As the year draws to a close, we are taking stock and reflecting on 12 months that have seen us support more pupils than ever before in more schools than at any other time. And that growth looks set to continue.

The academic year 2020/2021 was our busiest to date.  Demand from schools increased dramatically in the summer term, meaning that, by the end of July, we had more than doubled the number of hours of tuition delivered in any previous year, reaching more pupils in more schools across the North of England than we had ever done before.

We’re delighted that the upward trend is continuing, and, if the start of the academic year 2021/2022 is any indicator of future growth, this year our reach is likely to be even greater.

Since the start of the autumn term in early September to mid-December, we have:

• Started tuition sessions with more than 2,800 pupils (this time last year it was just over half that at 1,495),
• Started delivering tutoring in 108 schools across Greater Manchester, Leeds-Bradford and Merseyside (this time last year we were in slightly more schools at 115),
• Delivered more than 7,500 individual hour-long tutoring sessions (in December 2020 it was considerably fewer at 4,594), and,
• Ensured that more than 1,000 of our 2,800 pupils have already benefited from six or more hours of support (that figure was less than a fifth of that, at 189 pupils, this time last year).
• And, this year, almost 100 pupils have finished a full programme of 12 hours-plus of tuition.

Tutor Trust Co-Founders Nick Bent and Abigail Shapiro have no doubt that next term’s reach will be greater than last year’s too. They said:

“It’s exciting, that, as we start our 11^th year, we’re seeing such huge increases in numbers, as more schools realise just how much of a contribution our tutors make to their pupils’ attainment and how the National Tutoring Programme and School-led Tutoring Grant enable them to do it so cost effectively.”

And we couldn’t do any of this without our brilliant tutors.  We appreciate all that our tutors do to transform lives, on a daily basis, and we believe in rewarding them.  So, as well as the skills they gain for their future careers, we also give bonuses.  Between the start of September and the end of November, 219 have received a £20 bonus for completing their first non-cover tutoring session.  And a massive 46 have earned a £100 bonus for completing 30 hours of tuition.

We are also doing a monthly draw for all those tutors who have completed a full assignment of at least 12 hours. Shiieanne Oletkett was our very first £100 draw winner after completing an assignment at Our Lady’s RC High School in Higher Blackley, Greater Manchester.  She was a delighted winner and tweeted:

“This happens to be the first time in my life I’ve ever won anything!  I’m thrilled every day to be able to positively contribute to the next generation’s education. Thank you for the ongoing support and recognition.”

It has been a phenomenal year, and we’ve reached a number of key milestones along the way.

• In February we launched ‘Puppies and Pirates’ our catch-up programme for Years 5&6.
• We became a partner in the Greater Manchester Young Persons Wellbeing Programme in March.
• In May we launched our ‘Ready for Secondary’ Summer School package.
• In June The Right Angle Project was featured in a Government Report as demonstrating best practice.
• In June we announced that we’d recruited more than 650 tutors in the academic year.
• In August we announced that we’d doubled our tutee numbers in the academic year 2020/2021 – supporting more than 5,700 pupils.
• In August we launched Tutor Trust Bradford following a successful pilot programme in 10 schools.
• In August we appointed five new Trustees to the Board. We appointed a sixth new Trustee in October.
• In September we were confirmed as a Tuition Partner of the National Tutoring Programme for the second year running
• We also celebrated the 10^th anniversary of registering as a charity on 29 September.
• We announced our partnership with the University of Liverpool Maths School to deliver the MESME project, to support maths stars of the future.
• Over the year we established a number of new full-time roles to support the growth of Tutor Trust to meet the growing demands from schools for high quality tuition.
• We launched our 10^th anniversary Impact Report in late November and earlier in December we announced our ambitious partnership with The Prince’s Trust.

Here’s wishing all our school partners, our tutors and our amazing tutees, a happy festive break and here’s to a successful start to Spring Term 2022!