The Department of Education has announced funding to support students whose learning was disrupted as a result of the COVID pandemic.
The funding can be used to support small group tuition for 16 to 19 students in English, Maths, and other courses where learning has been disrupted. The guidance indicates that the supported students must be on a 16 to 19 study programme and who have not achieved grade 5 or above in GCSE Maths and/or English by age 16. The subjects covered in the tuition will not be limited to English and Maths but will be identified according to need and existing programmes.
As the provider, we will prioritise support for students who have not achieved a grade 4 in English and/or Maths. However if there is still funding available within our allocation we will consider whether any of our 16-19 students with a grade 4 also need catch up support, based on the criteria above.
Tuition Support offered will be based on an individual needs assessment, the identification of an individual starting point, clear learning goals, expectations and outcomes.
Woodroffe are committed to using the small group tuition funding that it has been given to mitigate against the impact of the Pandemic on our study programme students. According to DFE guidelines, sessions will be limited to up to five students per group and will be above and beyond normal timetabled hours. Students will be prioritised for small group tuition based on the guidance released by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA).
The full guidance can be accessed on the link below:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/16-to-19-funding-16-to-19-tuition-fund
Examples of some of the Tuition Support on offer will include:
- Top priority-GCSE exam re-sit preparation
- Functional skills assessment preparation
- Those who have a grade 4 or below in GCSE Maths and/or English
- Bespoke subject support/catch-up
- Any 16-19 student with a grade 4 can also benefit from the funding to address the need for catch up support
Our commitment
The Woodroffe School is committed to ensuring the tuition fund is used in accordance with the Government’s guidance on the 16 to 19 tuition fund by:
- producing this statement setting out how the fund will be used to support the most disadvantaged students
- publishing this guidance on the our school website
- recording the use of the fund, including references to individual students who receive support, the needs of those students, the number of hours of tuition delivered and retain the evidence of the tuition provided
- deliver the extra tuition and spend the allocated funds in the academic year 2020/21
- notify the Education Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) of any underspend from the Fund for it to be reclaimed