Bridging the gap: how a state-funded tutoring programme can ensure excellence for all

A recent report by Public First has reignited an essential conversation about the future of state-funded tutoring. With compelling evidence and practical recommendations, the report identifies how a state-funded tutoring programme could help to tackle the persistent attainment gap which exists today.

Lessons learned, future focused

The report includes a comprehensive review of the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) and the 16-19 Tuition Fund (16-19 TF), delivered in response to the pandemic learning loss. It not only clearly identifies the challenges faced in these programmes, but also leverages the lessons learned. As a result, it proposes a robust blueprint for a future national tutoring offer.

The stark reality: funding shortfalls and missed opportunities

Despite the widely acknowledged benefits of tutoring, schools and colleges are struggling to maintain or afford the provision without dedicated funding. Pupil Premium is no longer available to support these costs. School leaders report that these funds are increasingly being used to plug budget gaps rather than for targeted interventions. The Public Accounts Committee’s recent inquiry highlighted this concerning trend. Additionally, a recent survey with schools found that 74% cited there was an “insufficient level of Pupil Premium funding” available to deliver support.

The situation is even more challenging for post-16 students where no equivalent Pupil Premium funding exists. Alice Eardley, Interim CEO of Get Further, highlights this disparity, emphasising that “more than half of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds leave school without a standard pass in GCSE English and maths. To pass these crucial qualifications in post-16 education, they require targeted support. We know tutoring is an impactful and cost-effective intervention but, with funding for disadvantaged students ending at age 16, this transformative support is often out of reach”.

A call for action: inclusive and equitable excellence

The report proposes a blueprint for a state-funded tutoring programme to specifically support pupils who have fallen behind in English and maths. This aligns with the Government’s recently published Curriculum and Assessment Review Interim Report, which calls for an inclusive and equitable curriculum to ensure excellence for all.

Key recommendations for a successful national programme

The impact: transforming lives and bridging gaps

The report has received interest from a number of MPs and policymakers. Paul Waugh MP said:

“A defining mission of this Labour government is to break down barriers to opportunity and we are committed to building a better future for all young people – no matter who they are or where in our country they grow up. The evidence in Rochdale and across the country shows that high-quality tutoring can be transformative, helping pupils to catch up, succeed and access the opportunities they deserve. This report shows that top-up tutoring in state schools can raise standards and help close the attainment gap, and I hope that its findings will be taken on board by the Department for Education”

Jonathan Simons, Partner at Public First and lead author of the report, concludes,

“State-funded tutoring was one of the most ambitious education interventions we’ve seen in a generation, and it worked. Millions of pupils benefited, especially those who needed it most. But without a long-term plan, that progress risks slipping away. This report shows how we can learn from what has gone before, in order to build a state-funded national tutoring offer that tackles the critical educational challenges across our system today.”

The message is clear: state support for a national tutoring offer is not just a matter of policy. It is an investment in the future of millions of young people. By addressing the funding gaps and implementing effective models, we can create a more equitable and inclusive education system where every pupil has the opportunity to thrive.

Behind the scenes – Preparing for a gold standard evaluation with the Education Endowment Foundation

At Action Tutoring, we’re excited to be working with the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) and the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) on a gold-standard evaluation of our work.

The evaluation will explore the impact of our secondary maths programme. Having developed this over 13 years, through more than 150 school partnerships, Action Tutoring will be undertaking a rigorous evaluation design to better understand its impact.

Here, we’ll share what went into the decision-making process, the preparations involved, and our hopes for what this evaluation can achieve.

If you want to find out more about how your school can get involved, click for more information below:

Preparing for evaluation: defining focus and scale

One of the first and most significant steps in preparing for the evaluation was deciding where to focus. As a charity working with pupils in both maths and English across primary and secondary schools, narrowing the scope was essential. 

While maths was always going to be the subject of focus (a priority area for the EEF), we needed to determine whether to include all age groups or target a specific phase. Aligning our impact goals with the EEF’s research priorities (in this case, key stage 4 maths) helped ensure the evaluation would address meaningful questions for both organisations.

