Tutoring has always been a part of the educational landscape, although often with an unspoken antipathy between schools and tutors - perhaps as the latter’s existence seemed to imply a failure of the former to meet pupils’ (or really, parents’) educational needs.

Now, though, tutoring is seen with a more open-minded view that recognises it sits within a suite of educational offerings beyond school, similar to countless online resources or apps.

Perhaps the biggest change came during the pandemic from the National Tutoring Programme (NTP), which was central to the government’s catch-up efforts.

Department for Education statistics estimate 5,324,213 tutoring courses have been started by pupils through the NTP since it started in November 2020 and 50.1 per cent of state schools participated in the NTP in the 2023-24 academic year.

Many have argued this tutoring offer should continue given the benefits it can offer - although that remains to be seen.

Tutoring guidance

Nonetheless, the DfE clearly seemed aware tutoring is becoming more commonplace, with new guidance issued in May providing a simple overview of best practice approaches.

One key element was the recommendation staff in the school should help support its “effective implementation”.

Much of this is written through the lens of the school providing its own additional tutoring but the reality is tutoring will mostly come from external individuals or organisations.

In the private sector, this is especially true - and where that aforementioned antipathy often resided.

Now, though, private schools are increasingly using tutoring to play an important role in helping provide support for more specialist subjects the school cannot meet through a full-time teacher, such as A-level computing, German or Latin.

Given this, and in light of the DfE’s new guidance, it seems important that tutoring is considered again in two ways:

1. Alignment

Tutoring is most effective when tutors reinforce and support what is going on in school - something outlined by the Education Endowment Foundation: “Tuition is more likely to make an impact if it is additional to and explicitly linked with normal lessons.”

As such, it makes sense for schools and tutors to work together in more formal partnerships where schools recommend tutors whose methods and approaches align with those found in the classroom.

This should also ensure tutors know what students are learning for exams and do not bring in entirely new texts or historical areas of focus - something I have seen occur and often cause students to answer questions they have not covered in school, and miss university offers as a result.

The issue of consistency of approach is particularly important in the case of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Schools will have an individual learning plan (ILP) in place for pupils with SEND.

It is particularly important any tutor supporting a pupil with SEND follows the ILP and their contributions support the methods and approach given by the school, rather than employing an alternative one.

2. Regulation

Given the new recognition of the role tutoring plays in the educational ecosystem, it is remarkable private tutoring remains unregulated.

While tutors who are employed by schools are subject to the same standard levels of safeguarding checks as other teachers, private tutors are not required to be registered or approved by any statutory organisation.

This means they do not have to be qualified teachers and are not subject to standard safeguarding requirements, such as having an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

As such, parents have to undertake their own vetting of potential tutors.

The DfE should establish a central register of tutors who meet the same standards in terms of qualifications and safeguarding required to teach in a school.

The aim of this register would be to provide parents with reliable, verified information on which they could make decisions about the suitability of potential tutors.

This approach is supported by The Tutors’ Association, a voluntary organisation founded in 2013, which represents 50,000 tutors and provides a DBS vetting service for its members.

While it remains voluntary, it is a situation that seems to leave a large safeguarding issue at the heart of a key part of the educational landscape - and that now the time has come to rectify.

Mark S Steed is the interim principal and CEO of Stamford School in Lincolnshire. He previously ran independent schools in Devon and Hertfordshire and international schools in Dubai and Hong Kong

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