Introduced as part of the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) in 2021/22, the school-led tutoring grant gives eligible state-funded schools and academy trusts a ring-fenced pot of money to source their own tutoring provision for disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils whose education has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
School-led tutoring is designed to give schools greater freedom and flexibility in how they run their catch-up efforts. Schools can use the funding as they see fit – they can decide which pupils need the tuition the most, and they don’t have to hire tutors from the NTP’s approved list of Tuition Partners.
If your school hasn’t yet made full use of the school-led grant, now is the time. While you don’t need to apply to receive it – the grant is automatically dished out based on the number of pupil premium recipients who attend your school – any leftover allowance will be retrieved as ‘overpayment’ at the end of the academic year.
How much funding will my school receive?
Your school will have (hopefully) already received the first and second instalments of the grant through the Education and Skills Funding Agency, with a third instalment due in April.
The grant covers tuition for 60% of the pupil premium cohort from year 1 to year 11, set at £202.50 per pupil. So, for a school with 150 PP children, they would receive £18,225. This rises to £529 per pupil for non-mainstream schools.
The grant has been calculated to cover 75% of schools’ tuition costs, with the DfE pitching in £13.50 of an assumed average hourly cost of £18 for a 15-hour package of tuition for each pupil. Schools are free to exceed this out of their own budget.
To ensure that the grant is only used for its intended purposes, it is ring-fenced, meaning it can’t be pooled with other funds. The grant can only be used to pay for the staffing costs of tuition and must not be used for administrative costs or resources.
Who can deliver the school-led tutoring?
It’s up to schools to source tutors to deliver the catch-up classes. They can hire new staff or use their existing workforce.
If you want to pay in-house staff to carry out the tuition, using the grant, this must be in addition to their contracted hours and duties. But the additional tuition should not affect their Planning, Preparation and Assessment (PPA) time.
Schools have the flexibility to pick from teachers, teaching assistants, supply teachers and retired or returning teachers to deliver the tutoring. The only stipulation is that tutors will need to have either Qualified Teacher Status or over two years’ experience in their subject. For staff who don’t meet these credentials, they will be required to take an 11-hour training course.
While using the existing workforce might make the most sense on paper, staff absences from Covid have presented schools with a serious challenge. Schools also have to be mindful of overworking their teachers.
Instead, you might wish to look to external capacity and employ a tutoring organisation to deliver tuition. Education Boutique – part of the Eteach Group – has been supporting schools to deliver school-led tutoring since the start of the 2021/22. With a talent pool of over 30,000 tutors, Education Boutique can help your school get the most out of the school-led tutoring grant.
Many of the tutors have experience supporting students with a range of learning needs including: ASD, Dyslexia, ADHD, complex anxiety and depression and PDA. Find out more about how Education Boutique can fill in the gaps and get disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils back on a level pegging.
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