One to One Tuition Programme

One to One Tuition – the facts

Graham Holley, Chief Executive of the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA), gives the lowdown on the new One to One Tuition programme, and outlines what schools can gain from this new initiative

What is the One to One Tuition Programme?

The new One to One Tuition Programme is a Government-funded initiative to help children gain more confidence and understanding in English and maths. Designed for the estimated 600,000 pupils who would benefit the most, it complements classroom teaching by addressing barriers to learning that are personal and particular to each child. Key stage 2, 3 and 4 pupils will benefit from the programme.

Why has the programme been established?

Ensuring that the right support is in place for all pupils, regardless of class or social background, is important to improving pupil achievement and closing the attainment gap. Support in the form of one-to-one tuition can also be highly effective in boosting the confidence and motivation of pupils who may be falling behind.

While mainstream classroom teaching is effective for many pupils, we know that there are some who will not make the progress they need to in a whole-class setting. These pupils would benefit from additional tuition, on a one-to-one basis, that addresses their particular skills gaps. Without an individualised approach it will be very hard for this group to make the progress necessary to achieve their full potential.

Which children will benefit from the programme?

One-to-one tuition will be used to help pupils who face academic barriers in English and/or mathematics.  Schools will identify children who are behind where they should be for their age in mathematics and/or English, or are not on course to make two levels of progress. In addition, looked-after children who would particularly benefit from this kind if support can be put forward for tuition.

Who are the tutors?

The programme is open to newly qualified, current, former, retired teachers, overseas teachers qualified to teach in schools in England, trainee teachers in the summer before they gain QTS, or those with teaching and subject-specific qualifications from the higher education or further education sectors.

We are urging teachers to sign up for the programme – we need to sign up 100,000 tutors by October 2010 in order to ensure we reach all the children that would benefit from this scheme.  We are making great progress, with over 29,000 tutors registered to date, but we need others to follow suit to make this programme a real success. 

Why should I become a tutor?

In addition to helping support those children that would most benefit from your expertise, there are many benefits to becoming a tutor. The programme is highly flexible: the tutor decides how many pupils to tutor, and when and where to give tuition (for example, it can take place at the child’s school or in a town centre location such as a library). Tutors on the programme will get paid a typical rate of £25 per hour for 12 hours per pupil – 10 hours tuition and two hours planning and liaison time with the pupil’s teacher. Tuition training will be offered.

Is there evidence to suggest that the scheme works?

Trials of one-to-one tuition have already taken place as part of the Making Good Progress pilot. Evidence from the pilot suggests that pupils receiving one-to-one tuition are making faster academic progress than those who are not. This is despite the fact that many of the pupils selected for tuition were making slow progress beforehand.

However, while all this early evidence is useful, even more compelling is the experience of those schools that have been early adopters of the initiative.  Below Jude Hanner, Principal of Sir Charles Lucas Arts College in Colchester, a National Challenge school, outlines the benefits her school has seen thanks to the programme.

"I’ve been at Sir Charles Lucas Arts College for five years now - we’re a large school, with the 1000 strong student population coming largely from the surrounding estate.  The school was recently involved in the Making Good Progress (MGP) pilot, a key part of which was the One to One Tuition Programme.  At the outset, we were somewhat cynical about the idea and weren’t sure whether it would work, in particular whether students would buy in to the idea.  However, my Team Leader for Maths at the time was passionate about the scheme and worked hard to recruit a network of tutors who ran a programme of one-to-one tuition for those children we identified as needing it most.

"It’s not an overstatement to say that the results have been nothing less than astonishing.  We have seen a significant improvement in the maths skills of those students who received one-to-one tuition.  More surprisingly, we have also seen a dramatic improvement in terms of these students’ attitudes towards learning.  These students were some of the most switched off, hard to reach individuals in the school and yet they were actively excited about attending tuition sessions and really put a lot of effort into them.  This enthusiasm has subsequently extended to other aspects of their school career and has led to many of these students really turning their prospects around.

"For many of these children, one-to-one tuition has been the first time ever that any adult has sat down with them and given them personalised help and support.  These are the students whose parents don’t help them with their homework at home, who aren’t receiving support and attention – as such, one-to-one tuition not only helps these children reach academic standards, but it also gives them the confidence and self-esteem they need to succeed.

"We are delighted in the success of our one-to-one tuition pilot and it’s fair to say that rolling this out across all of our Key Stage 3 and 4 students that would benefit is one of our key priorities going forward.  It’s great that other schools will get the opportunity to benefit from one-to-one tutors, with the programme now going nationwide and I would encourage other Principals and Headteachers to look into how the initiative could help their school."

For more information or to register your interest, visit: www.tda.gov.uk/teachers/onetoonetuition.aspx

Or call 0845 605 5002 for more information

pressoffice@voicetheunion.org.uk