An independent review by Ofsted inspectors has found that extra tuition designed to aid students in England to catch up on learning lost during the COVID pandemic was “haphazard and poorly planned” in several cases and interrupted the school day. Of the 63 schools visited, the Ofsted review stated that while tutoring given through the government’s national tutoring programme (NTP) was “strong” in just over 50% of cases, “the quality of tuition varied greatly”. The reviewers found that “poor assessment procedures” were preventing some schools from judging when to stop tutoring, while others found it challenging to allocate catch-up sessions that suited everyone involved. Concerns were also raised regarding the quality of available tutors and academic mentors. The report prompted criticism of the government’s outsourcing of the tutoring programme.
The tutoring programme was launched as part of £5bn in catch-up funding for schools and colleges in England. Munira Wilson, the Liberal Democrat education spokesperson, argued that tutoring could have played a crucial role in a comprehensive catch-up plan, but the Tories botched the contract with Randstad and spent just a third of what their advisories recommended. The programme’s inception led to controversy, with some experts arguing that the effort was insufficient to make a real difference to students who missed months of classroom education. Many were also concerned that the programme wasn’t adequately providing extra assistance to the most disadvantaged students.
A second evaluation of the NTP, conducted by the National Foundation for Educational Research, determined that 63% of schools were satisfied with the tutoring programme, though some found it difficult to locate suitable tutors. A spokesperson for the Department for Education responded to the Ofsted review, stating that over 2 million tutoring sessions had been commenced, highlighting the positive impact it was having on students’ confidence and attainment. The government plans to work with the education sector to achieve its goal of commencing six million tutoring courses by 2024.
