Finding the right tutor to close the gap

As a result of school closures, a pivot to home learning, and the general fallout of the pandemic, teachers and students are playing catch up. The education gap that existed pre Covid-19 has only deepened and widened, with those from less economically well off families and with special educational needs falling further behind. A conservative estimate is that around a third of learning days and output were lost during the pandemic and lockdowns, and ten million children were affected by the lockdowns. This year teenager’s reading skills have fallen even further.

As a result schools and teachers are playing catch up. The government put in steps to mitigate this, by opening a contract with supplier Randstad to supply tutors to help meet that gap. The National Tutoring Programme (NTP), introduced in 2020 as part of a £5bn recovery plan, enabled schools to choose pupils they believed would most benefit from either tutored or group tuition, with 15 hours available for each student.

Yet performance has not been as successful as hoped. MPs say it has only reached 52,000 courses so far – a small 10% of the year’s target for tutoring courses. Bureaucracy and complications has meant that schools just can’t access the vital funds and get the right tutors for their students’ needs.

So it’s time for a rethink.

Teachers and schools know their students and pupils needs best. And the government has figured this out. The funding to arrange catch up tutoring will start going straight to schools in England from September. The Department for Education (DfE) has said that £349m of tutoring funding for the 2022-23 academic year will go directly to schools to “simplify the system and give schools the freedom to decide how best to provide tutoring for their children”. This will enable them to select the right tutor at the right time, and monitor progress in line with desired outcomes.

So how can schools get ahead of the game? By working with Impact Teachers. Here are few reasons why.

Identify gaps

 Every school has different strengths and different weaknesses. By auditing your school’s strengths and looking at what your pupils do well, you can also identify any gaps. This helps highlight where time and money should be invested to play catch up. Then you can find a specialist tutor who will be able to work with you in a specific area. We have tutors who focus on particular subjects, sectors, and education needs, so you know you’re getting the right person for the job.

Quality assurance

Not all tutors are equal. It’s essential to make sure that you’re getting good quality and safe tutoring. By partnering with an agency such as Impact Teachers, you know you have access to great tutors who are specialists in their field and fully vetted as we perform extensive background and compliance checks on every single tutor who registers with us.

Streamline process

Agencies help remove a lot of the admin pressure that comes with finding tutors. If you’re spending time on paperwork, you’re not in the classroom teaching. It’s a much more time and thus in the long term cost effective option to outsource. Our turnaround time is fast, from booking to the tutor being in the classroom, so you won’t waste time.

If you want to know more about how working with Impact Teachers can help you find the right tutor and close that attainment gap, get in touch with Director and Co-Founder Jen Rosati.

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