In 2020, the Government made £96m available for the 2020-21 academic year for schools, colleges, and other 16 to 19 providers, to mitigate the disruption to learning arising from Covid-19.
The funding supports small group tuition for 16 to 19 students in English, maths, and other courses where learning was disrupted, such as vocational courses where assessments were deferred.
In July 2021, the Government announced that they were expanding the 16 to 19 tuition fund into the 2021-22 academic year with a further £222m allocation and broadened eligibility to include economic disadvantage in addition to low prior attainment. It was also announced that any unspent 16 to 19 tuition funding for 2020-21 can be used to support students in the 2021-22 academic year.
Students must not have achieved grade 5 or above in GCSE English or maths, no matter what subject specialism they’re receiving tuition in - except for students from an economically disadvantaged background who can have a grade 4 or above in English and/or maths but who will need catch up support - and they all must be on a 16 to 19 study programme.
Providers should prioritise supporting students who didn’t achieve a grade 4 in English and/or maths; students who do have a grade 4 or above in English and/or maths and are from an economically disadvantaged background and need catch-up support; students who’ll benefit the most from small group tuition; and students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), particularly where they’ve experienced additional disruption because of their specific needs.
This could be through paying for more hours from existing staff, hiring new staff, or buying in a service from a third-party provider.
The ESFA expects that tuition delivered to small groups of up to three will have the greatest impact. It doesn’t expect groups supported from the fund to exceed five, except in one-off or exceptional circumstances (such as staff absence leading to two existing groups merging).
Funding will be available to all 16 to 19 institutions who receive annual funding allocations from the ESFA for the provision of 16 to 19 education and is ring-fenced for 16 to 19 small group tuition only.
Young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) aged 19 to 24 who have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan will be eligible for support via the 16 to 19 Tuition Fund.
The ESFA will pay the extra funding through 16 to 19 funding allocations for the 2021-22 academic year. Providers started to receive payments from December 2021.
Read the full guidance.
To learn more about how to quickly mobilise and deliver brilliant programmes for 16 to 19 learners, you can take a closer look at our bundles and programme builder.
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