16 - 19 Tuition Fund Statement

The purpose of this statement is to set out how USP College will use its 16 - 19 Tuition Fund allocation from September 2021.

The ESFA has made funding available to colleges to support students who have had their learning affected by the Coronavirus pandemic. The Tuition Fund is ring-fenced for schools, colleges and all other 16 to 19 providers to mitigate the disruption to learning arising from coronavirus.

The funding can be used to provide small group tuition for 16-19-year-olds on a study programme where their learning has been disrupted, and they have a GCSE Maths and/or English grade of 4 or below at age 16. Although the support is targeted based on prior attainment in maths/English, the funding is not limited to support in these subjects and will be provided according to need across a variety of subjects. It is also for students who have a grade 4 or English and/or maths, are from an economically disadvantaged background and would need catch-up support. These are defined as students from the 27% most economically deprived areas of the country based on the index of multiple deprivations.

Support is being prioritised where students will benefit most from small group tuition, and particular regard is being given to the requirements of disadvantaged students and students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

USP College has committed to using the Tuition Fund that the ESFA has made available.

ESFA guidance related to the Tuition Fund is available here.

Examples of support that USP College will be offering are:

  • GCSE resit preparation
  • Functional skills assessment preparation
  • Additional Functional Skills classes to ensure learners are on target
  • Support for SEND and High Needs Students
  • SEND support to catch up on vocational and academic skills and skills and learning that are important for preparation for adulthood
  • Vocational support where assessments were deferred
  • Vocational catch-up sessions for knowledge and practical skills development
  • 1 to 1 study skills sessions to support academic progress.

Implementation

USP College will use the funding as follows:

  • Recruit a number of tutors and learning support staff across the college to work with students in small groups to support teaching and learning.
  • Increasing the hours of some existing tutors and learning support staff to work with students in small groups to support teaching and learning.
  • Small groups will contain no more than 5 learners (or 7 learners in exceptional circumstances), with the ambition of having no more than 3 learners in each group.
  • Run 1 to 1 or small group sessions in addition to the existing timetabled hours, where appropriate and beneficial to the learner.
  • Support will be offered and provided based on the individual needs of each student.
  • Support sessions will be prioritised for the following students:
    • Those with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan
    • Those 16-18-year-old learners with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
    • Those who have a grade 4 or below in GCSE Maths and/or English
    • Those students most disadvantaged (from the 27% most economically deprived areas of the country based on the index of multiple deprivations)
    • Those are classed as vulnerable or impacted most by the pandemic.

USP College commitment

The College is committed to a no detriment approach to learners to ensure no student is disadvantaged by the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. The College will ensure that the tuition fund is used in accordance with the Government’s guidance on the 16 to 19 Tuition Fund by:

  • Producing this statement sets out how the fund will be used to support the most disadvantaged students.
  • Publishing this statement on the College website.
  • Recording the use of the fund, including references to individual students who receive support, the needs of those students, the number of hours of tuition delivered and retaining the evidence of the tuition provided.
  • Delivering the extra tuition and spend the allocated funds in the academic year 2021/22
  • Notifying the Education Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) of any underspend from the Fund for it to be reclaimed.