Tutoring not a long-term plan to help English pupils catch up, say teachers

Almost half of school leaders say the government’s national tutoring programme (NTP), set up to help pupils in England catch up after Covid, is not cost-effective, according to a new survey.

Most senior leaders who took part in the poll (58%) said they did not regard tuition as a long-term solution to closing the attainment gap for disadvantaged pupils.

Those who have already quit the scheme or are considering doing so blame costs as the government’s subsidy goes down, while problems sourcing tutors and the administrative burden of the scheme are also deterrents.

Overall, seven out of 10 said their school was either currently using the NTP (52%) or had previously used it (18%). Of those still participating, almost two-thirds said they plan to continue in the academic year ahead, while a further 18% said they were planning to stop at the end of the current year.

“This means that among the 70% of senior leaders who reported that they were currently or had previously used the NTP, more than half (51%) are likely to have dropped out by the end of the current academic year,” the report said.

That could change, however, after the government’s recent decision to increase the subsidy from 25% – as planned for 2023-4 – to 50%. But it still falls short of the 75% paid by the government in 2021-2, at a time when school budgets are tight.

Three-quarters (76%) of school leaders currently using the NTP believe it is improving the attainment of their disadvantaged pupils, but more than half of those surveyed (61%) think other types of support are more effective.

Dr Ben Styles, the head of classroom practice and workforce for the National Foundation for Education Research, which carried out the poll among 400 senior leaders from primary and secondary schools, said: “School leaders mostly believe the NTP is helping disadvantaged pupils, but many feel this support comes at too high a cost in terms of finances and administration.

“Tutoring is not yet embedded in schools. Long-term financial support is needed alongside reductions to the administrative burden on staff. Overcoming these barriers is vital if tutoring is to win the hearts and minds of schools and be seen as a sustainable way of helping to close the attainment disadvantage gap.”

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “Schools struggle to afford these costs because of years of government underfunding of the education system. As the government intends to reduce the subsidy next academic year – even though by less than it initially planned – the programme will obviously become unaffordable for an increasing number of schools.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “As this report shows, our national tutoring programme is helping those pupils most in need of support, with over 3 million courses started to date”.

“Since the evidence from this survey was collected in March, we have announced that the subsidy will increase from 25% to 50% next year, having listened to feedback from schools. On top of this, we will also be supporting them more widely through a £2bn boost in school funding which will be at its highest level in history – in real terms.”

The results of the poll have been published in a report called Tutoring Sustainability: Understanding the views of school leaders.