This section of the methodology relates to statistics for the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) during the 2023/24 academic year, which is the fourth and final year of the NTP.
Overview and data sources
Funding for the NTP is allocated to schools to subsidise tutoring. Funding is based on the number of pupil premium (PP) students in the school. Funding allocations to schools for the 2023/24 academic year are published here (opens in a new tab).
For any statistics in the NTP statistical release that relate to the delivery of tutoring within the academic year, data is collected through the School Census. In 2023/24, the School Census takes place in Autumn 2023 (5th October 2023), Spring 2024 (18th January 2024), and Summer 2023 (16th May 2024). Data on NTP delivery is collected through two pupil level data items (opens in a new tab):
- whether the pupil had received tutoring through any of the three NTP routes and
- how many cumulative hours of tutoring (to the closest 0.5 hours) the pupil had received up to the day of the census.
Rounding
For variables in this publication, rounding (for example, adjusting a value to the nearest whole number or first decimal place) takes place as the final step in calculating the statistics. Therefore, the sum of statistics across categories may not match (for example, the sum of courses in each Local Authority may not match the total number of courses for England).
Comparing statistics across time periods
Please note that in-year statistics 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 comparisons of the variables for the volume of tutoring delivered 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.
Courses started since the start of the programme
To estimate the number of courses that have been started across the entire National Tutoring Programme since November 2020, we add the estimated courses delivered across the 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23 academic years and the latest number of courses started during the 2023/24 academic year.
Starts on Courses by Pupils, 2023/24 in-year
Within the academic year, pupil level data from the School Census is used to estimate the number of courses started.
For in-year statistics, where a pupil is reported as receiving up to 16 hours, we consider them to have started one course, above this we consider them to have started two courses. This is in line with NTP guidance to schools suggesting a course should be between 12 and 15 hours, with an additional margin of one hour above 15 hours to avoid counting marginal cases.
If a school has reported tutored hours or tutored pupils more than three times its funding allocation then it is considered to be an outlier. For outliers, we replace the reported number of hours (pupils) at the school level with the school’s allocation of hours (pupils) multiplied by the average ratio of reported hours to allocated hours (pupils) for all other schools that were not identified as outliers. For outliers, we then estimate the average hours per tutored pupil at the school using the replaced number of hours at school level divided by the replaced number of tutored pupils at school level. We assume each tutored pupil received one course if this is less than 16 hours and two courses if above 16 hours.
The number of courses at school level is then aggregated across the relevant category (for example, geographic area or school phase).
Not all courses delivered to pupils were 15 hours long. The School Census does not record how many courses a pupil has received. The School Census provides data on whether a pupil is in receipt of tutoring and the number of hours of tutoring per pupil. A pupil may have started multiple courses, for example they may have received 8 hours of tutoring in total consisting of 4 hours of tutoring in two separate courses for different academic subjects. As a result, the statistics estimate that ‘at least’ a given number of courses have started during the academic year.
Within the academic year it is possible that a pupil may be part way through a tutoring course, so statistics on courses delivered are not provided.
School Participation, 2023/24 in-year
For in-year estimates, a school is identified as participating if it received a funding allocation for the NTP and reported tutored pupils through the School Census.
The percentage of school participation is estimated by dividing the total number of participating schools in a category (for example geographic area or school phase) by the total number of schools (as defined in ‘Other Notes’) within the same category.
Funding allocations for schools in 2023/24 are published here (opens in a new tab). It is important to note that a small number of schools have been given no funding for the NTP during the academic year, however we have kept these schools in the denominator to make comparison to NTP figures across years more consistent, for example as those schools would have been eligible for funding under the Tuition Partners route earlier in the programme. The total number of schools can change through time, for example as schools open and close.
Pupil Characteristics, 2023/24 in-year
The statistics on pupil characteristics included in the publication use information on whether individual pupils received tutoring from the next to most recent School Census, and combine this with contextual information about individual pupils including their personal characteristics from the latest available Spring School Census. This approach is taken as some pupil characteristics variables are only updated once a year in the Spring School Census and there is a lag in the availability of the pupil characteristics data following the School Census date, for example to allow for data verification. For example, the pupil characteristics labelled as January 2024 (first published in July 2024) are based on whether a pupil received tutoring as of the Spring School Census in January 2024, and information on pupils' characteristics from the Spring School Census in January 2024.
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.
If a school has reported hours or pupils more than three times its funding allocation then it is considered to be an outlier. For outliers, we replace the estimated number of tutored pupils in that school with the school’s funding allocation multiplied by the average ratio of reported tutored pupils to allocated pupils for all other schools that were not identified as outliers. Similarly, for any outlier school we replace the number of tutored pupils from each characteristic group with the replaced number of tutored pupils in that school multiplied by the proportion of tutored pupils from that characteristic group for all non-outlier schools.
After correcting for outliers, the percentage of tutoring provided to each pupil characteristic group is then calculated as the number of pupils identified as receiving tutoring with a particular characteristic in a category (e.g. at local authority level) divided by the total number of pupils receiving tutoring in that category. Percentages are then rounded to the nearest first decimal place.
Please refer to the School Census (opens in a new tab) for further details of specific variables used to identify pupil characteristics. In summary:
- Eligibility for free school meals (FSM) during the previous six years: at each census the school records whether a pupil is in receipt of free school meals on the day of the census. Pupil records across census are matched after the Spring census each year to create a longitudinal record of FSM eligibility over six years.
- Sex: for School Census purposes sex in the 2023/24 school census is recorded as female or male. Prior to data from the Spring 2023/24 School Census (i.e. estimates prior to statistics labelled as January 2024 in this release), these statistics reported on male and female using the gender variable in the School Census.
- Special Educational Needs Provision: this is recorded by the school and includes pupils with special educational needs support or those with Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans.
- Ethnicity: is self-declared by a parent/guardian or the pupil. The statistics use the following six major groups: Any Other Ethnic Group, Asian, Black, Mixed, Unclassified and White. The unclassified group includes pupils where the information was not returned to the school or where the information was refused.