The Government has made tutoring a priority in order to help pupils catch up following COVID-19. As we return to pre-pandemic ways of living, the DfE’s focus on helping pupils catch up on lost learning is turning towards the long-established challenge of tackling the attainment gap and improving outcomes for the most disadvantaged in society.
The evidence for the efficacy of tutoring is strong. The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) highlights that targeted, frequent and consistent small-group tuition sessions can help struggling pupils to make around 4 months’ additional progress over the course of an academic year. However, tuition is also an expensive intervention and difficult to access by children from disadvantaged communities.
National Tutoring Programme
Since November 2020, the Department for Education (DfE) is investing £1 billion into the National Tutoring Programme (NTP). This provides primary and secondary schools with funding to spend on targeted academic support, delivered by trained and experienced tutors.
In March 2022, the DfE announced plans to simplify the NTP for the 2022 to 2023 academic year. These plans involve providing £349 million of core tutoring funding directly to schools, giving them the freedom to decide how best to provide tutoring for their pupils.
It is a priority of the NTP to embed tutoring as a permanent fixture in the school system because it is a universally recognised method of addressing low attainment and educational inequality.
Pricing 2022/23 using your NTP school Grant.
Ratio of Delivery |
Cost to school of 15 hour block |
Cost to school of 10 hour block |
Cost per hour |
Cost per hour per pupil |
Amount school will need from non NTP budgets |
1:1 in person | £645 | £430 | £43.00 | £43.00 | £32.20 per hour per pupil |
1:2 in person | £675 | £450 | £45.00 | £22.50 | £11.70 per hour per pupil |
1:3 in person | £705 | £470 | £47.00 | £15.67 | £4.87 per hour per pupil |
1:4 in person | £750 | £500 | £50.00 | £12.50 | £1.70 per hour per pupil |
1:5 in person | £780 | £520 | £52.00 | £10.40 | £0 |
1:6 in person | £825 | £555 | £55.00 | £9.17 | £0 |
Online pricing using bespoke teaching platform | |||||
1:1 online | £570 | £380 | £38.00 | £38.00 | £27.20 per hour per pupil |
1:2 online | £600 | £400 | £40.00 | £20.00 | £9.20 per hour per pupil |
1:3 online | £630 | £420 | £42.00 | £14.00 | £3.20 per hour per pupil |
1:4 Online | £648 | £432 | £43.20 | £10.80 | £0 |
1:5 Online | £720 | £480 | £48.00 | £9.60 | £0 |
1:6 online | £750 | £500 | £50.00 | £8.33 | £0 |
SEN Provision
Ratio of Delivery |
Cost to school of 15 hour block |
Cost to school of 10 hour block |
Cost per hour |
Cost per hour per pupil |
Amount school will need from non NTP budgets |
1:1 in person | £825 | £550 | £55 | £55 | £26.80 per hour per pupil |
1:2 in person | £900 | £600 | £60 | £60 | £2.80 per hour per pupil |
1:3 in person | £945 | £630 | £63 | £21 | £0 |
1:4 in person | £1,080 | £720 | £72 | £18 | £0 |
1:5 in person | £1,125 | £750 | £75 | £15 | £0 |
1:6 in person | £1,800 | £1,200 | £120 | £20 | £0 |
Online pricing using bespoke teaching platform | |||||
1:1 online | £675 | £450 | £45 | £45 | £16.80 per hour per pupil |
1:2 online | £750 | £500 | £50 | £25 | £0 |
1:3 online | £900 | £600 | £60 | £20 | £0 |
As a not-for-profit EM Tuition do not charge VAT to the school.
All pupils in key stages 1 to 4 (years 1 to 11) are eligible for the NTP. You should prioritise your PP-eligible pupils, in line with the NTP’s objective of supporting the disadvantaged. However this does not mean the programme is for your PP cohort only – you also have the discretion to offer tutoring to other pupils.
All schools will receive a funding allocation that, based on the average cost of a tutoring course, will allow you to offer tutoring to all your PP-eligible pupils. You can also use your NTP funding flexibly to offer tutoring to a greater number of pupils.
60% of the tuition cost will be subsidised by DfE. You must meet the remaining cost using other funding sources, including PP or other core school budgets.
For primary school pupils, tutoring can be given in mathematics, English and science. For secondary school pupils, it can be provided in mathematics, English, science, humanities and modern foreign languages (MFL). Alternative tutoring interventions are available for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Small groups of 1:3 are recommended in order to maintain high-quality and impactful tuition, with the maximum permitted tutor-pupil ratio being 1:6.
The DfE advises that courses should be 12 to 15 hours long to have a meaningful impact on pupil attainment. You should plan tuition with this in mind and avoid less effective piecemeal tutoring. You may also wish to deliver longer courses, if this meets the needs of your pupils.
