How to Get The Most From Primary School Tutoring: A Guide For School Leaders

Primary school tutoring is one of the most effective interventions for closing learning gaps and improving attainment in primary education. Historically, access has been limited by cost and tutor availability, but advances in online maths tutoring and AI tutoring are making personalised learning more accessible than ever.

With funding constraints, growing attainment gaps, and increasing workload on teachers, many school leaders are exploring how primary school tuition can support their pupils effectively and sustainably.

This guide covers everything you need to know about primary school tutoring: the evidence for impact, how to choose between different models, what to consider when commissioning tuition, and practical tips for implementation.

TL;DR: Key takeaways on primary school tutoring

• One-to-one tuition can add 5 months’ progress on average when implemented well (EEF), with frequent, short sessions often proving most effective.
• Target tutoring strategically – younger students behind age-related expectations will need different support from primary school pupils aiming for greater depth.
• Online tutoring removes logistical barriers around tutor availability, travel time, and room booking, making it easier to scale.
• AI tutoring (like Third Space Learning’s Skye) can deliver consistent, curriculum-aligned lessons at £3,500 per school per year for unlimited sessions – significantly more affordable than traditional tuition at £25-60 per hour.
• Safeguarding, session structure, and curriculum alignment are non-negotiable for effective tutoring implementation.
• Quality matters more than model: structured lessons, diagnostic assessment, and regular progress monitoring determine impact, not just whether tuition is 1:1 or small group.

This guide covers: who benefits most from primary school tuition, how to choose between online or in-person and 1:1 or group models, what school leaders must consider (cost, safeguarding, scheduling, quality), and practical implementation tips. 

What is primary school tutoring?

Primary school tutoring is targeted, additional teaching provided to individual pupils or small groups to help them catch up or excel in specific areas of the national curriculum. This personalised learning approach supports each child’s learning journey by addressing their unique needs.

Tutoring is distinct from general classroom teaching in several ways:

• Smaller ratios: Typically one-to-one or groups of 2-5 primary school pupils, compared to class sizes of 30+.
• Targeted focus: Addresses specific gaps or misconceptions rather than delivering the full curriculum.
• Additional provision: Happens alongside, not instead of, regular lessons.
• Time-bound: Usually runs for a set number of weeks with clear success criteria.

Primary school tutoring most commonly focuses on maths and English (particularly reading), though some schools also commission tuition in phonics, writing, or catch-up support across foundation subjects.

Why primary school tutoring matters

The attainment gap in UK primary education has widened significantly since 2020. Disadvantaged pupils are, on average, 7-9 months behind their peers by the end of primary school, and this gap continues to grow without targeted intervention to support academic achievement.

Tutoring represents one of the most effective intervention strategies available to schools. The Education Endowment Foundation’s research shows that one-to-one tuition can add five months’ progress, while small group tutoring (2-5 pupils) can add four months on average.

However, impact depends entirely on implementation quality. Starting primary school tutoring in your school doesn’t guarantee results – the structure of sessions, tutor quality, pupil selection, and integration with classroom teaching all determine whether tutoring delivers value.

Benefits of primary school tutoring

Since 2013, Third Space Learning has delivered over 2 million hours of tutoring to more than 170,000 pupils across UK primary and secondary schools. This tutoring experience, combined with research from the Education Endowment Foundation and Department for Education, shows six core benefits of effective tuition.

1. Personalised support at the right level

Every pupil receives instruction pitched precisely at their current understanding through a tailored learning plan. In a class of 30, there will always be a wide range in progress and attainment in a particular subject and teachers will struggle to personalise the school curriculum sufficiently to support students optimally. One to one lessons on the other hand allow completely personalised content.

If a Year 5 pupil is working at Year 3 level in fractions, tuition addresses the foundational gaps first rather than pushing ahead with age-related content. Conversely, high-attaining pupils can explore greater depth without waiting for classmates to catch up.

2. Immediate feedback and misconception correction

In whole-class teaching, misconceptions often go unnoticed until the next assessment. Primary school tuition allows immediate identification and correction of errors, supporting each child’s learning more effectively.

When a pupil miscalculates 3/4 – 1/2 because they’re subtracting numerators and denominators separately, a tutor can spot this instantly and addresses the underlying misunderstanding of fraction equivalence. This prevents misconceptions from becoming embedded.

3. Increased confidence and self esteem

Many primary school pupils who struggle in maths or English develop anxiety around these subjects. The one-to-one or small group environment of tutoring removes the fear of giving a wrong answer in front of 30 classmates.

