Preston Lodge High in East Lothian has been running small tuition groups for students in need of extra support for several years, using the “pupil equity funding” (PEF) that goes directly from the Scottish government to schools to help them close the attainment gap.

Headteacher Gavin Clark says that, as a result of the extra help, pupils typically improve their results by an entire grade.

The coronavirus pandemic has, however, temporarily put paid to that extra support - which is delivered face-to-face. That is, until now.

Opinion: ‘Tutoring revealed assessment’s seedy underbelly to me’

Research: More than a quarter of pupils have private tutors

Attainment: Call for tutoring for care-experienced young people

Long read: How to set teacher CPD free

For the past three weeks, approximately 60 Preston Lodge High students in S4-6 have been receiving online tuition in groups of up to three, in a wide range of subjects, through a scheme set up by Queen Margaret University (QMU) in Edinburgh.

The tutoring, which is being delivered in all six East Lothian Council secondaries, and is being taken up by over 300 students in total, is provided via online tutoring organisation MyTutor and a team of 15 tutors who were recruited and trained by the university.

Coronavirus: Online tutoring helps students catch up on lost learning

MyTutor delivers English and maths support, from National 4 to Advanced Higher, with the tutors hired by QMU covering the same range of qualifications in everything from PE and music to modern languages and science.

All the tutors are graduates with prior experience of tutoring or working with young people and with at least a grade A at Higher level in the subject they are teaching - some are former teachers, others are recent graduates.

The scheme has been made possible by an award of £110,000 from funders including the STV Children’s Appeal and comes at a time when the first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has hinted that she would be open to making large-scale use of tuition to help make up for lost classroom time.

When asked about this by SNP MSP Kenneth Gibson this week during First Minister’s Questions, Ms Sturgeon said: “We are doing and will continue to do everything that we can to ensure that the impact on children’s education is minimised, and we will consider taking action beyond that which is being taken right now.”

For his part, Mr Clark says he is “positive” about the scheme - called the East Lothian Tutoring Initiative - pointing out that if it is successful, it is relatively inexpensive, costing roughly the same as two teachers at the top of the pay scale.

Mr Clark says: “One-to-one tuition is bound to have more impact than 30 to one, but that still applies to groups of two, three and four. As part of our own in-house tuition, I have taken on groups of pupils in the past and I would say it’s as much about building their confidence and giving them that individual support as it is about teaching. That’s just not possible in a group of 20 or 30.”

Originally the ambition was to take a blended approach to the tuition with MyTutor delivering online support and the tutors hired by the university meeting pupils face-to-face, says Callum Maguire, head of widening participation and outreach at QMU.

The idea was that they would act as role models and mentors, as well as supporting pupils in subjects they were struggling with.

The pandemic put paid to the plans for tutors and students to meet in person, but the move to purely online delivery has led to more students who meet the criteria - including those who qualify for free school meals, who are care experienced, or who are from a back, Asian and/or minority ethnic background - benefiting, says Mr Maguire.

“Because tutors aren’t having to travel between schools, we have a bit more capacity,” he says. “There was also concern from schools about when the sessions would be delivered because, understandably, only so many can be squeezed into the school day. But because they are online, they can be delivered in the evening, so that’s provided a lot more flexibility.”

Mr Maguire estimates that around 20 per cent of tutoring sessions - which are usually weekly and last between 45 minutes and an hour - take place after school.

Blair Jones, who is 22, graduated with a degree in international business from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow last summer. He has ambitions to become a teacher and is tutoring pupils in business studies, as well as in modern studies and PE.

He says: “I quickly realised the best thing I could do if I wanted to be a teacher was get a bit of experience. I’m loving it so far - we’re just getting into the groove, we’ve gone through the introductions and now we can get on to the value-adding stuff for them.”

The University of Strathclyde has been brought on board as “learning partner” and will assess the impact of the initiative.