go.
Money spent on tuition is said to have been very useful in preparing many students for this year’s G.C.S.E exams in many secondary schools in Britain, but many schools did not benefit from the tuition scheme, which many teachers described as being over bureaucratic.
The Eye Of Media.Com has heard that some secondary schools have already offered all their year 10 and year 11 pupils free tuition next year, with pupils in other schools left to their own devices.
The inequitable allocation of tuition in schools means some pupils already have and will have more advantages over others .
Research shows that regular tuition improves the focus of pupils in their studies, and builds their confidence too.
However, pupils from more well off homes are able to afford higher level tutors on top of their already highly paid teachers, and a higher proportion of pupils in those settings are more independent without tuition than puilsfrom state schools
A department spokesperson said: “We have made over £1 billion available for the National Tutoring Programme to make sure that every school that wants to deliver tutoring is able to do so.
“And whilst some schools did not spend all of the money allocated to them, in many cases this was because they were able to deliver more for less. As a result, over three million courses have been started, supporting pupils most in need of additional help
AD: Heritage And Restaurant Lounge Bar