Pupils feel safe to ask questions they wouldn’t raise in class, make mistakes without embarrassment, and gradually rebuild confidence. This confidence often transfers back to the classroom, with teachers reporting that tutored pupils participate more readily in whole-class discussions. Positive encouragement during tutoring sessions – and making lessons fun – helps rebuild both academic skills and self-belief.

Interestingly we’ve found that our AI tutor Skye is perceived by some pupils to be the ideal tutor for them as they don’t feel any sense of judgement whether they get answers right or wrong.

4. Catch-up without curriculum overload

Rather than accelerating through missed content, tuition allows pupils to consolidate understanding at a manageable pace. A pupil who missed fractions in Year 4 can revisit this in Year 5 tutoring while still accessing their age-appropriate classroom maths curriculum.

This “filling gaps while moving forward” approach prevents pupils from falling further behind while also avoiding the overwhelm of trying to cover two years of school work simultaneously.

5. Focused support for exams such as KS2 SATS (or 11 Plus)

Targeted primary school tutoring focused on specific topics and exam questions leads to measurable improvements in grades and assessment scores. If a primary school tutor is used for this purpose, it’s worth making sure they’re specialists in both the subject and type of exams a child will be sitting.

Year 6 SATs tests are a good example. A tutor should be familiar with previous KS2 SATs papers and able to structure a programme of study during tutoring sessions that will bring a child towards expected standard in both arithmetic and reasoning.

Read more: How to achieve 100 in SATs

6. Support for disadvantaged pupils to help close the attainment gap

The EEF found that providing pupils with one to one support for a particular subject is very effective at improving pupil outcomes, especially for pupils who are eligible for free school meals.

With regards to Pupil Premium funding, schools are held accountable for how they spend their funding and their strategy to support the disadvantaged pupils in their care. Tutoring is a well-evidenced strategy to support pupils and can show a clear impact on student progress.

As a school leader, once you’ve decided that primary school tutoring is the right approach for your school, there are still many factors to consider before you start. 

Let’s look at each one in turn.

Who should receive primary school tutoring?

Effective primary school tuition starts with precise targeting. Schools that see the strongest impact use diagnostic assessment to identify specific gaps, rather than offering tutoring to everyone or relying on teacher intuition alone.

Identifying pupils who need support

Tutoring delivers the best return when targeted at primary school pupils who are:

• Working below age-related expectations in core subjects.
• At risk of falling further behind without intervention.
• Missing specific foundational skills (eg, number bonds, phonics phases, times tables).
• Returning from absence with clear curriculum gaps.
• Showing understanding in class but lacking confidence or fluency.

Fair access and avoiding selection bias

Selection criteria must be transparent and evidence-based to ensure primary school tuition reaches the pupils who need it most:

• Use multiple data points: Don’t rely solely on test scores. Include teacher assessment, work samples, and pupil voice (does the child know they’re struggling?).
• Watch for quiet pupils: Children who don’t advocate for themselves can be overlooked. EAL learners and pupils with social anxiety may need support despite appearing to cope.
• SEND considerations: Tutoring can be highly effective for pupils with SEND when sessions are adapted appropriately. Don’t assume pupils with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) are “too complex” for tuition – often they benefit most from the explicit, structured approach.
• Avoid ceiling effects: High attainers can benefit from tutoring too, but only if sessions provide genuine stretch rather than just “more of the same”.

Use diagnostic assessment effectively

Before tuition begins, invest time in baseline assessment. A 15-minute diagnostic tells you:

• Exactly which objectives to target (not vague “needs to improve at maths”).
• Where to pitch the first lesson.
• Whether the pupil has prerequisite skills or needs to go back further.

Third Space Learning has many free diagnostic maths tests you can use to establish the major gaps across a topic.

Each of the lessons in one of the primary maths tutoring programmes then starts with a diagnostic assessment for every pupil, which means the lesson starts at precisely the right level from session one. This avoids the common problem of spending the first 3-4 weeks “finding their level” – time you can’t afford to lose.

Practical tip: For schools running their own internal tutoring, keep diagnostics short and focused. Five quick questions on place value tell you more than a 50-question generic test.

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Which type of primary school tutoring is right for your school?

