National Tutoring Programme: Extracurricular Activities

(asked on 27th May 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will use funding for the National Tutoring Programme to fund youth work and associated activities during the summer holidays in 2021.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 10th June 2021

In summer 2020, the Department announced a £1 billion COVID-19 catch up package to help to tackle the impact of lost teaching time as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, including a £350 million National Tutoring Programme (NTP) for disadvantaged pupils. In November 2020, it was confirmed this would fund the programme for the academic years 2020/21 and 2021/22. The programme has two pillars:

  • Approved Tuition Partners will offer high quality, subsidised tuition to schools.
  • Schools in the most disadvantaged areas will be supported to employ in house academic mentors to provide tuition to their pupils.

The Department awarded the Education Endowment Foundation funding to deliver the Tuition Partners pillar of the programme this academic year, which requires them to make high quality, subsidised tutoring available to schools across all regions through Tuition Partners. 33 Tuition Partners were approved to deliver tuition, and there is a good blend of national and regional providers that can offer support to schools across all regions in England. Further information regarding these approved Tuition Partners, including a guide to the cost of tuition charged by each partner, the subjects taught and the regions covered can be found here: http://www.nationaltutoring.org.uk/resources/guide-to-approved-tuition-partners-2020-21.

The Department also provided funding to Teach First to deliver the academic mentors pillar of the programme this academic year. This included the recruiting and placing of mentors in schools and providing ongoing support and monitoring.

In addition to the 5-16 programme, the NTP also made available up to £96 million to support small group tuition for 16-19 year olds, and £9 million to support the improvement of early language skills in reception classes this academic year.

Since the programme’s launch in November 2020, over 227,000 pupils in over 5400 schools have accessed subsidised tuition support through the NTP. Tuition support will be available to continue through the summer holidays, where appropriate, to ensure pupils to receive their 15 hour block of tuition.

As part of the education recovery plan announced 2 June 2021, the Department shared plans to invest additional funding to help further expand tuition support. This includes:

  • £218 million of new funding to be directed to the Tuition Partner and Academic Mentor pillars of the NTP. This is in addition to the £215 million already announced to be invested in the academic year 2021/22.
  • £579 million of funding will be provided to schools to develop localised school led tutoring provision using new or existing school staff. This will work alongside the NTP offer and will see tutors directly employed by schools.

As part of the wider recovery package announced in February 2021, to further help support catch up on lost education because of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Department has committed £200 million to deliver summer schools this year. The aim of the programme is for secondary schools to deliver summer schools which offer a blend of academic teaching and enrichment activities.

In addition to summer schools, a broader programme of summer enrichment activities, including the Holiday Activities and Food programme, will be running to support children and young people and their families. We want children to enjoy the school holidays and to access fun, enriching experiences and eat healthy, nutritious meals. That is why we are investing up to £220 million in the Holiday Activities and Food programme which has been expanded to every local authority across England this year.

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