To encourage greater uptake of NTP funding during what’s left of the academic year, the Department for Education has offered schools a new set of options for engaging with its flagship catch up programme.
Following April’s announcement that schools can use NTP funding to put on tutoring activities over the summer, the DfE is now suggesting that schools have more flexibility with the 15-hour package on offer for each pupil than previously thought.
An email sent to school leaders has advised schools to consider “pupil swapping”: splitting up each package between pupils “depending on need”. This might mean one pupil who had fallen significantly behind would receive nine hours of tutoring, while another, slightly higher-performing pupil would receive six.
The DfE also proposes that schools may wish to extend the length of sessions beyond an hour, and allow each pupil to benefit from more than one session per week.
A new focus on flexibility
It is no accident that these changes precede the NTP’s shift in the 2022/23 academic year to a default funding model that routes money straight to schools.
Since its introduction, the School-Led Tutoring Grant route has significantly outperformed the previous Tuition Partner and Academic Mentor strands in driving uptake of the NTP. The DfE has clearly inferred that the key to generating buy-in is to give schools the maximum amount of flexibility to run tuition programmes their own way.
You can read more about next year’s funding model and its rationale in our explainer here.
Use it or lose it
The DfE’s objective is to urge schools to complete ‘as many packages as possible before the end of August’, when the money will be recouped and the next funding round will begin.
There will be no second chance to take advantage of the present funding if schools do not do so over the remainder of the summer term and into the holidays.
Protocol Education has been providing fully integrated tutoring programmes to schools and local authorities since the NTP’s inception. We will be hitting the ground running all this summer to help schools use their funding before it runs out.
Our tuition managers are on hand to consult with you on how to get the most out of your funding streams. We are ready to help you take advantage of these new flexibilities and build end-to-end tutoring programmes that raise pupil attainment.
