Why local authorities should partner with Action Tutoring
Local authorities across the country share a vital priority: ensuring that a child’s socioeconomic background does not dictate their educational outcome. Yet, with post-pandemic learning gaps persisting and municipal budgets stretched thin, council education teams face a complex challenge.
How can local authorities deliver targeted, high-impact support to under-resourced pupils in a way that is both evidence-based and financially sustainable?
The answer lies in strategic, co-funded collaboration. In Dorset, a successful partnership between Dorset Council and Action Tutoring demonstrates how local authority co-funding can transform pupil outcomes, raise Key Stage 2 (KS2) attainment, and deliver exceptional value for public funds.
Strategic alignment
Dorset Council’s overarching education strategy explicitly prioritises reducing educational disadvantage and closing attainment gaps for pupils facing disadvantage by the end of primary school. Recognising that small-group tutoring is one of the most effective, research-backed interventions available, the council sought an established delivery partner with a strong track record.
Action Tutoring stood out as having a great reputation for working with pupils from low-income backgrounds.
Sharon Peel, Education Challenge Lead at Dorset Council
Dorset Council initially co-funded a pilot across one middle and one secondary school. Following overwhelmingly positive feedback from headteachers and measurable progress among participating pupils, the council expanded its investment to co-fund programmes across seven high-disadvantage primary and middle schools in the region.
Maximising public funds through volunteer power
For council leaders accountable for public spending, cost-effectiveness is non-negotiable. Action Tutoring offers a unique financial model: by mobilising high-quality volunteer tutors and supplementing delivery through its own charity fundraising, Action Tutoring significantly lowers the cost per pupil for local authorities.
As Sharon Peel highlights, this model ensures children receive support from tutors passionate about educational equity while delivering “a quality service in the most cost-effective way.” Local authority funding is thus leveraged, stretching public investment further to reach more pupils who need it most.
Real impact
While quantitative data and termly progress tracking give councils confidence, the true test of any intervention is seen in the classroom. In Dorset, school leaders report marked increases in pupil motivation, classroom engagement, and emotional wellbeing.
The data below underscores some of the standout SATs outcomes achieved by pupils facing disadvantage across partner schools in the region:
Conifers Primary School
- Maths: Out of the 10 pupils tutored, 80% met expected SATs standards.
- English: Out of the 11 pupils tutored, 70% met expected SATs standards.
Holy Trinity Church of England VC Primary School & Community
- English: Out of the 20 pupils tutored, 70% met expected SATs standards.
The human stories behind the data illustrate this transformation:
- Building growth mindsets: Before tutoring, Year 6 pupil Joshua struggled with multi-step reasoning and fractions. Working step-by-step with his volunteer tutor built his confidence to the point where he now asks for harder questions, calling tutoring “the best bit of Year 6.”
- Unlocking subject mastery: Arianna, who previously felt nervous about maths and struggled with division and fractions, now finds fraction arithmetic “easy” after receiving targeted, patient support from her tutor.
- Measurable attainment gains: Kobie, a Year 6 pupil facing working memory challenges, gained 10 marks on his mock assessments and achieved a Greater Depth score in reading. Beyond academics, Kobie valued the genuine human connection with his tutor.
Partnering for future opportunity
When local authorities co-fund Action Tutoring, they are not simply purchasing an intervention – they are investing in a proven solution to close the attainment gap and drive social mobility. The combination of structured curriculum resources, dedicated Programme Coordinators handling school logistics, and trained volunteer tutors creates a seamless, low-friction partner for councils and schools alike.
By collaborating with Action Tutoring, local authorities can bridge the literacy and numeracy gap, boost Key Stage attainment, and provide young people facing disadvantage with the confidence and qualifications needed to thrive.
As put by Julie McCulloch, Chief Executive of the Education Policy Institute:
“Burnham’s cabinet has inherited an ambitious commitment. This year’s ‘every child achieving and thriving’ white paper set the target of halving the attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their peers by the time the current generation leaves secondary school.”
Let’s play our part at the local level so that nationally, education becomes fairer.
Get in touch
Delivering directly to schools, we provide heavily subsidised, evidence-based small-group tutoring in English and maths specifically for disadvantaged pupils. If you’d like to find out more, or speak to us about a partnership opportunity, you can contact Alice Nelson, Director of Programmes, directly on a.nelson@actiontutoring.org.uk
