Schools should be given more control over Covid catch-up tutoring, the government’s recovery tsar has said.

Sir Kevan Collins said today that he wants to introduce a “third way into tutoring”, whereby schools would identify who they want to deliver the support.

As it stands, schools can access subsidised catch-up sessions from a list of approved providers through the government-funded National Tutoring Programme (NTP).

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Schools in disadvantaged areas also have the option to employ “academic mentors”, trained by Teach First, to deliver one-to-one and small group tutoring on site.

However, Sir Kevan said today that schools will “hopefully” have the option to choose their own tutors in future.

Speaking at today’s Schools North East Curriculum Conference, the Covid education recovery commissioner said: “We want to have a third way into tutoring, where schools identify who they want to be the tutors themselves but they are verified and qualified.

“We cannot let go of quality in tutoring, it’s really important...but there will be a new route in, hopefully, which will be schools choosing people to be verified and qualified - I know that’s been an issue.”

He added that the option to access subsidised sessions through the NTP will still be available.

“There will be the market as well, where you can pull people down from the providers, if you want to - [it would be] up to you as a school, choosing that mixed market,” he said.