The biggest decisions you will need to make before starting up primary school tutoring are: 

• Online vs. In person tutoring
• One to one vs. Group tutoring
• Internal vs. External providers

There’s no single “best” model for primary school tuition – the right choice depends on your pupils’ needs, budget, and logistical constraints. Research has found that face-to-face person tutoring offers no significant benefit over online teaching and the effects of both are similar. It therefore comes down to the needs and preferences of your context. See the tables below for a summary of the strengths and weaknesses of online and in-person tutoring.

If you’re already convinced that online tutoring is right for your school, read this review of the best online maths tutoring platforms;

Online vs in-person tutoring

Since 2020, online primary tuition has become the default for many schools, driven initially by pandemic restrictions and the National Tutoring Programme but sustained by its practical advantages and budget pressures. Third Space Learning is proud to have been an official DfE approved Tuition Partner with the NTP since it first launched in 2020.

In-person tutoring:

• Works well for younger students (Reception-Year 2) in certain age groups who may struggle with screen-based learning.
• Allows use of physical manipulatives and resources.
• May feel more familiar to pupils used to traditional classroom settings.
• Requires available space in school and coordination of tutor travel.

Online tutoring:

• Significantly more flexible scheduling (no travel time or room constraints).
• Removes geographic barriers – access to specialist tutors regardless of location.
• Often more affordable (no travel costs passed to schools).
• Built-in progress tracking and session recording for safeguarding and quality assurance.
• Primary school students generally adapt quickly, when sessions are well-structured.
• Online classroom support can be delivered to students online anywhere in the school.

Consideration for school leaders: Online primary tuition reduces the administrative burden of coordinating room bookings, managing tutor arrivals, and dealing with absence cover. For schools struggling with timetabling or limited intervention spaces, this alone can make online delivery the practical choice.

Read more: Benefits Of Online Tutoring Vs In-Person Tutoring

One-to-one vs small group tutoring

One to one tutoring

One-to-one tuition offers maximum personalised learning but comes with higher costs and logistical complexity. It works particularly well for:

• Pupils with significant gaps requiring intensive support.
• Pupils in a class who all have different gaps.
• Children with SEND who need substantial adaptation.
• High-attaining pupils working on stretch content not covered in class.
• Pupils with maths anxiety who wouldn’t engage in a group setting.

Small group tutoring

Small group tutoring (2-5 pupils) balances personalisation with efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Research shows it can be nearly as effective as one-to-one while supporting more pupils with the same budget. It works best when:

• Pupils have similar starting points and target objectives.
• Group composition is stable (frequent changes disrupt rapport and progression).
• Group size stays genuinely small – six pupils is too many for meaningful personalisation.

Third Space Learning is able to offer one to one tuition with Skye the AI tutor at a cost per pupil lower than for small group tuition: unlimited sessions for a fixed annual fee per school (from £3,500 for smaller schools). This removes the traditional cost trade-off between individualisation and scale while providing full online tuition.

Read more: Benefits of one to one tutoring

Internal staff vs external providers

Using internal staff (teachers or TAs):

• Tutors already know the pupils, school context, and curriculum approach.
• Easier to integrate primary school tuition with classroom teaching.
• Requires protected time, training, and careful workload management.
• May lack specialist expertise in specific areas (eg, phonics, maths mastery approaches).

External providers (agencies, online tutoring platforms):

• Brings specialist subject knowledge and extensive tutoring experience.
• Can deliver tutoring at scale with consistent quality.
• Removes workload from school staff.
• Requires robust quality assurance and safeguarding processes.
• Varies significantly in quality – due diligence is essential.
• Will handle all the stages involved and relieve staff workload:
  • Recruiting tutors
  • Initial diagnostic assessment
  • Designing bespoke learning programmes for students
  • Selecting lessons
  • Monitoring and reporting
  • Scheduling and timetabling

Third Space Learning recommendation: Many schools use a blended approach – internal staff for immediate needs and pastoral support, external specialists for targeted expert online maths tuition or reading support where internal capacity is limited.

Read more: Best online tutoring websites

What else to consider when commissioning primary school tutoring

Beyond choosing a delivery model, several practical factors determine whether primary school tuition succeeds or becomes an administrative burden without clear impact.

Cost and budget planning

Costs vary significantly depending on model and provider:

Cost of in-person tuition:

• Qualified primary school teachers as tutors: £40-60 per hour.
• Experienced TA or graduate tutors: £25-40 per hour.
• Group sessions: £15-30 per pupil per hour (minimum booking typically 10 hours).

Cost of online tuition:

• Professional platforms (eg, MyTutor): £25-45 per hour for one-to-one sessions.
• Small group online: £15-25 per pupil per hour.

