Academic year 2023/24

National Tutoring Programme

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See all updates (2) for Academic year 2023/24

  1. Updated data on number of courses started and school participation based on the May 2024 School Census and pupil characteristics based on the January 2024 School Census.

  2. Updated to include in-year statistics based on the January 2024 School Census and correct the in-year courses started data. This publication was delayed from the original announced date of 18th April 2024 to allow sufficient time for quality assurance of the statistics alongside data for final NTP allocations to schools for 2022/23AY published by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA).

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Introduction

This publication contains statistics for the delivery of the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) by schools in England during the 2023/24 academic year. The updated publication in July 2024 includes estimates for the:

  • number of tutoring courses started during the academic year up to 16 May 2024
  • percentages of schools participating in the NTP during the academic year up to 16 May 2024
  • number of courses started through the NTP since it started in the 2020/21 academic year up to 16 May 2024

  • characteristics of pupils that had received tutoring during the 2023/24 academic year up to 18 January 2024

    The 2023/24 academic year is the fourth and final year of the National Tutoring Programme. As a result, the next update to the National Tutoring Programme statistics, which is planned for December 2024, will be the final publication of this release.
     

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Methodologies

Headline facts and figures - 2023/24

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About the National Tutoring Programme

The National Tutoring Programme (NTP) is a scheme that provided state- funded primary and secondary schools in England with funding to spend on targeted academic support through one-to-one or small group tuition from the 2020/21 to 2023/24 academic year.

It aims to support those pupils most affected by disruption to their education as a result of the coronavirus (COVID- 19), in particular to improve the attainment of disadvantaged pupils.

The 2023/24 academic year is the fourth and final year of the NTP.

In the 2023/24 academic year there were 3 routes for schools to provide subsidised tuition through the National Tutoring Programme:

  • academic mentors – full-time, in-house staff members employed to provide intensive support to pupils who need it
  • tuition partners – tutors recruited by external tutoring organisations quality- assured by DfE
  • school-led tutoring – members of a school’s own personnel, either currently employed or specifically engaged for this purpose, including retired, returning or supply teachers, support staff, and others

In 2023/24, the funding provided through the National Tutoring Programme is intended to subsidise up to 50% of the cost of tuition with schools covering the rest of the cost through other budgets. In the previous academic year, the subsidy rate was 60%.

In 2023/24, mainstream schools receive a minimum of £67.50 per pupil premium eligible pupil, and non-mainstream schools receive a minimum of £176.25 per pupil premium-eligible pupil. In the previous academic year, mainstream schools received a minimum of £162 per pupil premium-eligible pupil, and non-mainstream schools received a minimum of £423 per pupil premium-eligible pupil.

Funding allocations are calculated based on the number of pupils eligible for pupil premium. The Education and Skills Funding Agency has published the allocation of funding for schools and local authorities for the 2023/24 academic year (opens in a new tab).

Further information is available in the guidance for schools 2023 to 2024 document (opens in a new tab).

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About this statistics publication

This publication contains statistics for the delivery of the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) by schools in England during the 2023/24 academic year. The updated publication in July 2024 includes estimates for the:

  • number of tutoring courses started during the academic year up to 16 May 2024
  • percentages of schools participating in the NTP during the academic year up to 16 May 2024
  • number of courses started through the NTP since it started in the 2020/21 academic year up to 16 May 2024
  • characteristics of pupils that had received tutoring during the 2023/24 academic year up to 18 January 2024

The 2023/24 academic year is the fourth and final year of the National Tutoring Programme. As a result, the next update to the National Tutoring Programme statistics, which is planned for December 2024, will be the final publication of this release. It will contain statistics on the delivery of the programme during the entire 2023/24 academic year, and the number of courses delivered during the full duration of the programme.

Pupil characteristics for the delivery of tutoring from January 2024 onwards are reported for male and female based on sex. Prior to this male and female is based on gender. This change is due to a change in the data items contained within the School Census.

Please note that the statistics about course starts and school participation provided in the July 2024 publication update for the 2023/24 academic year are based on responses to the School Census and do not cover the entire academic year. As a result, the estimated number of courses and school participation rate are expected to increase during the academic year, and any comparisons of these variables across academic years should be made with the equivalent point during the academic year.

The data sources and methodology for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years are consistent with one another, though users should take care if drawing comparison across other academic years, for example due to changes in data sources and methodologies. Previously, for in-year statistics during 2021/22, there were three separate data collection mechanisms for each of the three NTP routes (academic mentors, tuition partners, school-led tutoring). From the 2022/23 academic year, DfE simplified its process for collecting data from schools to inform statistics about the NTP by utilising the School Census (for in- year data) and Year End Statement (for end-year data) only.

Data contained in the December 2023 and May 2024 updates for this statistical release can be accessed via the explore data option or downloading the data. Data for other academic years can be accessed by viewing other releases in this series.

Further information is provided in the methodology page accompanying this release.

Please note that the in-year estimated course starts based on the October 2023 School Census that were initially published in December 2023 have been corrected. This was because of an issue which meant that the number of hours for outliers were not adjusted in line with the methodology. This affected the calculation of the number of tutoring courses started within the academic year. The data has now been corrected. As a result, the estimated number of courses started within the academic year as of the Autumn, Spring and Summer School Census in 2022/23 and the Autumn School Census in 2023/24 have been revised downwards. Other variables and year-end statistics are not affected.

