Our charity community’s plea to the Government: keep funding tutoring

Our CEO and founder, Susannah Hardyman, is calling for Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer to urgently find new funding for the national tutoring programme (NTP). 

Alongside support from leading politicians and headteachers, our charity network is urging for immediate support for the nation’s most disadvantaged pupils.

Why supporting tutoring matters

In July, school leaders united to express their concern over the NTP ending in the same month. They called for renewed government support. 

In figures provided by the National Association of Headteachers: 

• 70% of schools in England receive less funding in real terms than in 2010 – and the attainment gap is at its widest in 12 years. 
• On average, disadvantaged pupils are 19.2 months behind their peers by the end of secondary school. 
• For GCSE pupils in 2023, only 43% of disadvantaged pupils met expected standards compared to 66% of their non-disadvantaged counterparts.

Intervention needed now

Those backing our charity’s mission to continuously campaign for reform is The Rt Hon. the Lord David Blunkett. 

As a former Labour Party MP and ex-Secretary of State for Education and Employment, Lord Blunkett is supporting us as a staunch advocate for substantial and equitable education provision. 

An excellent tool

A fellow politician championing our charity’s cause is Munira Wilson MP.

As a Liberal Democrat MP for Twickenham and spokesperson for education, Munira is backing our charity’s call for government funding for the national tutoring programme. 

Having led the parliamentary debate on tutoring provision earlier this year and passionately advocating for its sustained financial backing, Munira is a leading political voice on children and young people’s behalf. This includes calling for free school meals to be offered to an additional 900,000 children living in poverty during the September 2024 Liberal Democrat annual party conference. 

Ensuring no child is left behind

At the heart of our call for sustained funding for the national tutoring programme is our very own CEO, Susannah.

Empowering our staff team for 13 years to deliver powerful impact-based evidence on how and why tutoring works, Susannah believes action to maintain its funding is required now.

The wider picture: 2023-24

In the 2023-24 academic year, Action Tutoring supported more than 6,000 disadvantaged pupils. Key statistics include:

• 1,000 pupils received tutoring for both English and maths.
• More than 7,000 tutoring courses were delivered in total.
• 36,000 learning hours were accessed by maths pupils.
• 25,450 learning hours were recorded by English pupils.

In addition, as you can see from the graphic above:

• In 2023, after attending at least 10 tutoring sessions, 65% of disadvantaged pupils passed their maths GCSE.
• This percentage is compared to 52% of other disadvantaged pupils nationally.

Industry support

Our commitment to providing life-changing tutoring programmes is highlighted by our corporate partnerships.

This includes industry support from partners such as the QBE Foundation. We are extremely grateful to QBE for their £1.5million investment. This helps us to scale-up the access and impact of tutoring to more than 12,000 pupils.

Regional divide

A clear regional divide exists when it comes to exam results. This is true for both North and South and cities compared to rural areas.

As you can see from the graphic above, as of 2022:

• 24.9% of pupil premium pupils in South Yorkshire achieved pass grades.
• 42% of pupil premium pupils in London achieved pass grades.

A headteacher’s call for action

Paul Haigh, Headteacher of King Ecgbert School, Sheffield, which works with Action Tutoring, has suffered declining financial Government support. He witnesses the educational challenges disadvantaged children face every day.

Together, Paul and our charity are calling for action from the new Labour government:

Tackling rural educational challenges

Our tutoring impact

Want to find out more about our impact and why funding should continue for tutoring? Simply read more in our latest impact report – published earlier this year – below:

Hear from our 2023-24 pupils, volunteers and partners

It’s not just our charity which believes funding for tutoring should continue.

Hear from pupils, volunteers and partners during the last academic year in our video below, highlighting how much tutoring has benefited them.

Thank you for your continued support.

