New NTP evaluation reports show a largely positive impact of tutoring on pupil outcomes and in schools

Since the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) was rolled out in November 2020, as a catch-up and recovery programme for the lost learning time following several months of school closures during the Covid-19 pandemic, one major question that has been asked is about the evidence of its impact on academic performance and pupil outcomes nationally.

The NTP was introduced in the 2020-21 academic year to support schools and teachers in providing a sustained response to pupils who fell behind in their studies during lockdowns, especially disadvantaged children in receipt of Pupil Premium. Many in the education sector also believed it could contribute to closing the attainment gap in the long term. The tutoring support in the first year was run via two strands – the Tuition Partners and the Academic Mentoring pillars.

A new independent evaluation conducted by the National Foundation for Education Research (NFER) and commissioned by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) has provided some insights into the impact of both the Tuition Partners and Academic Mentoring pillars of the NTP on pupil outcomes for the first year (2020-21). The study sample focused on 167 primary schools for English, 127 primary schools for maths and 1,464 secondary schools for both subjects in the analyses.

As a key Tuition Partner that has extensively advocated for more data-driven and evidence-based insights about the NTP’s reach, progress and outcomes, Action Tutoring welcomes this evaluation report. We believe research into the impact of tutoring is essential in helping us reflect and focus on the core aim of narrowing the attainment gap and giving disadvantaged pupils the requisite support to improve and thrive academically.

Higher sessions impactful

In line with Covid-19 restrictions in 2020, no centralised examinations were held and teacher-assessed grades (TAGs) replaced Year 11 GCSEs. Using that as an outcome measure, the NFER evaluation showed a correlation between sessions attended and overall progress, indicating that pupils who attended a higher number of tutoring sessions were associated with better scores in English in primary schools, and better grades for Year 11s in maths and English. The data showed that there was little progress recorded in primary maths.

In 2021-22, our analysis showed that primary school pupils supported by Action Tutoring achieved expected standards in reading – nine percentage points more than the national average for disadvantaged pupils. Maths results were equally strong, with pupils achieving expected standards ten percentage points more than the national average for pupils facing disadvantage.

Our GCSE results analysis for the year under review also showed marked progress for pupils we tutored in both subjects.

Pupil Premium

It is saddening to know that less than half of the pupils supported under the NTP in Year 1 were from disadvantaged backgrounds when a principal objective of the NTP is to support this specific group and ensure the pandemic did not widen the attainment gap. In the NFER evaluation, only 46% of pupils on the programme were identified as PP, compared to Action Tutoring’s measure of 72% of PP pupils supported in the same year.

Targeting tutoring support to disadvantaged pupils should remain a priority to ensure an overwhelming majority are actually those who need the help and cannot afford to pay for it. Together with other education charities, we sent a collective action letter to the Secretary of Education in September expressing concern about the likely mistargeting of the NTP and the urgent actions that must be taken to ensure the core, original focus of the NTP is not lost. These actions include reinstating Pupil Premium targets, committing to additional funding, and reversing plans for subsidy reductions next year.

Independent review of tutoring in schools

The DfE has just published Phase 1 findings of an independent review of tutoring, conducted by Ofsted. This report assessed the progress and effectiveness of the NTP from September 2021 to July 2022, with His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) visiting 63 schools to observe and analyse tutoring sessions. 

The findings show that in the majority of schools visited, tutoring was well planned and implemented, with content directly supporting the curriculum covered in the classroom. It also revealed that tutoring was perceived as positive by an overwhelming number of school leaders and staff and the NTP was well received by schools. With pupil attendance being the prime concern of the findings, Ofsted advised that the benefits of tutoring must be touted to parents and pupils to increase uptake and participation.

Tutoring works

Although 2020-21 was an exceptionally challenging year in education for schools, teachers and pupils as the disruption of the pandemic, both evaluations point to the evidence that tutoring works in improving pupil performance. We are deeply invested in the success of the NTP because it has the potential to reach millions more pupils facing disadvantage, who simply can’t afford to miss out on the support.

We support the recommendations made by the NFER and Ofsted for further improvements to be made to the programme going forward. It’s essential we ensure more pupils facing disadvantage are able to access tuition support, there is further investment in evaluation of impact and Tuition Partners and tutors work in partnership with schools to ensure tutoring reaches those in most need and is aligned to classroom learning.