Schools are expected to organise tutoring at an appropriate time for pupils so as to encourage high attendance. If occasions arise when a pupil has to be taken out of lessons for tuition, the school must ensure they still have access to the full curriculum.
There are 3 routes to providing subsidised tuition, in recognition of the fact that all schools have pupils with varying needs. These are: academic mentors – full-time, in-house staff members employed to provide intensive support to pupils who need it; school-led tutoring – members of a school’s own personnel, either currently employed or specifically engaged for this purpose; and tuition partners – tutors recruited by external tutoring organisations quality-assured by the DfE.
EM Tuition is the only non-profit organisation to be quality-assured by the DfE to provide a tutoring service as part of the NTP. This Community Interest Company (CIC) is an expert tutoring organisation that can provide you with tutors who offer specialisms, including SEND, in-person and online tuition, EAL and subject-specific support.
We would initially consult with you to agree exactly how we would deliver tutoring to your pupils. This would involve agreeing the cost of tuition and the service we would deliver.
As a non-profit, EM Tuition always strives to be as cost-effective as possible and returns any ‘profit’ into providing free tuition for the disadvantaged.
If you are already using one of the other funding routes for subsidised tuition, we would encourage you to expand your programme by making full use of the tuition partner route with us.
The NTP, and EM Tuition, is particularly committed to supporting pupils with SEND to improve their progress and achievement.
Pupils with SEND can engage with traditional tutoring in specific school subjects, especially when it is adapted to meet additional needs.
To improve the tutoring experience and enhance academic outcomes for these pupils, you can
consider taking the following steps:
• Work closely with EM Tuition and our tutors to discuss how we can accommodate pupils
with additional needs;
• Ensure learning is tailored and targeted to meet the individual needs of each pupil;
• Maintain small group sizes of 1:1 or 1:2;
• Align any tutoring provision with the requirements set out in a pupil’s education, health
and care plan (EHCP).
The DfE also recognises that some pupils with SEND would benefit from a boost to their progress in other academic areas, such as learning capabilities, sensory development and communication.
Tutoring provided through the NTP may include alternative types of established, evidence-underpinned intervention for pupils with SEND, such as speech and language therapy, which can be tailored and targeted to meet individual needs.
Non-mainstream schools are eligible for a higher rate of funding to reflect their smaller group sizes and higher tuition costs.
For the 2022 to 2023 academic year, the DfE will provide the following funding for NTP:
• mainstream schools: a minimum of £162 per PP-eligible pupil
• non-mainstream schools: a minimum of £423 per PP-eligible pupil
You do not need to apply for NTP funding, it will be paid to your school in 3 termly instalments.
It can be used to pay for 60% of the total cost incurred by your school. This is subject to the maximum hourly per-pupil rate that applies to all NTP tutoring you provide, to ensure the cost of tutoring is not excessive.
The hourly per pupil rates are:
• mainstream schools: £18 of which the DfE subsidy will be £10.80 (60%)
• non-mainstream schools: £47 of which the DfE subsidy will be £28.20 (60%)
For all tutoring delivered in the 2022 to 2023 academic year, you must record the total cost you
incur and the number of tutoring hours delivered, which you will be required to share with the
DfE via your funding return in summer 2023.
If your hourly rate (total cost incurred divided by number of hours delivered) is £18 or less (£47 or
less for non-mainstream schools), the DfE will cover 60% of the cost you have incurred.
If your hourly rate is greater than £18 (or greater than £47 for non-mainstream schools), the DfE will cap your return at the relevant maximum rate. The DfE will not provide any subsidy beyond your funding allocation, although you may provide and fund more tutoring in your school should you wish.
The subsidy for the 2023 to 2024 academic year will be 25%. Full guidance on funding arrangements for next year will be published in summer 2023.
If a pupil cannot attend a scheduled tutoring session due to factors beyond your control, EM Tuition will work with you to rearrange the session or you can nominate another pupil to attend in their place. However if a tutoring session has to be cancelled with less than 24 hours’ notice, you can still include this in your year-end statement.
You should keep up-to-date, clear and accurate records of the tutoring you have delivered. Doing so will inform any data returns requested by the DfE, including your year-end statement.
You may wish to record:
• The number of PP-eligible pupils who have received tutoring
• The number of other pupils who have received tutoring
• How many hours of tutoring you have provided to PP-eligible pupils
• How many hours of tutoring you have provided to other pupils
• The type of tutoring you have provided (whether it was delivered by an employee of the
school or a tuition partner)
This will help you to fulfil data returns when requested by DfE. For the 2022 to 2023 academic year, you will be asked to provide the following returns:
• Termly school census (October 2022, January 2023 and May 2023)
• Mandatory year-end statement (June 2023)
Every school will have at least one Ofsted inspection between May 2021 and July 2025. As part of their evaluation of the quality of education and leadership and management, inspectors will consider how schools make effective use of tutoring.
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