We have now played a key role in two successful randomised control trials (RCT) led by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) - the gold-standard evidence of impact.
Affordable Primary Tuition
Our first RCT was undertaken in the 2016/17 school year when the EEF funded research into our tuition. The results gave positive results and prompted the Foundation to designate us as a Promising Project.
This EEF RCT evaluation was a large-scale, high-quality effectiveness study, involving 105 primary schools and 1,290 pupils across Greater Manchester and Leeds (in our West Yorkshire region). The study examined the impact of our Year 6 Maths tuition on KS2 SATS results in May 2017, with KS1 SATS results as the baseline.
The headline results were very strong with pupils in the intervention group (who received our tuition) making an additional three months of progress in Maths compared with pupils in the control group. On average, these three months of additional progress were the outcome of just 12 hours of tuition, delivered on a 1:3 tutor-to-pupil basis. The cost of the intervention was also low, at just £112 per child.
We were particularly thrilled that EEF found our tutors made the biggest difference to pupils on Free Schools Meals and pupils with low prior attainment. The pupils in this evaluation were three times more likely to be on Free School Meals than the national average.
This ambitious research study was designed to test whether our intervention worked under everyday conditions in a significant number of schools, and we passed this test with flying colours.
In addition to the rigorous data analysis of outcomes, the EEF also conducted a process evaluation. This included observations of tuition as well as interviews with and surveys of headteachers, classroom teachers, and pupils. The feedback from schools was overwhelmingly positive.
Tutor Trust: Affordable Primary Tuition
Schools should consider the Tutor Trust’s model as a cost-effective way to boost attainment for struggling pupils."Sir Kevan Collins, former head of the EEF
The Snap Survey
The second and most recent RCT, published in June 2022, involved three other Tuition Partners of the National Tutoring Programme and is further improving and informing our tutoring practices as we seek to "transform lives through tutoring" across the north of England.
This research project was a programme run by our secondary school tutors for pupils in 2021. The EEF commissioned this trial as part of the delivery of year one of the National Tutoring Programme, of which Tutor Trust was a key delivery partner. The Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) carried out the trial, sometimes called the government's 'nudge unit'.
Making connections
The purpose of our trial was to try to boost engagement and attendance by pupils at secondary school tuition sessions. This has always been a challenge, but more so during the COVID-19 pandemic. The target was to increase attendance in the intervention group by 5 percentage points compared to the control group. We are proud that we slightly exceeded that target.
Snap Survey is a quick, simple and effective get-to-know-you game played by tutors and pupils at their first session together; the proposition is that the game helps them to bond and find shared interests, which should make tutees feel more positive about tutoring and more likely to remember and to attend their subsequent tutoring sessions.
This research has informed our training programme and practice for our tutors, and we rolled out the use of the Snap Survey for the 2022/2023 academic year.
