London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Sep 29, 2025

National tutoring programme has failed pupils and taxpayers, says Labour

National tutoring programme has failed pupils and taxpayers, says Labour

DfE’s flagship catchup scheme for children in England has reached only 10% of this year’s target, report shows
Labour has accused the government’s flagship national tutoring programme (NTP) of failing children and taxpayers after official figures revealed take-up rates way below target.

Just 10% of this year’s target for children receiving one-to-one or small group tutoring from NTP tuition partners has been reached so far, with figures showing headteachers in England favouring their own school-led tuition programmes over the national scheme, which was controversially awarded to the Dutch multinational Randstad.

The NTP progress report coincided with the latest official school attendance figures, which showed nearly 5% of state school teachers in England were absent because of Covid infections on the very first days of the spring term.

The Department for Education (DfE) figures also revealed that more children stayed off school last week because of Covid than at the end of last term, with 315,000 students and pupils absent for Covid-related reasons – 3.9% of all pupils nationally and 14,000 more than on 16 December.

On catchup, the DfE said pupils in England began just over 300,000 tutoring courses last term and insisted that the NTP was on track to deliver its target of 2m courses this academic year.

Of those already under way, an estimated 230,000 were school-led tutoring packages, while just 52,000 were provided by the national scheme, far short of the 524,000 target for this academic year. Another strand of the national scheme, which involves tutoring through academic mentors, has so far started 20,000 courses, out of a target of 252,000.

Randstad was awarded the NTP contract last June after it put in a bid substantially lower than its rivals. A separate school-led tutoring route was also set up, with schools receiving £579m directly to employ their own catchup tutors.

The shadow schools minister, Stephen Morgan, said: “Covid learning loss threatens to limit the life chances of a generation of our children, yet the government’s flagship tutoring scheme has reached less than 10% of pupils targeted. A third of the way through the school year, this cut-price contract is failing children and the taxpayer.”

Nick Brook, the deputy general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, added: “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.”

Robin Walker, the schools minister, said: “We know there is still work to do, but it’s hugely encouraging to see so many students from all backgrounds have been directly reached through the government’s tutoring programme and I encourage all schools to take advantage of it.”

A Randstad spokesperson said: “We are really pleased to see how many pupils have already benefited from catchup tutoring through the programme this academic year. We are continuing to work closely with all of our stakeholders to ensure we deliver an ambitious and high-quality programme at pace, for schools to help their pupils whose education has been most impacted.”

On attendance, the January total includes 159,000 pupils absent with confirmed cases of Covid and 102,000 with suspected cases – but it does not include those isolating after a positive PCR test result, who are defined as ill.

More worryingly, the figures also show rising numbers of staff absences. Among teachers and school leaders, 4% were off on 6 January with a confirmed Covid infection, nearly double the 2.2% absent for the same reason on 16 December. Among teaching assistants and other school staff, 5% were off with a confirmed Covid infection, compared with just 1.5% on 16 December.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
Explosive Email Shows Sarah Ferguson Begged Forgiveness from Jeffrey Epstein After Taking His Money
Corrupt UK Politician Ed Davey Demands Elon Musk’s Arrest for Supporting Democracy
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
Alibaba Debuts Open-Source Deep Research Agent with Benchmarks Rivaling OpenAI
Marcos Faces Legacy-Defining Crisis as Flood Projects Scandal Sparks Massive Tide of Protests
China’s Micro-Drama Boom Turns Stalled Real Estate Projects into Lavish Film Sets
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
'Company Got 5,189 H-1B Visas, Then Laid Off 16,000 Americans': US Defends New $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Golf legend tells Omar she should be 'sent back to Somalia' after her Kirk comments
EU Set to Bar Big Tech from New Financial Data Access Scheme
China Bans Livestreaming and AI in Religion Amid Crackdown on Shaolin Temple Scandal
×