Far fewer poorer pupils than expected received tutoring under the flagship catch-up scheme last year, ministers have revealed after a four-month freedom of information battle.
The Dutch HR company Randstad was axed from running the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) last year after slow take-up in the routes it was responsible for.
Sixty-five per cent of the tutoring provided under the tuition partners’ arm – the key catch-up route run by Randstad – was supposed to reach disadvantaged pupils.
But internal performance reports obtained under FOI by Schools Week suggest just 49 per cent of tutoring reached pupil premium pupils, hitting as low as 30 per cent in the north east.
Randstad failed to meet its 65 per cent disadvantage target every month last year for the tuition partners’ strand, where schools paid for catch-up sessions with accredited organisations, the reports show.
