Almost half of school leaders say the government’s national tutoring programme (NTP), set up to help pupils in England catch up after Covid, is not cost-effective, according to a new survey.
Most senior leaders who took part in the poll (58%) said they did not regard tuition as a long-term solution to closing the attainment gap for disadvantaged pupils.
Those who have already quit the scheme or are considering doing so blame costs as the government’s subsidy goes down, while problems sourcing tutors and the administrative burden of the scheme are also deterrents.
Overall, seven out of 10 said their school was either currently using the NTP (52%) or had previously used it (18%). Of those still participating, almost two-thirds said they plan to continue in the academic year ahead, while a further 18% said they were planning to stop at the end of the current year.
“This means that among the 70% of senior leaders who reported that they were currently or had previously used the NTP, more than half (51%) are likely to have dropped out by the end of the current academic year,” the report said.
