AoC responds to Liberal Democrats' £390m tutoring pledge

Julian Gravatt, Deputy Chief Executive of Association of Colleges, said:

“We are pleased to see the Liberal Democrats call for tutoring to become a permanent fixture in England's education system and pledge £390 million for intensive small-group sessions for students who have fallen behind in class.

“As things stand, the Department for Education’s 16-19 tuition fund is set to end in Summer 2024. Unlike with the National Tutoring Programme, the department distributed this fund directly to colleges and other providers, and since 2020, tens of thousands of students have benefitted from extra English and maths support.

“The need for extra funding to support post-16 English and maths will only grow. This September has seen 16-18 enrolment increase in many further education colleges, which means that an estimated 40,000 more students than last year need to resit their English GCSE, and 20,000 more need to resit their maths GCSE.

“It is clear that next summer would be a particularly bad time to end the 16-19 tuition fund, and therefore, we welcome discussion about extending or improving it.

“We know that the pandemic has had a negative impact on young people right across all stages of education. It is better to take action to help them while they are still in education, rather than letting them move into adult life without the skills they need.”