Join our innovative AI tutoring action research project: exploring AI’s role in bridging the attainment gap
The ‘AI revolution’ is reshaping the educational landscape, and we are staying ahead of the curve. By diving in with genuine curiosity, we’re looking to understand how AI can make a difference for the pupils who need support the most.
By leveraging our 14 years of data and impact, our goal is to determine how AI tutoring can most effectively support pupils facing disadvantage and help bridge, instead of exacerbating, the attainment gap.
This autumn, we’re launching short, small-scale action research. We’re looking for state-maintained secondary schools in England to participate and help to understand how AI tutoring can best support disadvantaged pupils.
We understand the considerable and conflicting pressures on schools. To acknowledge the time commitment required for participation and data collection, we are offering a ‘thank you’ payment to each participating school (which will vary depending on the level of commitment).
If you’re a school leader who would like to be involved in our innovative new research, register your details via our expression of interest form, or find out more below.
What is the purpose of the action research?
Our goal is to build an understanding of the efficacy of AI tutoring for our target population of pupils.
Crucially, we aim to better understand the vital human element needed in an AI tutoring intervention. We will be testing and learning how an AI tutoring model that keeps ‘humans-in-the-room’ can combine the ‘personalisation power’ of Generative AI with the ‘engagement power’ of human relationships. This involves testing variations of in-person or virtual human support alongside the AI tool to determine the most effective blended approach.
As an evidence-based organisation, we will move thoughtfully and build things that work. In the long run, our goal for 2027 and beyond is to discover how we can unlock the potential of thousands more disadvantaged young people every year.
Why should your school take part?
- Contribute to the initial phase of innovative new research to understand how AI tutoring can best support disadvantaged pupils.
- Help ensure the AI revolution is an equitable one, helping bridge the attainment gap instead of widening it.
- After action research completion and collection of qualitative and quantitative data collection, Action Tutoring will give your school a thank you payment.
How does the action research work?
Delivery will follow the same format as our existing high-impact, evidenced-based model and use a safe, generative AI tool to deliver the tutoring.
Following an initial testing phase, we are evolving our research into a series of iterative learning cycles starting in the autumn term. We plan to work closely with a small group of partner schools over multi-week periods to explore pupil engagement, teacher experience, and the viability of various delivery models. This flexible approach allows us to refine the integration of generative AI tools based on real-time feedback and evidence.
As we move forward, we will continue to prioritise our high standards of safeguarding and provide dedicated support to participating schools through our programme coordinators. By testing across different timeframes and school settings, we aim to build a robust understanding of how AI tutoring can best support our mission to close the attainment gap.
Who can take part?
Your school must be:
- A state-maintained mainstream secondary school in England.
- Serving a pupil population where 18% or more qualify for the Pupil Premium.
- Not working with Action Tutoring in the academic year 2025/26.
- Accessible from our regional hubs; we will confirm whether we can support your specific location during the initial enquiry stage.
Research input requirements:
- Pupil and teacher surveys
- Pupil and teacher focus groups
- Collection of quantitative and qualitative data
The AI revolution is happening. At Action Tutoring, we’re making sure it’s an equitable one.
If you’re a school leader who would like to be involved in our innovative action research, register your details here.
FAQs
At Action Tutoring, our vision is simple: ensuring that a young person’s background does not dictate their future. For over 14 years, we have seen the transformative power of a dedicated tutor through engagement and a targeted curriculum.
While our volunteer model has a proven, life-changing impact, the sheer scale of the attainment gap requires us to think bigger. There are currently 2.2 million pupils in receipt of Free School Meals in the UK today who could benefit from our support.
We’re interested in how an AI tutoring model can combine the ‘personalisation power’ of Generative AI with the ‘engagement power’ of human relationships.
No, we are not abandoning our volunteer-delivery model. Our human tutors are the heartbeat of Action Tutoring. While we are exploring the benefits of AI, this is an addition to our portfolio, not a replacement. Specifically, we believe AI could significantly expand our reach, allowing us to support thousands more young people in budget-constrained schools who we currently cannot help. Our commitment to our volunteer community remains as steadfast as it was 14 years ago.
No, our work is independent of the work announced by the Department for Education in January 2026.
Action Tutoring is well-positioned to explore AI because we understand schools, know how to scale national interventions, and have experience mobilising large groups of people to deliver a specific model.
Above all, we are an evidence-based organisation, committed to rigorous evaluation. This commitment is exemplified by our current, large-scale Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) partnership with the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) to measure the impact of our affordable maths tuition in secondary schools.
We believe that all interventions, including AI, must be carefully studied to ensure they truly bridge the attainment gap, and our strong brand and influence in the policy and education sector gives us the responsibility to help investigate and advise the role of AI in tutoring.
Our ability to uphold our high standards of safeguarding has been included as a non-negotiable in the criteria that we are using to assess potential AI tools. We will be carefully managing risks and including additional safety considerations in the design phase.
Data collected during the pilot will be used to evaluate effective programme delivery, meet safeguarding requirements, verify programme eligibility, support a rigorous evaluation of AI tutoring impact, and inform future decision-making and programme design. Data will be collected in line with the British Research Association’s Ethical Guidelines.
Schools can review Action Tutoring’s privacy notices to understand how data will be collected, shared, and used throughout the process.