Cost of AI tutoring:

• Third Space Learning’s Skye: from £3,500 per school per year for unlimited one-to-one sessions.
• More affordable tutoring than any other provider: Take a look at the AI tutoring prices.

Hidden costs of school led tutoring to budget for:

• Staff time coordinating tutoring (scheduling, liaison, data analysis).
• Cover costs if internal staff deliver tuition during teaching time.
• Resources and materials.
• Technology costs (devices, headsets, reliable internet) for online delivery.

How to calculate the value for money of your primary school tutoring

Don’t just compare hourly rates. Consider:

• How many primary school students you can support with your total budget.
• Whether tutoring includes assessment, planning, and progress reporting.
• The quality of tutor training and safeguarding procedures.
• The resources and supplementary materials provided.
• Whether the provider offers flexibility if your needs change mid-year.

In the case of maths, research from the Education Endowment Foundation suggests that non-maths specialist run interventions will be most successful when they are ‘experienced, well-trained and supported – for example, delivering a structured intervention.’ However, this can be costly.

Third Space Learning’s online classroom has been designed with maths teaching in mind – it has an easy-to-use interactive whiteboard and quick click buttons to generate mathematical symbols. Our online AI maths tutor has a library of high-quality curriculum-aligned materials to support students. See how it works in action here.

Scheduling and session design

Scheduling tuition as your primary school intervention requires careful thought, and it’s not just about when sessions happen – it’s about how they’re structured to maximise impact on academic achievement.

Frequency and duration

Research is clear: short, regular sessions outperform occasional longer blocks. The EEF notes that frequent, brief one-to-one sessions can be optimal for impact.

• KS1: 2-3 sessions per week, 15-20 minutes each for this age group.
• KS2: 2-3 sessions per week, 30-45 minutes each for this age group.

Why frequent beats intensive: Spacing out learning allows time for consolidation between sessions. Three 30-minute sessions across a week gives pupils two opportunities to practice independently and return with questions – something a single 90-minute block doesn’t offer.

Minimum commitment: Plan for at least 12 weeks (24-36 sessions). Child progress data from Third Space Learning shows pupils typically need 15-20 sessions before gains become evident in school assessments. Short-term interventions (4-6 weeks) rarely give pupils time to close gaps and build fluency.

Timetabling without curriculum harm

Primary school tuition should be additional to, not instead of, regular lessons. But in practice, timetable constraints mean some pupils will miss class time.

Mitigate the impact:

• Rotate timing: Don’t pull pupils from PE every Tuesday for the whole year. Rotate which lesson they miss so they experience the full curriculum.
• Avoid core subjects: Pulling pupils from English to tutor maths (or vice versa) creates new gaps. Foundation subjects, assembly time, or intervention slots work better.
• Communication matters: Ensure class teachers know which lessons pupils miss, and provide brief catch-up resources where appropriate.

Online tutoring advantage: Scheduling becomes significantly more flexible with online primary tuition, as you’re not constrained by room availability or tutor location. Many schools using Third Space Learning’s online tutoring run sessions before school (8:15-8:45), during targeted intervention time, or after school without impacting the main timetable.

Session structure for a tutoring lesson that works

Every tutoring session should follow a consistent structure and learning plan so pupils know what to expect.

This is what a typical lesson looks like with Skye the AI maths tutor:

1. Skill Check In – diagnostic assessment to determine baseline understanding.
2. Let’s Learn – concept introduction (“I do”).
3. Follow Me, Your Turn – guided practice (“We do”).
4. You Do – independent practice.
5. Go Further – challenge questions for stretch and deeper thinking.
6. Skill Check Out – summative assessment to check if the learning objective has been achieved.

Read more: I do, we do, you do, approach

Safeguarding and safer working practices

Safeguarding isn’t optional – it’s fundamental when pupils receive primary school tuition, particularly in one-to-one settings or with external providers. Schools remain responsible for safeguarding even when tutoring is delivered by third parties.

Safeguarding for external tutors and tutoring organisations:

• Enhanced DBS checks appropriate to the role.
• Two professional references, verified by phone.
• Identity verification and right-to-work checks.
• Safeguarding training relevant to the tutoring environment (face-to-face vs online).

Safeguarding for online tutoring specifically:

• All sessions must be recorded and stored securely.
• Real-time monitoring capability for safeguarding staff.
• Clear reporting process if concerns arise during a session.
• Platform security (encrypted sessions, age-appropriate content filters).