As well as aligning with EEF’s research priorities, our key stage 4 programme has been delivered and developed for over a decade, where we have built up a significant body of evidence to support it, already to a high standard——for example, an independent study found an impact on GCSE point scores equivalent to a third of a grade.

Another critical decision was the scale of the evaluation. The EEF funds trials on three levels, ranging from pilots—exploring promising initiatives early in development—up to effectiveness trials, which evaluate impact under real-world implementation). Ultimately, we agreed to an effectiveness trial, an ambitious choice that reflects the scale at which Action Tutoring already operates. Importantly, this decision balanced Action Tutoring’s ability to maintain the quality of our delivery with the EEF’s goals for robust, real-world insights.

What are we measuring?

Central to this evaluation is assessing our programme’s impact on pupil attainment in maths. At its core, Action Tutoring aims to improve exam results for young people facing disadvantage, keeping doors open for their future opportunities. However, the evaluation also provides a rare opportunity to rigorously explore the broader benefits of tuition, such as building pupils’ confidence and self-belief in maths.

The evaluation will include what is known as a  ‘nimble trial’, which may test promising strategies to enhance the impact of the tutoring, for example by testing promising methods for improving pupil engagement in the intervention.

These elements, while harder to measure, represent an exciting area of untapped potential. By evaluating not just academic outcomes but also softer skills like confidence, we hope to gain a fuller picture of the transformative impact our work can have.

Through a competitive process, the EEF commissioned NFER to design an evaluation that would explore all these questions robustly – tailored to the essential components of Action Tutoring’s unique model.

Hopes for the future

As we embark on this evaluation, our aspirations extend beyond simply gathering data. This is an opportunity to refine our model further, ensuring that we’re delivering the greatest possible impact to the pupils and schools we work with.

Additionally, we want this evaluation to add to the broader evidence base in education policy and research. Action Tutoring’s model is unique in utilising the power of volunteer tutors and a well-structured, evidence-based curriculum. By assessing the effectiveness of these components, we hope to provide valuable insights into how volunteer-led tutoring can support pupils facing disadvantage at scale.

A commitment to impact

Looking ahead, we’re confident that this evaluation will demonstrate the positive difference our programmes make. Multiple previous studies have already shown that attendance at tutoring sessions is associated with higher maths attainment, particularly in maths. Year after year, we see our Year 11 pupils exceed national average pass rates in GCSE maths—despite having been at higher risk of missing out on this benchmark. With this evidence in mind, we’re optimistic about the findings of this evaluation and the potential to scale up our work to reach even more young people.

Equally important is ensuring that the evaluation process runs smoothly for everyone involved – our volunteers, our team, school teachers, and most important of all, the young people taking part. We are determined that this should feel like Action Tutoring at its best.

A challenge and an opportunity

This gold-standard evaluation represents both a challenge and an opportunity. It’s a chance to hold Action Tutoring’s work to the highest standards, learn from the process, and contribute to the wider field of education. At Action Tutoring, we don’t settle for simply believing our work makes a difference – we want to know it does.

By sharing the evaluator’s findings, we aim to demonstrate the power of volunteer-led tutoring to address educational inequality. Pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds deserve the best support possible, and this evaluation is an important step towards achieving that goal at greater scale.

Five reasons why your school should partner with Action Tutoring this year

Action Tutoring works with primary and secondary state schools to deliver tutoring programmes for pupils in Years 5, 6, 7, 10 and 11 in English and maths. Established in 2011, we’ve developed an effective tutoring programme with proven impact.

97% of schools would recommend Action Tutoring to another school. Read on to find out why.

1. We subside our programmes with fundraising in order to keep costs down. 

Along with the National Tutoring Programme, our Philanthropy Team have worked tirelessly to fundraise so we can ensure disadvantaged pupils can still access our support, even when school budgets are tight. This year our tutoring costs as little as £10 per pupil hour. 

