The Brilliant Club has been awarded funding to become an approved Tuition Partner as part of the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) in England. The scheme, which is part of the Government’s coronavirus catch-up package, allows schools to access high-quality tutoring from an approved list of providers, who have passed a set of quality, safeguarding and evaluation standards.
As part of this national catch-up effort, The Brilliant Club is offering tutoring in core curriculum subjects through its new Brilliant Tutoring Programme. From today, secondary schools across England can sign up for the programme, which is subsided by 75% thanks to the NTP.
The Brilliant Tutoring Programme aims to re-engage and rebuild pupils’ confidence in core curriculum subjects by working with a PhD subject expert tutor. Tutoring will take place in small groups. A trained tutor with PhD-level subject expertise will work with three pupils at a time to complete a structured course in either Maths, English, Chemistry, Biology or Physics. These courses have been designed by The Brilliant Club in partnership with curriculum experts in our partner schools. Over 15 weekly sessions, pupils will complete three modules, selected by their teachers to target the topics where they need most support.
With school closures last academic year and ongoing disruption this year, there is a very real risk that the attainment gap will widen further, damaging the life chances of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds even more than their peers. The Brilliant Tutoring Programme is specifically designed to support, stretch and challenge mid-high attaining pupils to catch-up and keep aiming high. As well as developing curriculum knowledge, courses will build critical thinking, meta-cognitive and communication skills, which evidence shows can have a powerful impact on future attainment.
The Brilliant Tutoring Programme draws on The Brilliant Club’s experience as a national education charity, working with over 800 schools in every nation and region of the UK. The Brilliant Club’s PhD tutors have been rigorously assessed and undergone extensive training. As subject experts, they can support pupils to catch-up in core subjects and inspire them to explore beyond the curriculum. Pupils will complete formative assessments throughout the programme and The Brilliant Club will facilitate close, ongoing communication between tutors and teachers. Schools will be provided with an impact report detailing the progress individual pupils have made, including detailed written feedback from tutors.
The Brilliant Club’s Chair of Trustees, Dr Josephine Valentine OBE, said:
“After a rigorous assessment process, I’m delighted that The Brilliant Club has been chosen as an approved high-quality tuition partner by the National Tutoring Programme. For nearly ten years, our award-winning Scholars Programme has placed trained PhD researchers in schools to give pupils a taste of supercurricular university-style learning. Today we’re launching our new Brilliant Tutoring Programme, which will support pupils to reengage and rebuild their confidence in core curriculum subjects with our expert PhD tutors. At this incredibly difficult time for schools, we’re proud to be offering this valuable support for the pupils who need it most.”
Director of the secretariat of the National Tutoring Programme, Robbie Coleman, said:
“The National Tutoring Programme has one simple aim – to support teachers and schools to support their pupils who have missed out the most as a result of school closures. We’re pleased to welcome our new Tuition Partners who will make tutoring accessible to disadvantaged pupils who need it most.
“The National Tutoring Programme is a tool for teachers. We hope that by providing high-quality, cost effective tutoring to disadvantaged pupils the NTP will make a difference to those who need it most across the country.”
Key information for schools