Impact report 2016-2017April 2018

Contents

Introduction from the Chair and CEO 3

Our story 4

Our reach in 2016-2017 5

Impact on grades in 2016-2017 6

Education in this country isn’t fair 7

The tutoring effect 8

The growth of private tutoring 9

Our pupils 10

Our partner schools 11

Our team 12

Our volunteers 13

Our volunteers in numbers 14

Volunteer case study 15

Our future 16

Acknowledgements 17

Endnotes 18Registered charity number – 1147175 Company number - 08105978 Address – 15th floor, Tower Building, 11 York Road, London SE1 7NX

3

Introduction from the Chair and CEO

2016-2017, our sixth year of operating, was a year of growth in many areas of Action Tutoring. We increased the number of tutoring programmes we delivered, meaning we could support even more pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds; we worked with more volunteer tutors than ever before, an amazing 837 of them, and our staff team grew to support this expansion. The year also saw the development and introduction of our primary school programme, with a successful pilot run in partnership with 11 schools.

Reflecting back on these achievements we felt it was an appropriate time to evaluate and share the impact it has made on the pupils, the volunteers, the schools and the team we work with. We hope you enjoy reading and discovering more about our year, in Action Tutoring’s very first Impact Report.

We started 2016-2017 with two overarching themes: improving the consistency of our delivery and raising our public profile. The motivation for implementing these two themes was to increase our impact on pupils and attract more volunteers to become tutors with us. We have seen positive results in both these areas,

with almost 1,300 people applying to be tutors with us in the year. Additionally, our aim for consistency has resulted in a positive impact on GCSE results, particularly in English where 73 per cent of young people we worked with achieved a grade 4 (previously a grade C) in this subject, after spending only ten hours with our tutors.

Looking ahead we aim to expand our reach to new schools and cities in 2017-2018, the first being Newcastle where we began working in autumn 2017. We also plan to scale up our provision for primary schools in all regions. A longer-term goal that we are developing is to build a sustainable growth strategy that allows us to maintain quality and impact on a foundation of financial sustainability.

Growth will also be a facet of the next year of Action Tutoring and we look forward to engaging as many volunteer tutors, teachers, pupils and policy makers in the next stage of our journey.

Peter Baines, Chair of Trustees, April 2018 Susannah Hardyman, CEO, April 2018

4

Our story

Action Tutoring

was founded by Susannah

Hardyman

Created the Programme Coordinator

role

With the support of

the Shaftesbury Partnership, we ran

two programmes with schools in Hackney and

Peckham

Funding from Nesta and

the Cabinet Office to expand beyond

the capitalAchievedLevel 3 on

Nesta’sStandards of

Evidence

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016-2017Delivered

15 programmes benefitting 250 pupils

Beganworking with

Impetus-PEF whosupported ourdevelopment

Developed our first

Action Tutoring workbooks

structured to thecurriculum

Launched our first

primary school programmes

In 2016-17 schools rated Action Tutoring’s programme 4.3 out of 5 for value for money

4.35

5

We provided over

Delivered by

Liverpool

Sheffield

Bristol

BirminghamLondon

HastingsBrightonand Hove

hours of tutoring16,000

1,319

We worked in partnership with

to deliver our programmesschools58

volunteers

secondary school pupils received tutoring to help them with their English or maths GCSEs

primary school pupils received tutoring to help them with their reading or maths SATs

837509

Our reach in 2016-2017

1

6

Action Tutoring pupils attending ten or more sessions achieved on average a third of a grade more than similar peers at GCSE

After support from Action Tutoring, an additional 40% of primary school pupils on average were ‘working at expected standard’ at the end of Year 6

4.5

4

3.5

3

0%

Start of Year 6

Maths

English(reading)

GCSEgrade

10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Similar peers

Action Tutoringpupil

(10+ sessions)

33%

24%

62%

75%

End of Year 6

Impact on grades in 2016-2017

7

Education in this country isn’t fair

Other backgrounds

Currently there are

who are NEET

At the end of primary school

of disadvantaged pupils have made expected grades in maths and English

of pupils from otherbackgrounds left with this accolade

39%

60%

Disadvantaged pupils are, on average

by the time they finish GCSEs at 16 years of age

of pupils in state education are classified as disadvantaged: Pupils eligible for free school meals at any time in the past six years

29%1.2 gradesbehind

NEET individuals costan average

to the UK economy each year

790,000young people

£56,000

Pupils achieving five A*-C GCSEs including maths and English

38.7% 65.3%pupilsnotelegibleforfreeschoolmeals

Source: DfE 2014

pupilselegible

forfree

schoolmeals

2

5 6

3

4

Pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds aren’t less able, but they have less access to the tools needed to support them to progress in school. This means they are not able to reach their full academic potential.

