A £2.3 million mentoring scheme to reduce absence reached less than half of the intended children in its first year, and only half of those reached saw attendance improve.
Launched in 2022, the Department for Education said its mentoring pilot would support “500 to 1,000 pupils” in its first year across Middlesbrough.
The charity Barnardo’s was awarded the contract, which has since been extended to cover five further areas. A £15 million expansion is planned to reach 10,000 pupils.
But an official evaluation of the first year of the Watchtower Project pilot by York Consulting, published today, found just 223 pupils progressed to receive support through the scheme.
