A guide to effective tutoring approaches in schools has been published pulling together the latest evidence on what works.

One-to-one and small group tutoring is playing a key part in many schools’ on-going Covid recovery efforts.

The guide has been produced by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), whose Teaching and Learning Toolkit shows that if tuition is high-quality and aligned to classroom teaching, pupils can make up to five months additional progress.

It can be particularly effective for socio-economically disadvantaged pupils too.

The new EEF guide offers practical advice to support schools to ensure tutoring has a positive impact. The guide also includes insights from school leaders about how tutoring has been put in place in their settings.

The guide focuses on three central principles:

  • Selecting pupils and scheduling sessions effectively: How to identity those pupils who will benefit the most, as well as how frequent sessions should be and when they should take place.
  • Aligning tutoring with curriculum and assessment: How to align tutoring with a pupils’ current curriculum, so that they can reinforce learning from tuition sessions in their classroom practice.
  • Creating a sustainable tutoring model: How to monitor and evaluate the impact of tutoring so schools can track progress and refine their approach over time.

Professor Becky Francis, EEF chief executive, said: “The research is clear – done well, and aligned to high quality teaching, tutoring can be hugely successful in accelerating progress for struggling learners. It is also one of the best evidenced interventions we have to support socio-economically disadvantaged pupils’ attainment.

“Many schools have taken advantage of the additional tuition on offer through the government’s National Tutoring Programme. This has not been without its challenges, and schools have gone above and beyond to implement the programme successfully. But what does evidence signal can be done to maximise the impact of tutoring on pupils’ attainment?

“This resource offers practical advice around the core components of effective tutoring, giving teachers and school leaders the key insights that can help to make sure tutoring is a success in their school community.”