Equal Education is a social enterprise that uses an evidence-based tuition model: using 1:1 tuition with qualified teachers to improve outcomes for care-experienced young people and children with special educational needs. Throughout our partnership with the National Tutoring Programme our focus continues to be on reaching students who need it most; both children who require additional support, and those whose needs are not met by mainstream education.
Equal Education’s tutors are qualified teachers who believe in tackling educational inequality and supporting children and young people who have often had a tough start in life and faced adversity. Having a trusted adult in the form of a tutor can have a transformational effect. Therefore we have a bespoke allocations process, where our dedicated team matches students with the tutor who can best meet their needs.
We believe the best outcomes are achieved with early intervention and long-term support. Our tutors build relationships with students, helping them overcome barriers to learning and developing confidence, study skills as well as life skills. This helps the students prepare for exams as well as future employment.
Our dedicated support team assists with exam entries, and our development team establishes new partnerships to be able to increase the impact. For example, we provide tutors with access to ExamPro, allowing students to practice for exams using past AQA English and Maths papers. Tutors reported that this saved time, built confidence with marking, improved understanding of common errors and explaining analytical and evaluative skills with the students; “it has helped so many SEN students to improve their marks and levels”.
Last summer we had several outstanding achievements from our tutors and students who had been working together for over two years.
One learner, who was unable to attend school due to his medical needs, has been supported by our tutors for over 3 years. During this time the student made significant progress, leaping from a Level 3 to a level 7 in his ICT GCSE. We worked with Winatutors to enable the student to take his exams online, which would not have otherwise been possible. He is now progressing towards a Level 3 BTEC extended Diploma qualification. The Local Authority SEN team said:
“Thank you for working so hard with [student]. We were not sure if the student would be capable of sitting any exams this year, the work you have both done is incredible and has not gone unnoticed.”
Another young person started working with our Maths tutor Garry, who is featured in this blog. Garry uses Maths with Robots and “Resilience through Maths” to engage his learners and this has resulted in some outstanding outcomes. Last year, one learner moved from a Level 2 up to a Level 5, surpassing his Level 4 target, and secured an apprenticeship in Logistics. Another student started at a Level 3 with the aim to reach a Level 6 in her GCSEs. She wrote a very moving thank you letter explaining how far she’d come:
“When we first met I was just a shy young girl who wouldn’t attempt a question and would say I didn’t know the answer even though I did. Over the 2 years nearly gone during our sessions I have become more confident and would now attempt a question and ask for help. I am massively thankful to you as you have taught me a lot of maths that I hardly knew how to do.”
We are always so inspired by our students and as we approach this year’s exams, we are committed to supporting our tutors, parents and carers, school and Local Authority partners to prepare and make the most of the additional funding available for tutoring. We cannot wait to see what amazing things our young people achieve.
Equal Education is one of the 56 Approved Tuition Partners on the National Tutoring Programme. Find a Tuition Partner in your area here.
