University-led tutoring for children should be used nationwide to help narrow widening school attainment gaps, experts from the University of Exeter and UPP Foundation have said.
Results from a pilot programme shows pairing university students and pupils can be a “win-win-win model” – boosting attainment amongst less advantaged children, giving students invaluable life experience and skills, and helping to revitalise local communities.
Children who took part in the pilot showed a 100 per cent improvement in their basic writing skills.
A new guide has been published to encourage other universities to establish university-led tutoring to help raise attainment amongst less advantaged school pupils.
The Year 8 pupils who received tutoring had a 100 per cent increase in test scores when taking a pre- and post-tutoring assessment.
Professor Lee Elliot Major and Dr Anne-Marie Sim, from the Centre for Social Mobility at the University of Exeter, ran the pilot with teachers at St James School in Exeter, which is part of the local Ted Wragg Trust.