Alongside many other organisations, we are advocating for the NTP to extend beyond 2024 and become a lasting feature of the education system, so that it can have a meaningful impact on closing the attainment gap – which is at its widest in the last 10 years, at the primary and secondary level. Now is the time to elevate the reach and impact of the NTP, based on lessons, experiences and recommendations made by education charities and researchers, to ensure the programme delivers on its intended objectives, all in the best interest of disadvantaged young people.

Join us as a volunteer today to support us in our mission, or follow us on social media to stay updated.

Our future strategy: Narrowing the attainment gap and transforming the life outcomes of more disadvantaged young people

It’s the beginning of a new academic year. For us at Action Tutoring, it follows our year of celebrating a decade of impact as a national education charity. Reflecting on Action Tutoring’s humble beginnings, I recall convening a group of enthusiastic teachers and potential volunteers ten years ago, crammed into my living room in Peckham, to reimagine tutoring in a way that levels the playing field.

We brainstormed on how to deliver tutoring to disadvantaged children who couldn’t afford the cost of private tuition. That evening, we agreed that for this to be successful, working with volunteer tutors and forging partnerships with schools had to be at the heart of the solution – which remains true to this day.

Before the very first-ever tutoring session on a fine Saturday morning in mid-2011, our nerves were on edge at the Harris Academy in Peckham. We were unsure if pupils and even tutors would turn up, but they did. Observing the first tutoring sessions and hearing the positive feedback from the pupils afterwards, it was clear to me that there had to be an imperative to replicate what we were doing at scale across the country.

With the support of generous funders and well-wishers, who caught sight of the vision and invested in it, that’s exactly what we’ve done. We have supported 26,000 pupils with the help of over 9,000 committed, high-quality volunteer tutors from a fascinating range of backgrounds.

In the last ten years, tutoring has become a mainstay in the education system, especially with the pandemic exacerbating pre-existing education inequalities, compelling the Government to introduce the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) in 2020 to address the lost learning time and narrow the attainment gap. The NTP has been an incredible opportunity to roll out the benefits of tutoring – that we have known existed for years – on a significantly larger scale.

Action Tutoring continues to actively advocate for its extension beyond 2024 to help close the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their wealthier peers. Our long-term hope is that the NTP is embedded as a lasting feature of the education system.

What does the future look like for us?

As a highly aspirational and adaptable education charity, here are our five main priorities over the next few years, irrespective of the future of the NTP.

Reach: We want to increase the locations we work in, especially to reach more rural and coastal areas – ‘cold spots’ where finding tutors is more difficult and the attainment gap is wider. This means significantly expanding the number of schools we work with, outside of our current eight regions, to ensure we’re reaching young people that really need our help and in areas where there is much less availability of tutoring programmes like ours. We have calculated that there are over 5,500 schools we could be working with, just two hours from one of our current cities of operation.

Growth: There is so much need for our work, as the attainment gap remains stubbornly wide and as pupils continue to be impacted by lost learning from the pandemic. Adapting to a model that can deliver much more widely geographically gives us a springboard for further growth. Since the pandemic began, we’ve demonstrated that through our online delivery programme, it should be possible to deliver tutoring in almost any school in the country. After running pilots in new geographies this year, we aim for 30% of our delivery to be happening in ‘cold spots’ through our online model in three years.

We aim to support at least 10,000 pupils a year in three years’ time, rising to at least 12,000 a year in five years’ time. We want to be able to step up to the challenge of the attainment gap, which new data from the DfE indicates, by the end of Year 6, is at its widest since 2012.

Impact: We are proud of the record impact we’ve already demonstrated over the last few years but we want to go further. We want to drive efficiencies in our model to strengthen the impact and understand more about what elements of our model make it especially effective, all building towards a large external evaluation in five years’ time. Being evidence-based is one of our fundamental values and our priority is to keep building our evidence base of impact, especially for our online model as we expand to new areas so we’re continually reflecting on what’s working and what could be better.

Advocacy – Our role in advocacy work has been growing steadily since the pandemic. We will build on this inroad, using our experience and voice to ensure that there is a long-term legacy of the National Tutoring Programme and also, to ensure tutoring for disadvantaged pupils is permanently embedded in the education system to narrow the attainment gap. We will continue to grow our influence and contribution to policy-making with partners in the sector to positively shape young people’s futures.

