Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the financial costs are, aside from pensions and National Insurance contributions for employees, for schools seeking to take part in the National Tutoring Programme.

The National Tutoring Programme (NTP) will provide targeted support for disadvantaged and vulnerable children and young people who need the most help as a result of the disruption to their education caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

The programme consists of two main parts and is heavily subsidised by the Government. One part is the provision of Academic Mentors. Our most disadvantaged schools will be able to access a full-time Academic Mentor to join their staff to support tutoring. The Government will pay the salary costs in full, with schools only required to pay on-costs, for example, pension contributions.

A second part is support through Tutoring Partners. Schools will be able to access tutoring support from approved organisations to provide small group or individual tutoring. This is subsidised at 75%, meaning schools need only provide 25% of costs which can be met through additional catch-up premium funding provided by the Government.

We are providing a £650 million universal catch-up premium for all schools. This funding can be spent by schools in any way that best meets the needs of their pupils, including to support any additional costs that may occur from participating in the NTP.

In addition, schools will continue to receive their Pupil Premium funding, meaning that schools with a larger proportion of Pupil Premium pupils will receive larger amounts of funding which can also be used to provide tutoring and other support for those that need it the most.