Responding to a new report by Public First showing the economic value of the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) and call to renew the funding for it, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“Our members tell us about the positive impact that tutoring can have, especially for disadvantaged pupils. But with the future of the National Tutoring Programme uncertain, and with the current subsidies coming to an end this year, many schools are unable to access this valuable intervention.

“We would agree that funding for this programme should be renewed – though it is important that if the government is to continue with the scheme, it puts its full faith in it, and invests more than it has done, to allow all schools and pupils access. Schools should also be entrusted to determine how best to use funding for their pupils, rather than being constrained by government’s bureaucratic and arbitrary rules.”