8

The tutoring effect

Tutoring works to improve grades. Fact. This impact is not limited to young people from high-income backgrounds either.

The Education Endowment Foundation has calculated that an intense programme of one-to-one tuition could add as much as five months’ progress to a young person’s schooling.8

In 2014, an independent evaluator analysed the impact of Action Tutoring on the young people supported. The results showed that for those pupils who attended seven or more sessions, gained half a grade extra progress compared to their peers. This roughly equates to six months extra schooling and goes a long way to narrow the gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers.9

Before I started with Action Tutoring I found English lessons hard, but by the end of them it was really fun! My tutors were nice and helped me with my work. They helped make the subject easier to understand and made me love it! I’m now at sixth form college and I want to go on to university.  Action Tutoring definitely helped me to get there. Ikram, secondary school pupil, Liverpool

The average number of sessions Action Tutoring pupils attend is increasing year-on-year

Small-group tuition provides a safe space for pupils with low confidence to speak up and learn from their mistakes

Small-group tuition works because it is tailored to individual needs and can address misconceptions at the source.

7

9

The growth of private tutoring

As more and more young people access private tutors, the gap in attainment between disadvantaged young people and their peers will grow.

It would be impossible to ban the use of private tutors across the country and there simply isn’t the budget to pay for a private tutor for every child, but Action Tutoring is able to provide a middle ground. We use the power of volunteer tutors to bridge the gap and ensure tutoring support can be accessed by every pupil who needs it, not just those who can afford it.

While tutoring, I observed that my pupils gained confidence week by week in the tutorial process, to the point where they felt comfortable to attempt more challenging tasks without hesitation. Jennifer, volunteer English tutor, London

For me, the best bit about Action Tutoring is the pupils. There are days where it can be a struggle keeping them motivated but when they have a breakthrough and grasp a difficult concept it makes it all worth it. Chris, English tutor, Bristol

25%

Nationally

of young people have had access to a private tutor at some stage during their schooling

in London

40%

The private tutoring sector is estimated to be worth an approximated £2 billion per year in the UK.10

The average cost of a private tutor is

per hour

£3011

10

Our pupils

I used to find maths really challenging, but through Action Tutoring I became more confident in it. I found my tutor really encouraging and friendly. She made the subject fun and was the best part of the tutoring. The support helped me to improve my grades so that I could go on to sixth form. I’m now studying for four A Levels. Miriam, secondary school pupil, London

Lucky attended both maths and English tutoring with Action Tutoring at Fairfield High School in Bristol. In his 2017 GCSEs he achieved a grade 5 in English and a grade 4 in maths, both a grade higher than he was on when he began the programme. These results meant he could go on to study A Levels in history, geography and government and politics.

of pupils said they would recommend Action Tutoring sessions to other pupils in their year

96%

11

Our partner schools

We work in partnership with primary and secondary schools across the country, to ensure our tutoring support is reaching and benefitting the pupils who need it the most.

We work in partnership with Action Tutoring to provide targeted support for our disadvantaged pupils. Closing the gap in attainment between these young people and their peers is one of our whole school objectives, and Action Tutoring significantly helps us to make a sustained difference, alongside classroom learning and additional school based support.

We offer the tutoring to pupils who are at risk of not attaining their target grade in either English or maths. We have been working with the charity for a few years now, and it is interesting to see the change in attitudes from the pupils as they progress through the year. They often initially view it negatively, as something which is a hassle to come along to every week, but after the first set of mock exams, their attitudes change quickly!

Success of the programme for individual pupils largely depends upon the relationship between them and their tutor, and it is therefore important to get that pairing right at the start of the programme, and continue to revisit.