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Number of courses started

Since the NTP started

Since the start of the National Tutoring Programme in November 2020, up to 16 May 2024, DfE estimates that 5,637,893 tutoring courses have been started by pupils in England.

To estimate the total number of tutoring courses delivered through the NTP to date, the number of courses started by pupils during the 2023/24 academic year so far is added to the estimated number of courses delivered in completed academic years. Pupils may undertake more than one course.

Table showing tutoring courses started by pupils on NTP since November 2020 up to 16 May 2024
Time period2020 to 20212021 to 20222022 to 20232023 to 2024 *Total 
Tutoring courses started by pupils on NTP310,7172,215,3862,142,822968,9685,637,893
  1. Figures may not always sum to totals exactly, due to rounding. 
  2. This data contains estimates of courses started by pupils during 2023/24 up to the Summer School Census on 16 May 2024, and courses delivered in completed academic years.

During the 2023/24 academic year

An estimated 968,968 NTP courses have been started by pupils in the 2023/24 academic year up to 16 May 2024. This is an increase from 655,288 courses started as of the Spring School Census date on 18 January 2024. The latest data compares to 1,301,943 at the equivalent point (May School Census 2023) in the previous academic year. For the NTP 2022/23 academic year statistics, see the National Tutoring Programme, Academic year 2022/23.

Estimates of the number of NTP courses delivered during 2023/24 to pupils in each region and by school phase are presented in the tables below. Data for local authorities can be accessed via the Explore Data function or downloading the data.

Please note that the in-year estimated course starts based on the October 2023 School Census that were initially published in December 2023 have been corrected in the May 2024 publication. Please see the About this statistics publication for details. 

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School Participation in NTP

An estimated 57.8% of schools have participated in the National Tutoring Programme during the 2023 to 2024 academic year up to the Summer School Census date on 16 May 2024. This compares to 76.0% at the equivalent point in the 2022/23 academic year. This is an increase from 50.1% of schools that participated as of the Spring School Census date on 18 January.

Not every school is eligible for funding through the NTP, for example because they may not have pupils that are eligible for pupil premium. To find out more information about eligibility see the guidance for schools 2023/24 (opens in a new tab) and the allocation of funding to schools for the 2023 to 2024 academic year (opens in a new tab).

A school is considered to participate where it has reported that pupils have received tutoring through the school census, the school has been allocated funding to deliver tutoring through the NTP, and the school is not identified as an outlier. Schools that have not been allocated NTP funding are included in the total number of schools that is used to calculate the percentage of schools that are participating; this is to make comparison with previous years more consistent and because funding allocations can change throughout the year. Please see the methodology for further information.

Estimates for school participation in the NTP by region and local authority are presented below.

The participation rate was higher among secondary schools (74.8%) than primary schools (55.4%) and other schools (45.6%). As context, in England there are more primary schools than secondary schools, and on average primary schools are smaller than secondary schools.

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Characteristics of Pupils Receiving Tutoring through NTP

This section provides statistics on the characteristics of pupils who have received tutoring through the National Tutoring Programme during the academic year 2023/24 up to 18 January 2024 based on responses to the Spring 2024 School Census. More details on how these estimates are produced can be found in the methodology (opens in a new tab).

As context, the NTP guidance to schools for 2023/24 (opens in a new tab) expected schools to target tutoring towards pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium (PP) or who are below the expected standard or grade boundary in an applicable subject, but recognises that tuition may be used to support a variety of pupils’ needs. The NTP therefore provides a flexibility so that schools can develop tutoring that suits their requirements.

47.8% of the pupils that have received tutoring were known to have been eligible for free school meals during the previous 6 years. By comparison, 45.5% of pupils that received tutoring during the previous academic year (2022/23) had been eligible for free school meals during the previous 6 years (FSM6) based on the Summer School Census in May 2023. As context, it is estimated that 26.9% of all pupils in England had been eligible for FSM at any time during past 6 years, as of the 2022/23 academic year (Source: Schools, pupils and their characteristics; Academic Year 2022/23).

30.2% of the pupils that have received tutoring through the NTP were known to have special educational needs. By comparison, as of the Summer School Census in May 2023, 25.9% of pupils that received tutoring during the 2022/23 academic year were known to have special educational needs.

Estimates of the percentage of pupils who received tutoring based on free school meal status, sex, special educational needs and ethnicity are presented in the tables below.

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Help and support

Methodology

Find out how and why we collect, process and publish these statistics.

Official statistics in development

These statistics are undergoing a development. They have been developed under the guidance of the Head of Profession for Statistics and published to involve users and stakeholders at an early stage in assessing their suitability and quality.

They have been produced as far as possible in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics.

This can be broadly interpreted to mean that these statistics are:

  • managed impartially and objectively in the public interest
  • meet identified user needs
  • produced according to sound methods
  • well explained and readily accessible

Find out more about the standards we follow to produce these statistics through our Standards for official statistics published by DfE guidance.

Contact us

If you have a specific enquiry about National Tutoring Programme statistics and data:

NTP Analysis

Email: ntp.statistics@education.gov.uk
Contact name: John Appleton

Press office

If you have a media enquiry:

Telephone: 020 7783 8300

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If you have a general enquiry about the Department for Education (DfE) or education:

Telephone: 037 0000 2288

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