Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children have been allocated a tutoring place under the National Tutoring Programme and across how many schools; how many of those children have started to receive tutoring; and how many of those children are eligible for the pupil premium.

The National Tutoring Programme is an ambitious scheme that will provide additional, targeted support for those children and young people who have been hardest hit from disruption to their education as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.

There is extensive evidence that tutoring is one of the most effective ways to accelerate pupil progress, and we want to extend this opportunity to disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils.

Over 196,000 pupils have been enrolled to receive tutoring from 4,727 schools. Of those enrolled, over 93,000 have commenced tutoring of which 45% are eligible for pupil premium funding.

We have placed 1,074 active mentors across 946 schools who have supported over 23,000 pupils. 83% of placements have been in schools with a greater than average proportion of pupils in receipt of pupil premium.