2. We provide a dedicated Programme Coordinator to take care of all of the administration.

As a team full of former teachers, we know exactly how little time you have to spare. And no teacher wants to spend their precious planning time doing extra admin. Our Programme Coordinators sort all the safeguarding, set up and on-going logistics for you.

And they aren’t just a mysterious person at the end of a helpline. In the majority of cases, they’ll be with you in school when tutoring takes place. And for online programmes, they are by your side ensuring the technology runs smoothly. 

3. We have a bespoke curriculum exclusively designed for Action Tutoring. 

You can be rest assured that your pupils will have materials that are age, stage and exam focussed. They’re not just worksheets pulled off the internet; they’ve been designed by Lead Practitioners and are specifically designed for use in a small group tutoring situation. Even our online versions have been adopted based on research on effective e-learning. 

4. We make an impact, getting more pupils through key exam milestones.

We’re driven by the impact we make; after all, it’s the whole mission of our charity. So it’s very important to us that what we do makes a difference to the young people we support.

With more than a decade of impact analysis, you can be confident that the time your pupils spend with our tutors positively impacts their progress and attainment. 

5. We have a diverse and dedicated army of high-quality volunteer tutors trained and ready to inspire and support your pupils.

From retired teachers, to economics university students and solicitors, our tutors are diverse and inspirational. They give their time for free because they have the academic skills, as well as the right motivations.

So what’s holding you back?

Get in touch today through our school enquiries page and one of our brilliant team members will be in touch. 

Steering the Action Tutoring ship into 2021

Action Tutoring Interim CEO, Jen Fox, reflects on her time at the charity so far, and looks towards leading the organisation to more exciting growth in the new year.

Growing up in the seaside town of Bray in the Republic of Ireland, you’d be forgiven for assuming I had at least some experience on the water. While I’m not one to shy away from a New Year’s Day swim, my time on board ships has been limited. And yet, I find myself drawn to the analogy: steering the Action Tutoring ship into 2021.

I joined AT back in September 2015, fresh out of teaching science in a secondary school in South London. Initially appointed as London and Curriculum Manager, I soon found myself learning about what it takes to run a successful education charity.

I was fortunate to cover Susannah Hardyman’s first maternity leave in 2017-18. During this year, Action Tutoring grew significantly, mostly due to an expansion of our programmes into primary schools. Perhaps it was this experience that influenced Susannah and the Trustees to welcome me back as Interim CEO for a second time around? I’m delighted, excited and proud to be part of the AT team in a year where our ambition is to double in size.

The destination has been set, the Captain grounded (with a new born!) and the crew more passionate than ever to make a difference. My job is to make sure that the AT ship stays on course.

Setting the destination has taken months of strategic and financial planning, but the confirmation of Action Tutoring as an approved Tuition Partner of the National Tutoring Programme removed any doubt that AT could spread the power of volunteer tutoring to more deserving young people this year.

I didn’t have a tutor growing up, but I was lucky to have several teachers and family members who gave me the time and support structures that I needed in order to learn. I was the first person in my family to attend university, an experience that changed how I viewed the world. My mum (who graduated from the Open University two decades after having her family and while she was working full time) instilled a belief in me that education is transformative. I’m known for often concluding any debate about social, emotional or political problems by stating how they can be solved through education. I truly believe that is the case.

In a year overshadowed by a pandemic alongside continued school disruption, I’m certainly not expecting smooth sailing. However, I feel confident that any storms or course diversions ahead, whether they be treasure chests or mirages, will be weathered with ease.

I can say this because I know the crew we have. From the 64 employees to the 2000+ volunteer tutors and hundreds of supportive Link Teachers, I am confident that they will face whatever lies ahead with integrity and commitment. This will enable us to give as many disadvantaged young people as possible a better chance to succeed in the next stage of their lives.

If you would like to join us as a volunteer, apply now to start tutoring on a January programme.

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