Collective Fight

To achieve all the outlined medium to long-term strategies, collaboration, one of our core values, will be critical to our success. Internally, we will work together to optimise our unique talents to improve the operational and managerial performance of our programme delivery. Beyond our workforce, we will work hand in hand with sector partners, funders, schools and volunteer tutors and the wider network for the collective growth of the education sector.

I want to express my deepest appreciation to all current and former staff, tutors, and partners who’ve worked with Action Tutoring over the last ten years. I am grateful for your dedication, support and energy to help change the future of disadvantaged children.

You’ve been an absolute joy to lead and work with. I look forward to more successes with you over the coming years in this collective fight to ensure that no child’s future is limited by their socio-economic background.

How to help disadvantaged pupils settle into a new academic year as a tutor

Our autumn term has officially begun and we are incredibly excited to continue supporting our pupils across the country!

If education equality is a cause you deeply care about, volunteering as a tutor is an effective way to support disadvantaged young people achieve the grades they need to open doors to a brighter future.

As a volunteer with Action Tutoring, you can tutor in-school for an hour once a week and meet your pupils face-to-face. But, for those who wish to join our mission and find it difficult due to busy schedules, you can tutor online too!

Here we share some tips on how to help your pupils settle into the new academic year.

How can you help pupils settle into a new academic year as a tutor?

Create a welcoming and safe learning environment

Our volunteers are provided with the support and resources they need to make tutoring sessions a safe space for all pupils. Our session plans include icebreaker suggestions to get to know each other and warm up activities to start each session.

A safe learning space, and feeling comfortable with a new adult, enables children to feel comfortable in sharing their thoughts and opinions, without the fear of being judged.

Clear boundaries and inclusive communication also allows tutors to better handle sensitive topics and create a stronger bond with pupils. 

Read more: Inclusive communication at Action Tutoring: Why it matters

Ask open-ended questions

Closed questions also seem to provide an easy shortcut to assessing pupil learning, but open-ended questions have the power to challenge pupils and motivate them to think critically. This way, they are not passively obtaining new knowledge, but process it in an effective way and provide a range of responses.

Remember to be attentive, show an authentic interest in what they say and reply with kindness.

Praise their hard work

Praise is an important part of tutoring and can motivate pupils to do better! As a tutor, be sure to remind them they are one step closer to their learning goals, and this will leave pupils feeling inspired and motivated to do better next time.

If they are struggling with a particular concept in a session, you can remind them about a time when they struggled to do something the first time, but kept going and now can do it well. Or, if you don’t know them that well yet, ask them to think of an example!

When your pupils make progress, no matter how small or big, praise makes them feel empowered and supported.

Learn more skills

A good tutor turns up to their session on time, follows our resources and engages with their pupils effectively each week. A brilliant tutor is someone who seeks ways to improve the way they communicate and interact with their pupils! 

With Action Tutoring, you can benefit from our Bright Ideas training sessions. These provide volunteers with additional, bitesize training to learn about ways in which you can go that extra mile to support your pupils.

You can also browse our news and insights for more blogs with tutoring tips!

We suggest:

Nervous about your first tutoring session? These tips will help!

Struggling to engage your pupils in tutoring sessions? This guide will help!

World Teachers’ Day 2022 – the heart of our education system

5th October is internationally recognised as the World Teacher’s day and this year marks the 28th anniversary!

The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) established the celebration in 1994 and since then, this day serves as a reminder to appreciate and thank all the teachers for the fundamental role they play in our lives. 

As an education charity, we understand how essential teachers’ roles are in the lives of children, especially those coming from a lower socioeconomic background. Teachers can be a huge source of inspiration and a role model for the pupils they teach.

This is an annual opportunity to take a moment and reflect on the importance of teachers and how they’re nurturing the young people of tomorrow. Each year, World Teachers’ Day has a unique theme to build awareness about the issues that teachers are facing worldwide and how we can collectively help their mission. 

World Teachers’ Day will celebrate teachers’ instrumental role in transforming education, and will advocate for bold strategic actions by policymakers, teachers themselves and civil society.

What is WTD 2022 advocating for?