Safeguarding for in-person tutoring:

• Sessions in rooms with visibility (windows, open-door policy).
• Avoid one-to-one tuition in isolated spaces.
• Clear drop-off and collection protocols if tutoring happens outside school hours.

Third Space Learning’s safeguarding approach

All Third Space Learning tutoring – whether delivered by human tutors or Skye, our AI tutor – includes built-in safeguarding:

• Skye can only display pre-approved content created by teachers.
• All sessions recorded, transcribed, and available on request.
• Automatic safeguarding alerts escalated to school DSLs in real-time.
• Sessions school-scheduled and staff-supervised during school hours.
• Student data never used for AI training.

Making sure tutors know what to do

External tutors must understand your school’s safeguarding procedures:

• Who is the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and how to contact them.
• How to log concerns (your CPOMS system, paper form, immediate phone call).
• What constitutes a safeguarding concern in your school context.
• Confidentiality boundaries (when to share information vs when to act immediately).

Practical step: Provide every tutor with a one-page summary: DSL contact details, reporting process, and examples of concerns to report. Include this in your tutoring induction, not just your generic safeguarding training.

Parent communication about tutoring

Parents should know:

• Their child has been selected for primary school tuition (with positive framing about closing gaps).
• Who will tutor their child (name, qualifications, safeguarding checks completed).
• Where and when tutoring happens.
• How to raise concerns about the tutoring provision.

Note: For online tutoring, some parents want reassurance about how sessions are monitored. Being transparent about recording, monitoring, and safeguarding processes builds trust.

Quality and impact

Not all primary school tuition delivers the same results. Quality depends on tutor expertise, lesson structure, and how well tutoring integrates with classroom teaching.

What to look for in quality tutoring provision:

• Strong subject knowledge: Tutors must understand not just what to teach, but why pupils struggle with specific concepts. The right tutoring experience helps identify child’s unique learning needs, improve focus, and ensure most lessons address the specific barriers preventing progress. A maths tutor who can explain three different ways to approach fractions will adapt better to pupil misconceptions than one who only knows the algorithm.
• Structured lesson planning: Every session should have clear objectives, build on prior learning, and connect to the next session. Avoid tutoring that’s essentially “homework help” without a coherent learning plan.
• Regular assessment and adaptation: Tutors should constantly check understanding and adapt their approach based on pupil responses. Pre-planned lesson sequences are useful, but they must flex to pupil needs in the moment.
• Communication with school staff: Class teachers need to know what pupils are learning in tuition so they can reinforce concepts and avoid teaching conflicting methods. Look for providers who include teacher liaison time in their model.
• Aligned to school curriculum: If your school uses a particular mastery approach, CPA (concrete-pictorial-abstract) methodology, or specific calculation strategies, primary school tuition should use the same approaches. Introducing different methods confuses pupils.

How Third Space Learning guarantees quality and impact of the online tutoring:

• Every lesson written by qualified primary school teachers and maths specialists.
• Curriculum-aligned to match what pupils learn in class (National Curriculum objectives).
• Diagnostic assessment at the start identifies exactly where to begin.
• We track progress so schools see which objectives pupils have mastered.
• Skye the AI tutor delivers the pedagogy and lesson structure that we’ve evolved from over 10 years of traditional tutoring, but with unlimited availability and consistent quality across every session.
• Reports are available to school staff for each student, class, school and even at a trust level

To see the impact, you can watch sessions in action and read case studies of schools like yours.

Curriculum alignment

Primary school tuition works best when it complements rather than contradicts classroom teaching.

Ensure your tutoring service:

• Uses the same mathematical vocabulary as your school (eg, if you say “sum” for addition, tutors shouldn’t say “add”).
• Follows the same calculation methods (column addition, partitioning, number lines – whatever your school teaches and whichever scheme of learning it uses).
• Connects explicitly to current classroom topics where possible.
• Doesn’t skip ahead without mastery of prerequisites.

Practical check: Ask your tutoring provider to share sample lessons. Compare these to your school’s calculation policy and scheme of work. If tutors teach written multiplication using a method your school doesn’t use, pupils will be confused and your teachers will spend time unpicking misconceptions.

Reporting and progress tracking

You need clear data to evaluate whether primary school tuition is working and to justify continued investment.

