The tuition gap between rich and poor families in England has almost disappeared thanks to the government’s pandemic recovery programme, but funding cuts threaten to widen it once more, according to a new report.
The Sutton Trust disclosed that the government’s national tutoring programme (NTP), which targeted extra help for disadvantaged pupils through their schools, has almost eradicated the gap in access to tuition enjoyed by wealthier families.
Research by the trust, which campaigns for greater social mobility through education, found that 32% of children in the worst-off households reported taking up extra tuition in school, compared with 22% in the most well-off families.
Once private tuition was included, the trust found that 39% of those from the most well-off households were tutored last year, compared with 37% from the worst-off households.
