Commenting as the government releases new data on the number of National Tutoring Programme courses started since the programme began in 2020, Nick Brook, deputy general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“Schools have told us that they find accessing tuition support through the National Tutoring Programme confusing and difficult. The numbers for the national scheme are, without question, disappointingly low.

“However, despite these problems with the national scheme, today's figures suggest that schools are stepping forward to arrange their own tutoring support for pupils, using the more flexible school-led tutoring grant. Despite funding only being made available in the Autumn term and training for tutors only being available from November, schools have done well to commence tuition for nearly a quarter of a million pupils. This shows real appetite for tutoring but that schools aren’t finding the national route accessible.

“Unfortunately, the story behind these numbers is that there are still many children that would benefit from tutoring support who are not getting it. Too many schools report that there are simply no tutors available that meet their needs. The government's tutoring revolution risks stalling unless more is done to ensure that high quality, easy-to-access tutoring support is available to every school, for all pupils that need it, in every single part of the country.”