Essential reporting should include:

• Which objectives each pupil has worked on.
• Evidence of progress (eg, diagnostic scores, teacher assessment levels).
• Attendance and engagement data.
• Notes on pupil responses, misconceptions addressed, and next steps.
• Updates on each child’s learning journey.

Red flags in reporting:

• Only provides attendance data (hours delivered) without progress evidence.
• Generic feedback that could apply to any pupil.
• Significant gaps in reporting (eg, only reports at end of term rather than after every session).

Third Space Learning reporting: After every tutoring session, schools receive a report showing which learning objective was covered, whether the pupil achieved it, and any notes on misconceptions or next steps. This transparency allows teachers to follow up in class and means leaders can track impact week-by-week, not just at the end of a programme.

7 tips for schools to make primary school tutoring a success

1. Start with clear success criteria

Before primary school tuition begins, define what success looks like for each child’s learning. Is it closing the gap from 85 to 100 scaled score? Mastering specific times tables? Improved confidence in class discussions?

Vague aims like “improve maths” won’t allow you to evaluate impact. Specific targets like “secure place value understanding up to 1000 and apply in addition/subtraction contexts” give everyone clarity.

2. Prepare pupils for their sessions

Even before sessions begin, teachers can prepare students for their tutoring sessions by setting expectations around attendance, behaviour, engagement and more even before their first class.

The dynamic in small group tutoring and one to one tutoring is very different from whole class teaching, so pupils, especially young children, may need support when adjusting to this new learning style.

As teachers, you’ll already be well aware of the positive impact of parental involvement. Research consistently shows that when parents are involved in their child’s education, it not only has a positive impact on academic achievement but also attendance, behaviour and children’s social and emotional development.

Share information about tutoring sessions with parents and carers, especially if sessions are scheduled before or after school and will require parents to pick up or drop off their child at a different time.

3. Communicate with class teachers

Tutoring can’t work in isolation. Class teachers must know which pupils are receiving primary school tuition, what they’re working on, and how they’re progressing in their school work.

Create simple feedback loops such as a weekly email summary of tutoring objectives and achievements. This allows teachers to reinforce concepts in class and avoid conflicting approaches.

4. Organise the logistics ahead of the first session

Planning is key to successful implementation of primary school tutoring.

Ensure you have a clear understanding of:

• Staffing.
• Timetabling.
• Location (suitable room with necessary equipment).
• Resources required (e.g. textbooks, technology, manipulatives, etc.).
• Curriculum.
• Reporting and attendance.
• Connection and technology checks for online tutoring.

If you’re working with an external provider, they will likely support many of these considerations, reducing your workload.

5. Monitor attendance and engagement

Primary school tuition only works if pupils attend consistently and engage with the learning. If a pupil misses 40% of sessions or repeatedly appears disengaged, investigate why.

Are sessions scheduled at a time that clashes with something they value (eg, missing playtime or a favourite lesson)? Is the work too easy or too hard? Does the pupil understand why they’ve been selected for tuition?

Sometimes a simple conversation resolves attendance issues. Other times, it reveals that a different intervention would be more appropriate for that particular age group.

6. Review impact regularly

Don’t wait until the end of a 12-week block to evaluate whether tuition is working. Check progress at 4-6 weeks:

• Are pupils making measurable progress in targeted objectives and academic achievement?
• Are they engaging positively with sessions?
• Are teachers noticing increased confidence, self esteem, or participation?

If not, adjust the approach. Perhaps the tuition needs to slow down and consolidate understanding rather than moving to new objectives. Perhaps the group composition needs changing. Early course correction is better than completing a full programme that hasn’t delivered.

7. Celebrate progress with pupils and parents

When pupils make progress, tell them with positive encouragement. Be specific about what they’ve achieved: “You can now multiply any two-digit number by a one-digit number confidently” is more meaningful than “you’re doing well in maths”.

Share successes with parents too. A positive phone call home (“I wanted to let you know that Emma has made brilliant progress in her tutoring sessions – she’s much more confident with fractions now”) strengthens home-school partnership and motivates pupils to continue engaging.

In the end it’s all about impact on pupils.

Every school will have different needs and requirements, which is why there is no one-size-fits-all approach to effective tutoring. Use the research to guide your initial decisions, choose wisely, and use effective monitoring to make any adjustments needed along the way.

Related articles: 

• AI Tutoring Review: EdTech Expert Jodie Lopez 
• AI Maths Tutor Review: Deputy Headteacher Neil Almond
• Navigate the adoption of AI with this free AI Literacy Course for School Leaders

Primary school tutoring FAQs