In the summer of 2020 the government announced a 16 to 19 Tuition Fund for the academic year 2020/21. This one-off £96 million fund was aimed at mitigating the disruption to learning arising from the COVID-19 coronavirus.
The funding was intended to support small group tuition for 16 to 19 students in English, Maths and other courses where learning has been disrupted. The Tuition Fund was targeted on supporting those who had not achieved grade 5 or above in GCSE English and/or Maths by age 16 with priority given to those students who had not achieved a grade 4 in English and/or Maths.
The College’s use of the Tuition Fund
The government requires that the Tuition Fund to be used to support tuition activity above and beyond the programmes of education already planned for 2020/21. In line with educational research on what works best, the government expects colleges and schools to use resources on small group tuition.
The College believes strongly in individual and small group support. It has a track record of putting in place Curriculum Plus support for learners across the board. As part of its COVID-19 timetable, Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons are currently ringfenced for subject support and intervention workshops including individual and small group support. MAPP Intervention work supports all students but benefits most those affected by COVID-19 related disruption.
The College plans to supplement three subject support sessions and use the Tuition Fund allocation in two ways:
1) The College is providing one-to-one and small group tuition for English and Maths GSCE students.
2) The College is running smaller group sizes for those students doing English and Maths GSCE. The government’s published performance tables show that students at the College get excellent results in English and Maths GCSE as a result of outstanding teaching.
We recognise that the disruption caused by COVID-19 means that students this year require enhanced support.