Having Action Tutoring in school has been a real positive for us, and has made a genuine difference for a number of our pupils.Katie Wood, Assistant Headteacher, Varndean School, Sussex

12

Our team

We have a small, passionate and dynamic team who are dedicated to delivering the highest quality programmes to benefit our pupils, schools and volunteers. This ensures we are making the greatest impact each day.

Our Programme Coordinators and Executives are crucial for our delivery. They ensure our programmes run as smoothly and effectively as possible, across all of our partner schools.

I feel really passionate about the cause and Action Tutoring’s vision really resonates with me, meaning that I enjoy my work as I truly understand the need for organisations like us and I already feel that I’ve developed lots of skills since starting the job.

Seeing the programme delivered first hand, the biggest change that I have noticed is the increase in the pupils’ confidence - they’re starting to believe in themselves much more.

As the tutoring sessions take place in a fairly relaxed environment there is a really positive atmosphere and I think that this has a positive impact on our pupils. I’ve heard first-hand from pupils that the atmosphere of our sessions encourages them to ‘have a go’ much more than they would in lessons and in turn this has increased their confidence.

I would say that my interactions with my tutors are the best part of my job! I think that they get a great sense of achievement through passing their knowledge on to their pupils, as well as sharing their tutoring expertise with other volunteers.Stevie Donely joined Action Tutoring as the Programme Coordinator for Newcastle in August 2017

4.85

The average score given by schools when assessing Action Tutoring’s quality of communication and organisation as a whole was 4.8 out of 5

13

Our volunteers

We are passionate about supporting and developing our volunteer tutors, empowering them to best support the pupils they work with and get the most out of their volunteering experience.

In 2016-2017 we:

• Delivered 232 induction training sessions to volunteers across our six regions.

• Piloted a new subject-specific training to upskill our current tutors.

• Led 276 Bright Ideas sessions with tutors in the schools to share best practice, provide feedback and encourage wider discussions about education inequality.

Our volunteers span from 18 to 78 years old and we are proud to provide an opportunity that appeals to, and develops, such a broad range of individuals.

of tutors would volunteer with us again and would recommend us to a friend or colleague

92%In 2016-17 we received nearly

1,300 volunteer applications

In 2016-2017 our volunteers delivered

tutoring sessions to our pupils

16,000

14

Our volunteers in numbersIn 2016-2017 we had 837 active volunteers supporting Action Tutoring. Of those:

49 were retired 256 were working full time or part time 388, nearly 50 per cent, were university students

A friend recommended Action Tutoring to me, as I was looking to put something back into education during my retirement. I got involved because I dislike the fact that education in Britain is not a level playing field. Private tutoring is only accessible to those who can afford it and I passionately believe that it should be available to everyone, regardless of income. Since starting, I have learnt that you can make a difference to a young person’s life and that learning can be fun for both the pupil and the teacher. It’s been a blast and very satisfying!Peter Wills, retired journalist and lecturer

Including at: HMRC, KPMG, RBS, Barclays, Deloitte and JP Morgan.

I first heard about Action Tutoring through my company and it immediately struck me as something that I could help with as, even though I have a very busy job, the actual time commitment was manageable. I have been volunteering for several years and it can be challenging at times, but also very rewarding especially when you start to see improvements in the pupils. It is a commitment not to be taken lightly but I would fully recommend others sign up as it is an experience unlike any I have encountered in my working life.Jim Freeman, Relationship Director RBS

I first started volunteering with Action Tutoring in January 2014 while I was studying for my undergraduate degree. I have met lots of different, interesting people (tutors and pupils) and been to lots of different places in London that I wouldn’t have otherwise seen. I find it extremely valuable and rewarding, particularly as it has given me some great experience in teaching, enhancing my CV, and has improved my own English language skills. It has also allowed me to improve my communication skills, working with a variety of different people.Abigail Scutts, student (MA Theatre and Performance Studies, King’s College London)

4.5 out of 5 pupils felt that their tutor had good subject knowledge and was easy to work with

4.55

15

Volunteer case study

It is often a challenge to motivate a group of tired or demotivated 16-year-olds, but one I relish for the trust and relationships I am able to build with them, and I come away each week feeling rewarded by even the smallest glimmers of enjoyment and progress.

