New report underscores tutoring’s impact on attainment, attendance and mental health
Tutoring has a wide-reaching, positive impact on the academic performance, attendance and mental health of young people, according to new polling of parents, teachers and pupils in a new tuition advocacy report published today.
The report, The Future of Tutoring, is produced by Public First and commissioned by the Tuition Advocacy Group of the Fair Education Alliance to highlight the impact, progress, and challenges of tutoring from the perspectives of parents, teachers, and pupils, plus recommendations for effective tutoring for the future and a commitment to embedding it in the education system beyond the National Tutoring Programme (NTP), set to end in 2024.
“This report, like many others, has again attested to tutoring as a central plank in education recovery efforts, with parents as well as teachers confirming the significant progress in the performance and confidence of their children receiving tutoring support. More than ever, long-term funding for the National Tutoring Programme is needed to make tutoring a permanent fixture in the education system in order to tackle the widening attainment gap and persistent absence, and to help chart a better future for all young people across the country.”
Susannah Hardyman, FEA Tuition Advocacy Group Chair and founder and CEO of Action Tutoring, a key sponsor of the report, said
Launch event
The coalition led by Action Tutoring, Impetus, The Tutor Trust, and Get Further launched the report in Parliament Wednesday, with Robert Halfon, Minister of State for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education and Former Chair of Education Select Committee as guest speaker.
The event hosted by the Chair of the Education Select Committee, Robin Walker, convened over 120 policymakers, politicians, school leaders, and sector representatives, coinciding with the third-year anniversary of the National Tutoring Programme (NTP).
Before the event, Susannah Hardyman and Abigail Shapiro of The Tutor Trust shared the report directly with the education lead in the No.10 delivery unit.
Use momentum to transform tutoring
Speaking in the stead of the SoS of Education, Robert Halfon, former chair of the Education Select Committee and current Minister of State for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education said he personally benefitted from tutoring as a child and understands the transformation it can have first-hand.
“Tutoring doesn’t only help students academically but also increases their confidence, improve attendance, and impacts their relationships with other children. It’s not only about the subject knowledge but supporting every aspect of their lives. Let’s use the momentum built in the last 3 years to transform tutoring. We welcome recommendations in the Future of Tutoring report and will consider them carefully.”
Robert Halfon, who was a key champion of the NTP back in spring 2020
“Targeted assistance helped to bridge the gaps in my understanding to pass my maths GCSE successfully. Consistency in tutoring helped me establish my learning approach and get fresh perspectives from tutor. It instilled my confidence. I look forward to higher education in September and a future of endless possibilities.”
Naomi Spence, a graduate pupil
Bridging the haves and haves not
Naomi’s mother, Lorraine, also highlighted why tutoring should be accessed by every child.
“Should tutoring be the preserve of a select few? No. Tutoring is a bridge between the haves and haves not. Let’s support the call to action to keep tutoring in place permanently and to benefit all children.”
“Yesterday, when the Year 6 results were released, Pupil Premium children representing 50% of the school population, outperformed the non-PP pupils and exceeded the national average for all pupils. Thanks to the support they received from tutoring. However, we cannot continue with tutoring for pupils who need it without proper funding. It is difficult on a tight budget like this.”
Lisa Walker-Collins, headteacher of Stroud Green Primary School
Ambitious manifesto
The report lays out a bold tuition manifesto proposal to the next parliament to commit to a funded Tutoring Guarantee that all young people in receipt of Pupil Premium or fallen behind in education, be offered a high-quality tutoring provision to help close the attainment gap and impact an estimated 1.75m disadvantaged young people.
The tuition advocacy coalition went the extra mile to garner cross-party endorsement with senior figures including Chair of the Education Select Committee Robin Walker MP, former Education Secretary the Rt Hon. Lord Blunkett, and Liberal Democrat education spokesperson, Munira Wilson MP jointly calling for its adoption.
“It is vitally important that children and young people, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, get the help they need to be able to succeed in life and play their part in improving the world around them. Tutoring is an intervention that is proven to help children catch up on lost learning and also supports their wider needs, like improving attendance and protecting mental health. Tutoring can play a central role in unlocking the ambition of England’s children if we deliver a Fair Tutoring Future.”
Dame Rachel De Souza, Children’s Commissioner for England, who wrote the report’s foreword said
“Tutoring is a vital and proven intervention for providing effective catch up support at school and, used effectively, it can make a huge difference for children’s life chances. I have seen some excellent examples of tutoring and hope that the lessons learned from the National Tutoring Programme can ensure that it is used even more effectively in the future. Embedding tutoring into the education landscape as we move forward will be vital if we are to close the gap in attainment for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.”
Robin Walker MP, Chair of the Education Select Committee and former Schools Minister said
Key highlights from the tutoring report
Tutoring manifesto
The manifesto is proposing an increase in state funding from £150m to £290m a year, the removal of the requirement on schools to match-fund to access any funding, creating flexibility for schools to target tuition at pupils who need will benefit, and clear accountability for the delivery and reporting status of pupils.
“A reshaped and properly invested tutoring programme is not only essential for re-engaging young people post Covid but also to provide direct equality of access to essential out-of-classroom support.”
Former Education Secretary, The Rt Hon. Lord Blunkett, said
“Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds have fallen further behind their peers during the pandemic, and are at risk of staying there unless the government reverses its decision to remove its funding for schools and colleges to use tutoring. We stand by this call for tutoring to be fully funded so that schools can support the children who have suffered most during the pandemic to reach their full potential.”
Munira Wilson MP, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for education said
Continuing our advocacy work
Action Tutoring is proud to be at the forefront of this collective advocacy report and to be working together with other education charities to secure the joint cross-party endorsement of the tuition manifesto from members of the main political parties.
We look forward to building on this achievement by speaking on education panels at the Conservative and Labour party conferences later this year in partnership with the Education Policy Institute (EPI) and the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ).
We believe that it’s vital we engage policy leaders and continuously advocate for cross-party support for embedding tutoring permanently in our education system to positively impact the future of young people.
