Our Chief Executive Ed Marsh writes:

“We are delighted at the Government announcement today regarding the National Tutoring Programme and school subsidies.

“The news, that the NTP school subsidy in the next academic year will meet 50% of tuition costs, not the 25% originally proposed, is a positive move. But it is not the end of the story.

“We have campaigned continuously for the Government to strengthen the NTP as a tool for schools to help their most vulnerable learners keep pace with their peers following the devastation of the pandemic and subsequent school closures.

“We know that the NTP has real merit – and we want to keep it on track to deliver.

“Along with sister tutoring charities, we have held the Government to account. We have met with policy makers at Number 10 on two occasions, given evidence at the Education Select Committee about the performance of Randstad, who were managing the NTP in year two, and given evidence to the Public Accounts Committee on the NTP’s performance. We campaigned for tighter and more stringent controls to ensure only quality assured tutoring providers were part of the programme, so that these young learners were not failed again.

“We campaigned too to make it easier for schools to book tuition – when the NTP process made it off-putting and resource intensive for schools – and we campaigned to keep subsidies in place for longer.

“We wanted all this because we know the NTP is working to open up the opportunity to have tuition for young people who otherwise might never have this level of intensive support.

“The National Tutoring Programme was established in 2020-2021 to fulfil a need, with an intended three-year life, and tapering subsidies to support the cost of tuition from 75% in 2021/22 to 60% in 2022/23. The subsidy next year may have fallen to 50% instead of 25%, but it is due to stop entirely in 2024/25.

“Now is not the time to cut any support to the young people who most need it. In fact, we’re reducing our tutoring costs for our school partners by 20% in 2023/2024 because we know how important it is, and the challenges schools are facing with the cost-of-living crisis.  As we are a not-for-profit, the amazing support we have from our very generous funders allows us to do our bit to open the door to schools whose pupils need an additional academic boost to their learning.

“Because, sadly, the attainment gap remains persistently wide after the pandemic. Recent research, from the Education Policy Institute and others, is showing that the shadow cast by the pandemic is a long one, and it will take more than a three or four-year intervention to address the gap.

“I think that anyone in education, or indeed anyone who read the news during the pandemic, knew that the effect of lockdowns and school closures would widen the attainment gap.  The EPI’s report simply put it all that down in black-and-white – that, even though lockdown, and school closures, are an (almost) distant memory, they cast a long shadow.

“What all this does, is make me, and Tutor Trust, more determined to keep on doing what we’re doing.

“The reason our organisation was founded 12 years ago, and why it is still very much needed today, is to support those young people from more socio-economically deprived backgrounds to achieve their potential.  The pandemic has had a huge impact on learning, and the effects are continuing to be felt in our classrooms, especially amongst our more vulnerable learners.

“Now is the time to re-invigorate the NTP to provide greater support to schools, and for us to keep on tutoring to transform lives, and to continue campaigning, campaigning and campaigning, until there is equity in education.”