Our work with colleges

We’re delighted to announce that we will be working closely with the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) on a new pilot project to support post-16 students with their GCSE resits

In the next academic year (2024/25) we are partnering with Further Education colleges across Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and Merseyside to support young people resitting their GCSEs in Maths and/or English.

We know that resitting an exam can be challenging for students as they want to focus their attention on their chosen college course. In our post-16 tutoring sessions, we’ll be offering 1:1 support as well as coaching, helping to develop a supportive and motivational relationship. Tutors will work closely with students and colleges to identify the areas they need to improve, or how to overcome any learning challenges, and help them to develop the skills and strategies they need to maximise their learning in tutoring sessions and become fully prepared to take their exams.

How will it work?

We’ll use a flexible, hybrid model for delivery, with our tutor and learner student diversity and the complexity of college timetables. We’ll also vary the delivery to suit the bespoke needs of the learners and the college, with options for intensive boosters or weekly scheduling over an academic term. All learners are being offered 15 hours of tuition with the aim of a minimum of 12 completed, based on the findings of our first RCT on impact.

As part of the pilot, we will collect data on those students nominated to receive tuition and data from specific school staff. Our Privacy Notice provides more information on how this information will be used.

Improved knowledge and skills

In the short term, the outcomes for students will include improved knowledge and skills in key areas. This in turn improves GCSE grades (English and Maths) and increases overall confidence. Our evidence shows that students increasingly engage with sessions, and report a greater enjoyment and motivation for learning.

In the longer term, tuition contributes to the skills needed to access high-quality education and employment opportunities (Further Education and Higher Education), providing lifelong learning opportunities.

Measurement of impact

We’ll take students’ previous GCSE grades as a baseline of performance. At the start of tutoring, we will also ask them to sit a short multiple-choice online test. This test, designed by our in-house specialists, is based on the GCSE syllabus and is designed to catch common misconceptions. Results are shared with tutors to help them design programmes that focus on students’ areas of weakness. A baseline attitudinal survey will also track attitudes to English and/or Maths and their levels of confidence and self-efficacy.

An endpoint test at the end of the tutoring, as a comparable survey, will track short-term changes in attainment and self-confidence. We’ll then collect grades in the resit exams to see if these changes translate to increased attainment at GCSE.

Join our college community!

If you’re a college leader and would like to know more about our programme for those resitting their GCSEs, please get in touch