The TES (Transforming Education Summit) recognises that educational transformation will only happen if teachers are professionalised, trained, motivated and supported to drive the process. The UNESCO concept note states that in practice, this means that:

• Each country should have the right number of qualified and trained teachers and other education professionals in the right place with the right skills.
• All teachers have access to relevant continuous professional development throughout their careers and benefit from professional support.
• Every teacher, school leader and education personnel have a recognized professional status, can participate in social and policy dialogue and work in conditions that enable them to perform and to transform education from within.
• Teachers and other professionals are empowered to lead learning, innovate, produce and harness relevant research and innovations.

The World Teachers’ Day 2022 commemorations will focus on the support that teachers need to fully contribute to educational transformations and will advocate for bolder actions by all stakeholders.

How Action Tutoring collaborates with teachers

While teachers work hard to establish a new learning environment after the pandemic, education inequality has already deepened. Simply reopening schools after lockdown is not sufficient in helping many children catch up; they need sustainable and personalised support. 

Education recovery can’t be achieved if we don’t offer our support to ensure disadvantaged children receive additional support that encourages them to re-engage in learning activities. 

Action Tutoring is incredibly grateful to work with amazing teachers across the country and assist them in supporting disadvantaged pupils to progress academically. We seek to work closely with subject teachers to ensure that tutoring complements classroom teaching.

All pupils enrolled on our programmes sit a baseline assessment, which is used to develop personalised learning plans. Our volunteer tutors use these plans to support their pupils’ progress in key topic areas and with subject-specific skills. Pupils are then re-assessed to measure progress and map impact made, identifying gaps in knowledge.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of the teachers we work with across our partner schools.! Teachers are the heart of our education systems and work tirelessly to inspire, guide and educate the next generation.

Read more: You might wake up tomorrow a teacher!”- We speak to one of Action Tutoring’s very first tutors, 10 years on!

What can you do to celebrate?

Thank your old teachers! 

We all have at least one teacher that stands out among the rest. Maybe this teacher was the one who took extra time to ensure you understand the subject? Or maybe they motivated you to reach your full potential? 

Many pupils attribute their success to the patience and persistence of their teachers and tutors. So why not take this opportunity to reach out to an old teacher to thank them, and let them know what you’re doing now! (Do they have LinkedIn? Or is their email still on the school website?)

Have a conversation with children and help them understand teachers’ roles in their lives

Do you have, or care for, children? Help them to recognise and  value their teachers’ work by helping them to write a surprise thank you note. Small gestures like this can mean the world at the end of a busy week. 

Support teachers by volunteering as a tutor 

We support schools to raise the attainment of their disadvantaged pupils through the power of volunteers. Join our mission by becoming a maths or English tutor!

We offer both in-school and online volunteer opportunities. Find out more about volunteering with Action Tutoring here.

How volunteer tutoring is helping ARUP to connect to its purpose as an engineering design firm

In human-centred design, establishing deep empathy to understand the needs and interests of people is critical.

Engineers, designers, architects, and other professionals who work in the design space today have a greater advantage when they put the people for which they design solutions or projects, at the heart of the process. This design approach makes people resonate deeply with the product or project.

For Global sustainable development consultancy, Arup, building the empathy and humanitarian value of its workforce is supported through its Community Engagement Programme, where their technical and strategic capabilities are employed to support the most disadvantaged people. One of the ways Arup tries to shape a better world is by focusing on delivering social value and providing skills, time and expertise to help communities and organisations, through volunteer tutoring. 

In the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic, it partnered with Action Tutoring, an education charity that optimises the power of trained volunteers to deliver tutoring to disadvantaged children who need academic help. The charity trained interested employees from Arup and equipped them with workbooks to teach pupils who were struggling with maths and English in Bristol and London.

Emily Walport has worked with Arup as a Materials Engineer for close to seven years, after joining as a graduate engineer. Alongside her engineering role, she supports the management of Arup’s Community Engagement Programme (CEP), of which volunteer tutoring is a key component in the UK. A primary focus for their CEP in the UK region is to inspire children about sustainable development in the built environment. 

“It’s really valuable to have insights from the communities we are designing for and volunteer tutoring gives us that advantage. Understanding the people and communities we build for has to be an integral part of our projects if we are to deliver socially useful, high-quality projects, at the core of Arup’s mission to shape a better world.”

