The government has announced that £65 million of the funding originally for the National Tutoring Programme’s approved tutors and academic mentor routes will now go into the school-led tutoring arm of the programme.
Speaking at the ASCL Annual Conference 2022, Education Secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, recognised that “by far the most popular route is the one run by you, the schools”.
The NTP has hit a milestone of one million courses – more than half (532,000) of which were provided through the school-led tutoring route.
The Department for Education said the switch in funding is part of its “continued focus on following the evidence of what works”. It added it will give more schools the autonomy and support to deliver high quality tutoring to as many children and young people as possible.
DfE asserted that the NTP remains on track to deliver on its target of two million courses overall this academic year.
To help achieve this, the department has updated the conditions for academic mentors. Previously these mentors had to be a graduate, or have qualified teacher status. Now, they will need 3 A-levels at A*- C grade.
DfE now says the “role is perfect for recent graduates, school leavers taking a gap year, or those considering a career in teaching or education”.
In addition, schools working with tuition partners can now use their discretion when determining group sizes, with a cap of up to 1:6 to allow greater flexibility. However, the department stressed that it expects group sizes of 1:3 to “remain standard”.
“I hope you will agree with me that what we are doing together on tutoring is an invaluable addition to our education system, and I am continuing to look at how we can make sure it is having as big an impact as possible,” said Zahawi.
Education Boutique is a complete tutoring solution that is part of the Eteach Group. They specialise is supporting schools across the UK to utilise the school-led tutoring grant. To learn more about how you can use the grant, click the button below.
Find out more