As someone whose parents could never afford private tutoring, and who worked hard through school to exceed others’ expectations, it is a privilege and a joy to be a part of this work. Besides the different creative approaches and ideas each pupil brings to the table, they come with a unique perspective that deepens and enlivens our collective learning.

As others once did for me I show them books from my library, discuss their post-16 options, encourage them to attend further education open evenings and research their true interests. I am determined for them to be exposed to an attitude to learning that knows no elitism, no snobbery, no bounds.

Volunteering with Action Tutoring has made me more organised with my time, forced me to perfect my communication of complex ideas with the utmost clarity, and has made

me a more focused and appreciative student myself.

It saddens me, and spurs me to change little by little the mind-sets of ‘can’t’ and ‘wouldn’t’ to ‘can’ and ‘will’. An hour a week of small-group support, gentle encouragement and affirmation is just the first step.

Now in my third year of university and finishing my third programme of volunteering with Action Tutoring, I couldn’t imagine not being a part of its work. It has exposed me to many different facets of schooling and education policy, and given me greater confidence in my own leadership and communication skills, as well as my ability to motivate and organise others.Anna is an English tutor for Action Tutoring in London and an undergrad English student. In January 2018 Anna was awarded the Experience London Award by her university, King’s College London, for an essay she wrote about her time volunteering with Action Tutoring.

16

Our future

Pupil attendance at Action Tutoring sessions is improving year-on-year

2017-2018• We launched Action Tutoring in Newcastle and are now

working with four secondary schools in the city. • We are expanding our primary programme to support over

350 disadvantaged pupils in Year 5 and Year 6. • We have developed and introduced the Programme Executive

role, to facilitate further growth of our programmes. • We have employed our first full time Training and Curriculum

Manager.• We received further funding from Nesta to help scale our

programme to support even more disadvantaged pupils across the country.

Future

We plan to increase our presence in our current cities, working with more schools and supporting more pupils, and we plan to extend our reach to new cities across the country so that more primary and secondary pupils can benefit from our tutoring support.

17

Acknowledgements

We are incredibly grateful to the following grant providers for the generous support they gave in 2016-2017:

We are also grateful to our volunteers and the support they gave in 2016-2017.

Every volunteer helped us to achieve our overall impact, but a special thank you must go to our tutors who supported on the most number of sessions:

59 sessions Paul Williams

50 sessions Tony Holloway

45 sessions Peter Duncan

44 sessions Elizabeth Kretsch

42 sessions Janet Cheney

40 sessions John Spencer

39 sessions Alissa Gerber

39 sessions Sofia Pancucci-McQueen

Hibbert Family Foundation

18

Endnotes

1. https://actiontutoring.org.uk///wp-content/uploads/2017/08/action_tutoring_impact_evaluation.pdf

2. https://www.gov.uk/school-performance-tables

3. FEA 2016/17 Report Card https://static1.squarespace.com/static/543e665de4b0fbb2b140b291/t/59af2a4cccc5c50550ff4bd5/1504651878199/FEA+Report+Card+2016-17.pdf

4. FEA 2016/17 Report Card https://static1.squarespace.com/static/543e665de4b0fbb2b140b291/t/59af2a4cccc5c50550ff4bd5/1504651878199/FEA+Report+Card+2016-17.pdf

5. https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peoplenotinwork/unemployment/bulletins/youngpeoplenotineducationemploymentortrainingneet/november2017

6. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/hr-news/8868190/Young-Neets-cost-economy-56000-each.html

7. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3102/00028312019002237

8. https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/pdf/generate/?u=https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/pdf/toolkit/?id=135&t=Teaching%20and%20Learning%20Toolkit&e=135&s

9. https://cdn.actiontutoring.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/action_tutoring_impact_evaluation.pdf

10. https://schoolsweek.co.uk/booming-private-tuition-stretches-attainment-gap

11. https://www.journalism.co.uk/press-releases/private-tuition-fees-new-data-on-uk-tutor-rates/s66/a604769

Registered charity number – 1147175 Company number - 08105978 Address – 15th floor, Tower Building, 11 York Road, London SE1 7NX

www.actiontutoring.org.uk hello@actiontutoring.org.uk 0207 803 4988 @ActionTutoring