Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what qualifications an individual must have to be a tutor on the National Tutoring programme.

High-quality tuition is one of the fundamental principles of the National Tutoring Programme (NTP), and we have worked closely with our delivery partners to ensure that this can be delivered across both pillars of the NTP.

There is strong evidence which suggests that additional support (delivered by highly trained tutors that may or may not be qualified teachers) can have a positive impact, and can boost pupils’ progress by up to 5 months. The NTP has been designed to provide additional capacity to schools so that teachers and existing school staff can concentrate on high-quality teaching, which we recognise will make the most difference to pupils.

Whilst each Tuition Partner is responsible for setting their own criteria for tutor qualifications, there is an expectation that tutors will be at least highly qualified graduates. We recognise that the education and experience of tutors is important to the delivery of quality tuition. However, tutors will still require training to ensure that delivery is in line with the model offered by the Tuition Partner. That is why when selecting tutoring organisations, our delivery partner, the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) took into consideration the training offer available for tutors, and funding was allocated to those organisations with robust training programmes in place for all tutors to undertake.

Individual Tuition Partners are responsible for managing their own safeguarding policies and procedures, with oversight from the EEF to ensure processes remain robust. However, all tutors are required to be enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service and Barred list checked (or best available equivalent for international tutors), and complete appropriate safeguarding training in order to work on this programme. Individual Tuition Partners are responsible for managing their own safeguarding policies and procedures, with oversight from the EEF to ensure processes remain robust and required standards are met.