Through tutoring young children, Arup’s employees are not only imparting knowledge and learning teaching skills but also using the opportunity to encourage more young people to consider pursuing careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). For Arup engineer Beth Lockhart, she has started seeing the positive outcomes of this effort. “Already, two of my pupils have expressed interest in engineering after our constant interaction and their appreciation of mathematics over time. Being able to get them to think about STEM careers excites me because engineering can be quite classist and usually not a domain for people from disadvantaged backgrounds so I think it’s great to change that.”

Beth believes by helping young people to see a STEM career as something they can pursue in the future, serves as a push to help them be more academically focused and ignites their interest in these careers.

Sense of satisfaction

For professionals, there is a lot to gain from volunteer tutoring. Research has shown that volunteering is beneficial as it helps people live happier, more fulfilled lives and also gain ‘people skills’ from interacting with different individuals in communities. “Volunteering to teach maths has helped me develop an ongoing mentoring relationship with my pupils. I’m currently tutoring two Year 6 pupils in maths and I gain a sense of satisfaction from their academic progress over the period while I build a relationship with them,” Emily said.

“Sometimes it’s easy to forget how difficult some people may find things we take for granted as being able to do. Tutoring has been a great reminder of the importance of being able to explain concepts clearly and how to reframe ideas to help young people understand. I have developed invaluable skills in communication.”

Beyond teaching experience, volunteer tutors report that the razor-sharp questions and pure, unfiltered sincerity in responses of pupils require them to be on their toes and develop the virtues of tolerance, patience, and other social abilities which they transfer into their line of work.

Attracting and retaining talent

Volunteering is great for attracting and retaining great talent at Arup, as many people join the firm because they want to do socially-useful work, either in their day-to-day role or their community engagement programme. Emily said one recurring piece of feedback they receive from members is that the company-wide support for volunteering by encouraging all to participate in social impact work is their driving motivation for joining and being at Arup.

“We have members with an enormous range of skills and talent that can benefit young people socially, academically, and professionally. Tutoring and mentorship serve as the vehicles to impart that knowledge and help connect them to a higher purpose.”

Multiple studies, including a Stanford Business School survey, have shown that young people increasingly want to work at socially responsible companies. There is a strong case for employee volunteering opportunities that build a company’s reputation for corporate social responsibility and ethics.

Level the playing field

Action Tutoring is striving to level the playing field in education. On average, disadvantaged pupils are 18 months behind their peers by the end of secondary school, according to the Education Policy Institute report.  Pupils who do not achieve GCSEs are more likely to become NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) around age 16 and currently, there are 692,000 young people who are NEET – that’s nearly 1 in 10.

Advantaged children may have access to tutors their families can pay for, unlike their disadvantaged peers.  Action Tutoring fights for an equal playing field, by giving disadvantaged children the tutoring needed to thrive academically and pairing them with people who can inspire them to learn and raise their career aspirations. Volunteers from diverse backgrounds dedicate an hour of tutoring, both virtually or in-person, to a pair of pupils each week during an academic term to improve their performance in English or mathematics.

Action Tutoring’s Fundraising Manager, Hannah O’Neill, said that companies gain enormous advantages and privileges when their employees volunteer through tutoring, beyond reducing the academic attainment gap and tackling education inequalities.

“Interacting with young people from the local community helps employees and businesses to understand the culture, economy, strengths, and challenges of their environment currently and into the future. These insights enable companies to build emotional connections and gain fresh, diverse perspectives to help them to deliver effective services that resonate with their community’s needs.”

Striving for a fairer society

Emily affirmed that volunteer tutoring reminds her of the need to strive for a fairer and equal world for all children, including those left behind by inadequate schooling and the inability to access tutoring. The tutoring sessions inspire these children to increase their career aspirations and expose them to a brighter future.

“As someone in an engineering career who has benefited from opportunities that helped me get here, I am passionate about supporting initiatives that strive to support all children to achieve their potential. If children don’t have the opportunities or the awareness that engineering is a career path they can pursue, that could limit their future outcomes,” Emily said.

Hannah believes companies can have a greater impact by partnering with charities like Action Tutoring to optimise the value of their employee talent and engender social change.

More individuals from professional backgrounds or companies can come in and equip children from disadvantaged backgrounds with the academic skills and guidance to excel academically and professionally. Through these engagements, we can build a better and equal world for younger generations to come.