The Government should renew funding for its flagship tutoring programme to help children who have fallen behind, education leaders have urged.
Failing to embed tutoring as a core part of the future education system would be a “national travesty”, a social mobility expert has suggested.
Funding for the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) – which aims to help pupils in England recover learning missed because of Covid-19 disruption – is expected to end this academic year.
An analysis by consultancy Public First, which looks at the NTP in the academic years 2021/22 and 2022/23, predicts the scheme will produce substantial economic returns.
Pupils who achieved better grades after they received the tutoring in these two years are estimated to boost the economy by more than £4 billion thanks to their higher lifetime earnings potential, according to the report.
A group of educationalists has called on the Government to continue to invest in the NTP next year and beyond.
Alun Francis, chair of the Social Mobility Commission (SMC), said: “The findings of this report into the economic impact of tutoring, and the benefits it brings to young people in terms of achievement and confidence, are very encouraging.
“It suggests that, if targeted in the right way, tutoring can make a significant contribution to equalising opportunity and improving outcomes.
“We need long-term, consistent approaches built on interventions which have a strong evidence base and on this basis would urge the Government to maintain its commitment to funding this provision.”
Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter said: “This report confirms that high-quality tutoring is one of the most cost-effective approaches we have at our disposal in levelling the education playing field.
