Ofsted to inspect Tutoring, while North East schools remain cautious about NTP
Ofsted to inspect Tutoring in schools while North East schools remain cautious about NTP
The Department for Education has requested Ofsted inspect tutoring within schools, as part of the government’s catch-up plan.
Ofsted has been instructed to examine “the overall quality of tutoring offered by schools and 16 to 19 providers”. Of particular interest is that they also have a specific focus on whether or not it is helping children to catch up with the learning they may have lost out on during the pandemic. As well as teachers’ professional development, the effectiveness of tutoring – from both those tutors hired directly by the school and those provided through the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) – will be investigated.
Ofsted has been given the task of scrutinising:
- The rationale behind the selection of pupils who require tutoring;
- What the selection criteria is for recruiting tutors;
- Whether the content delivered by tutors aligns with the school’s curriculum; and
- Whether the students being tutored would be able to learn more effectively in their normal lessons.
Prior to this announcement, Schools North East had invited NE school leaders to participate in a poll this week, regarding their views on the National Tutoring Programme and the impact it has had on schools in the region.
Of schools surveyed, 60% said they were engaging with the National Tutoring Programme (NTP). When we asked the same question in March 2021 (prior to the inclusion of grant funding for school-led tutoring), just under half of schools were engaging with the NTP.
Those schools that aren’t engaging with the NTP cite issues relating to access to suitable tutors, especially in more rural areas. More commonly, schools prefer to use their own staff to provide additional support, as they have in-depth knowledge of the needs of their students. Schools have also found it difficult to engage students with external tutors. These schools are mostly still providing one-to-one and small group tutoring options, delivering interventions both during and outside of school hours, focusing on both academic ‘catch-up’ and the impact of the pandemic on emotional and mental health.
Of those schools engaging with the NTP, 60% are using the school-led tutoring option, with 40% engaging with tuition partners element and 30% using academic mentors, highlighting the value placed on the flexibility for schools to use their own staff to identify areas of intervention. Most of these NTP interventions are targeted at younger years, especially at KS2 in preparation for SATs and transition. However, most responses noted that there are gaps across all year groups, with those in Year 11 and 13 also requiring additional support in preparation for exams following two years of interrupted schooling.
Almost two thirds of schools engaging with the NTP reported issues of accessibility. All schools facing these issues reported problems of tutor availability. Another notable concern was what funding schools would receive to support tutoring.
75% of schools said that the quality of provision is not at the levels they would ideally want. This mostly related to a lack of availability of tutors last year, with schools feeling that the situation was much improved due to introducing the option of school-led tutoring. The use of school staff to identify and deliver interventions has improved access and quality of provision, with school ‘catch-up’ plans working well and avoiding negative impacts relating to issues of access and quality of external tutors.
The North East’s views on the NTP have shifted substantially since January of 2021. Following Schools North East’s ‘State of the Region’ survey, fewer than 20% of respondents had then engaged with the programme, when it was also noted that, while the approach may be successful in London and the South, it does not have the same impact in the North East. Again, reasons cited included schools being reluctant to utilise external staff, as they had no existing relationships with students, as well as issues regarding access to digital devices and the internet to enable virtual tuition, further underlining the importance of Schools North East’s call for the digital divide to be addressed for children in our region.
Our Ofsted Update is happening on Thursday 25th November. For more information, click here