Heads’ catch-up tutoring workload ‘immense’, finds DfE

Nine in 10 school leaders say that managing the National Tutoring Programme increased their workload last year, with some blaming ‘rubbish’ guidance
26th October 2022, 3:35pm

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Heads’ catch-up tutoring workload ‘immense’, finds DfE

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Schools need more funding to help with management and administration of the National Tutoring Programme, a government report has concluded, after heads said that the workload involved with managing the scheme was “immense” and the guidance “rubbish”.

The vast majority (91 per cent) of school leaders involved with the NTP during the last full academic year (2021-22) reported an overall increase in workload, a survey carried out for the Department for Education found.

More than nine in 10 (93 per cent) reported that their workload related to the management of tutoring in school had increased, while 94 per cent reported an increase in workload related to administration and preparation.

In interviews with researchers, one head said that the admin workload was “absolutely immense”, while another said it was “incredibly difficult to manage the funding” because the guidance was “rubbish and incredibly complicated”.

Another leader said they had spoken to many heads who had not touched the flagship education catch-up programme “because they know the workload is too much”.

National Tutoring Programme ‘has increased workload’

The interviews and survey, carried out by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), specifically related to senior leaders involved with the tuition partners and academic mentors strands of the government’s national programme, though schools that used just one of these, alongside school-led tutoring, could also take part.

The survey found that “participating in the NTP had resulted in increased workload for senior leaders” and concluded that “schools would benefit from a proportion of NTP funding being available for management and administration”.

The NTP was run by Dutch firm Randstad last year, which created an online “tuition hub” for leaders to book tutoring sessions. The firm’s NTP director, when questioned about low take-up of the scheme among schools, told MPs on the Commons Education Select Committee that schools were struggling to sign up to use the system due to a lack of capacity.

A series of changes were implemented this year after the DfE ended its contract with Randstad and redirected all funding directly to schools. They can use this funding to pay for tutors sourced by the school or those sourced via a recommended “tuition partner” agency, or opt to hire salaried academic mentors trained via a national recruitment programme run by New Zealand firm Cognition Education.

Some schools had ‘difficulty’ accessing tutors

The DfE research also found that some schools had “difficulty” finding appropriate staff to run NTP sessions, including being unable to identify suitable candidates “in terms of subject knowledge and behaviour management”.

It added that some had been “let down at the last minute” by tutor providers.

The NFER report said that “the majority” of senior leaders were confident they could access high-quality tutoring, but some lacked confidence and some were less confident than before the pandemic.

And school staff also suggested that more quality-assured recruitment of tutors and mentors was needed.

In a change to the NTP rules from this year, schools using programme cash to hire external tutoring organisations will only be able to spend it on firms that have been quality-assured and placed on a Department for Education list.

Cognition Education, which also delivers the Talent to Teach in Further Education programme, has been awarded a contract to recruit and deploy academic mentors, while education services provider Tribal Group runs the quality assurance of tuition partners.

School-led tutoring ‘had most impact’

The report also said that despite some negative coverage of the NTP, most of the survey respondents who had experienced it directly were satisfied, and the majority were satisfied with the individual pillar they used.

When asked how satisfied they were with the school-led arm of the programme, 92 per cent said “very satisfied” or “satisfied”.

For academic mentors, that figure was 74 per cent, and for tuition partners, it was 67 per cent.

When asked whether the different NTP pillars were reducing the disadvantage-related attainment gap, 85 per cent said they agreed or strongly agreed for school-led tutoring, compared with 82 per cent for academic mentors and 72 per cent for tuition partners.

The researchers concluded: “All three NTP routes were perceived to have a positive impact on pupils’ attainment, self-confidence and them catching up with their peers, but SLT [school-led tutoring] was thought to have most impact”.

The effect of reduced subsidies

Problems with NTP funding were also discussed in the report.

The researchers said that some schools felt that the 2021-22 subsidy level - the amount of tutoring paid for by the DfE - was not sufficient.

The school-led tutoring subsidy has decreased from 75 per cent last year to 60 per cent this year, and the researchers said: “The effect of reduced NTP subsidies in 2022-23 on the take-up and impact of tutoring will need to be monitored and reviewed.”

In 2023-24, this subsidy is set to decrease further, to 25 per cent.

School leaders want ‘autonomy’ over delivery

On 31 March 2022, the DfE announced a plan to provide £349 million of core tutoring funding directly to schools.

In the latest report, the researchers said that those who used the programme last year, before these changes took place, wanted “control and autonomy over the delivery of tutoring, supporting the government’s planned direction of the NTP in 2022-23”.

Researchers said that in surveys they ran, more than three-quarters (76 per cent) of respondents said that the autonomy schools had over school-led tutoring delivery was one of their main reasons for using the school-led tutoring grant.

And the report added: “They also liked the ability to select tutors who they felt were the best fit for the school and pupils.”

It continued: “They wanted to use tutors that pupils were familiar with (the majority were using their own internal staff); and they liked having flexibility over which pupils could receive tuition (recognising the importance of including pupil premium pupils, but sometimes wanting to include others they felt would benefit).”

Dr Ben Styles, head of classroom practice and workforce at the NFER, said: “It is encouraging that most teachers and school leaders in our sample were generally satisfied with the NTP and with the route or routes in which they were participating. However, a minority of senior leaders were not confident in being able to access high-quality tutoring when needed.

“School leaders did express support for the government’s approach of giving them more control and autonomy over the delivery of tutoring in 2022-23. However, this does need to be taken in the context that some schools indicated that they did not participate in the programme in 2021-22 because they felt the subsidy level was not sufficient, and levels are set to reduce further in 2022-23.

“It must also be noted that the NTP has resulted in increased workloads for senior leaders and therefore schools would benefit from a proportion of NTP funding being available for management and administration.”

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