Cutting NTP cash ‘highly detrimental’, MPs warn Hunt

Cross-party MPs, including Commons Education Select Committee chair Robin Walker, write to the chancellor ahead of spring Budget calling for ‘life-changing’ tutoring cash to continue

27th February 2024, 11:00am

Jasmine Norden

Exclusive

A group of cross-party MPs, including the chair of the Commons Education Select Committee, have written to the chancellor adding their voices to calls to extend tutoring cash.

The letter to Jeremy Hunt, sent this morning, is signed by Conservative MPs Robin Walker and Simon Fell, along with Liberal Democrats education spokesperson Munira Wilson and Labour MPs Cat Smith and Stephen Timms.

The MPs are asking the chancellor to use the spring Budget on 6 March to extend the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) and the 16-19 Tuition Fund, which are both slated to end this academic year.

The group is the latest to write to the chancellor calling for the extension of NTP funding after tutoring organisations convened a letter signed by more than 500 teachers and leaders.

Related: Cutting NTP tutoring funding ‘would be a tragedy’
More on tutoring: Extend catch-up cash or attainment gap will widen, PM warned
Further reading: ‘Most schools’ to cut tutoring due to cost

In response to previous calls for tutoring cash to be extended, the Department for Education has said it will continue to support tutoring through pupil premium funding.

Pupil premium is ‘already well used’

Former schools minister Mr Walker told Tes: “The difficulty in the government’s position is that pupil premium is already well used.

“I’m not sure there is sufficient space in the pupil premium to support tutoring becoming part of the system.”

Previous reviews of the NTP have found that most school leaders say they would be unlikely to afford to carry on tutoring once the government subsidy is removed.

“As members of Parliament, we represent different parts of the country, but each of us have heard first-hand the difficulties that schools, parents and young people are facing across the nation,” the cross-party letter reads.

“The pandemic has cast a long shadow across children and young people and we are proud that tutoring has played a significant role in Covid catch up.”

The signatories said that speaking to school leaders and tutoring organisations has shown them removing funding at the end of the year will have a “significant and highly detrimental impact” on the tutoring infrastructure created over the past few years.

“I’m sure some schools will continue to use pupil premium funding towards it, but it will be on a small scale,” added Mr Walker.

“The infrastructure would wither away and that would be a missed opportunity.”

Benefits of the NTP

A review of the second year of the programme, when it was delivered by Dutch outsourcing firm Randstad, found small benefits - around one month of additional progress when the tutoring was school-led.

Mr Walker pointed out to Tes today that changes were made to the NTP after he was questioned about its shortcomings at the Commons Education Select Committee when appearing there as schools minister in March 2022.

By 2022-23, the funding went directly to schools so they could decide how best to spend it.

“It’s a good example of us listening and learning, and I hope that the chancellor will be doing the same,” he told Tes.

Analysis by consultancy Public First estimated the NTP would eventually lead to 390,000-grade improvements in English and maths across two years of the scheme.

The subsidy for the NTP has gradually reduced in value, from 75 per cent in the scheme’s first year in 2020-21 to 50 per cent this year.

Tackling the disadvantage gap

At key stage 4, the disadvantage gap is currently the widest it has been in over a decade - it had been narrowing pre-pandemic.

It was reported earlier this month that there was unlikely to be additional funding for tutoring in the budget, which unions and leaders from across the sector said would be a “national travesty”.

“Post-pandemic, we want to see tutoring be available to pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds if they have fallen behind that is available to their more affluent peers,” Ms Wilson told Tes.

She added: “Schools are really struggling in terms of budgets so there’s no way they’re going to be able to continue when the funding runs out. They need clarity now so they can plan.

“Ultimately, more disadvantaged pupils will lose out if they don’t extend it.”

The full text of the letter:

Dear Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP,

We are writing to you regarding the extension of funding for the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) and 16-19 Tuition Fund.

We have no doubt that you know tutoring has been demonstrated to be a high impact, cost effective intervention, which an evaluation from the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) has shown has an average impact of four months’ additional progress over the course of a year.

Tutoring also provides enormous economic returns, demonstrating the value that investment in young people can bring. Recent research from Public First, indicates that the government investment in tutoring provided in 2021/22 and 2022/23 generated economic returns of £4.34bn, against funding of £660m. For every £1 spent, £6.58 in economic returns is generated, with an estimated return of £1.83bn to the Exchequer.

This research also showed the impact that tutoring has on GCSE pass rates and overall grades in key subjects: 62,000 additional pass grades in GCSE English and Maths will be achieved due to government funded tutoring during the 2021/22 and 2022/23 academic years. Tutoring is an intervention which impacts pupils across the grade spectrum; providing 430,000 grade improvements in total, with 220,000 in Maths, and 210,000 in English. The long-term economic impact of this in terms of earning potential is significant; so too is the very real impact that strong foundations in numeracy and literacy have on people’s lives.

As members of parliament, we represent different parts of the country, but each of us have heard first-hand the difficulties that schools, parents, and young people are facing across the nation. The pandemic has cast a long shadow across children and young people and we are proud that tutoring has played a significant role in Covid-catch up. Research has demonstrated the many ‘spillover benefits’ that speak to many current concerns in our education system. 85% of parents said tutoring had positively impacted their child’s confidence, with 68% saying it had improved attendance. At a time where thousands of pupils are missing school, tutoring can offer the opportunity of a new trusted adult in the lives of children and young people, and gives them a new way to engage with their education.

You will no doubt be aware that as things stand, funding for the NTP and 16-19 Tuition Fund is currently due to finish at the end of this academic year (2023-2024). This will have a significant and highly detrimental impact on the infrastructure that state funding for tutoring in our education system has created. We have spoken with tutoring organisations, school leaders, parents and pupils, and heard first-hand about the real value of the infrastructure that a national programme provides as they work to support schools and pupils to access tutoring, and ensure that young people reach their full potential. The removal of funding at this juncture will remove much of the infrastructure that exists in terms of relationships, networks, and existing provision.

We are drawn from different parties and political traditions, which we hope reflects to you that this is not a partisan call, nor an ideologically driven one. It is a request to continue what works, and support a programme which, for many of the children and young people it serves, is a truly life changing intervention. We hope you will agree and continue funding the NTP and 16-19 Tuition Fund at the upcoming Budget.

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