National Tutoring Programme funding to go to schools

EB News: 01/04/2022 - 12:48

The Department for Education has announced that all National Tutoring Programme funding will go direct to schools to simplify the programme and reach as many pupils as possible.

All £349 million of tutoring funding provided in AY22/23 will go directly to schools. This will simplify the system and give schools the freedom to decide how best to provide tutoring for their children, which could include one on one or small group tutoring through teachers or teaching assistants, or continuing to work with external tutoring specialists and academic mentors.

The move will build on the success of the School-Led route in 2021/22 as the Department for Education continues to follow the evidence of what works.

The new model follows feedback directly from schools and will embed tutoring into children’s education where they need extra support to progress.

New estimates published today show an estimated 887,521 courses have started so far this academic year - with 674,941 through the School-Led route and 1,198,239 in total since the programme began – as the Government remains on track to deliver the ambitious target of up to six million courses by 2024.

Education Secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, said: "It’s teachers and schools that know their pupils best, which is why we are building on the success of school-led tutoring so far - with evidence as our watchword - so that as many children and young people as possible can feel the huge benefits high quality tutoring provides.”

As a result of the changes to the programme, the Department will launch a procurement process in April for a potential new supplier(s). The supplier will be responsible for quality assurance, recruiting and deploying Academic Mentors and offering training, which will support schools to make best use of their funding.

Schools that are currently working with Tuition Partners will be able to continue to do so in the next academic year. Similarly, eligible schools can continue to employ Academic Mentors who are on their staff this year, and will also still be able to recruit Academic Mentors directly.