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.