My Smoke Ring challenge for Action Tutoring

175 miles, one ripped tyre and a whole lot of learning

Blog written by Action Tutoring’s Nich Bull:

On Friday 5th July this year I took on the challenge of a lifetime – the Smoke Ring 2024; a gruelling 200 mile off-road bike ride around London raising money for Action Tutoring.

The ride is definitely a brutal test. Overall it was a super wet night, constant pedalling for nearly 20 hours, and the significant physical and mental strain that comes with pushing yourself to the limit.

While I didn’t quite make it the full 200 miles, I still managed 175 miles as a ripped tyre forced me to stop around 10 am on Saturday. Disappointment? Sure. But this ride wasn’t just about the finish line. It was a journey of self-discovery, and it taught me some invaluable lessons that I want to share with you.

Resilience and the power of learning from failure

The Smoke Ring was altogether the most challenging thing I have ever done. It certainly pushed me to my absolute physical and mental limits. But you know what? It also shows me the power of resilience and the importance of learning from failure.

Now, I have a year to analyse what went wrong and return stronger next time. Going forward, I will look to prepare different tools and strategies. That’s the beauty (and sometimes frustration) of pushing your boundaries – you learn what works and what doesn’t.

The importance of evidence-based action in overcoming challenges

This experience got me particularly thinking about the importance of resilience and learning from failure in a broader sense – not just for individuals, but also for organisations. Research shows that the best organisations are the ones that embrace failure as a learning opportunity. They take stock of what went wrong, analyse the data, and use that information to improve.

A core Action Tutoring value is basing our work on evidence. We especially focus on analysing our results, even when they’re not what we specifically hoped for. This allows us to constantly improve and make a bigger impact on the lives of the children we serve.

Maybe we all need to get better at embracing evidence-based failure. By learning from our mistakes, we can grow stronger and achieve even greater things.

This Smoke Ring challenge may not have ended with me crossing the finish line, but the journey of learning and growing is far from over. Together, let’s keep pushing forward, embracing challenges, and positively impacting the world.

Support Action Tutoring and keep the journey going

If you feel inspired by Action Tutoring’s mission and Nich’s Smoke Ring challenge, there are a few ways you can get involved:

• Take up a challenge yourself: See a list of our events here or get in contact with our Fundraising Coordinator, Molly, molly.cottrill@actiontutoring.org.uk if you have your own event in mind.
• Corporate partnerships: Are you looking to get your company involved in a cause that matters? See more information here or get in contact with our Corporate Partnerships Manager, Mollie, directly on mollie.vessey@actiontutoring.org.uk.
• Volunteer as a tutor: Share your knowledge and make a real difference in a child’s life. Sign up to volunteer below!

Some news about our CEO and founder, Susannah

It is with a heavy heart that Action Tutoring announces its CEO, and founder, Susannah Hardyman, will be moving on to become the new CEO of Impetus. We would like to congratulate Susannah on this exciting new opportunity! 

Joining Impetus

Impetus is Action Tutoring’s longest funder, first providing support to our charity in 2014. It is an organisation that we greatly admire and that has enabled Action Tutoring, through its financial investment and unwavering commitment to impact, to grow into the charity it is today. It feels incredibly fitting that Susannah will be bringing her wealth of experience, in both delivery and policy, and inspiring leadership qualities to this organisation. We wish her the very best of luck in her new role and take comfort in knowing she won’t be far away!

Susannah will begin her work at Impetus in January, so we still have plenty of time to reflect on, and celebrate, all that she has achieved at Action Tutoring. Susannah is leaving Action Tutoring in an incredibly strong position including having robust evidence of impact, solid financial footing and an inspiring and energised team. The Board will begin the process to recruit Susannah’s successor shortly.

Thank you

For now though, we would just like to say ‘thank you’. Thank you on behalf of the thousands of pupils’ whose lives you’ve helped change. Thank you from all of the volunteers who’ve benefited from their time tutoring with us and thank you from every staff member, over the last 12 years, that you have led, inspired and enabled to be the best that they can be.