ONE-TO-ONE TUITION
NUT BRIEFING
OCTOBER 2009
This briefing provides information on the Government-funded One-to-One Tuition
programme and sets out NUT advice on pay and conditions issues for
participating students’ tutors and class teachers.
ONE TO ONE TUITION PROGRAMME
The One-to-One Tuition programme has been created in order to provide additional
support in mathematics and/or English, delivered alongside classroom teaching. It
operates in England only. It should not be confused with the Government’s Personal
Tutor initiative, whereby every secondary school pupil will have a personal tutor to
support their academic progress and personal development.
Funding for one-to-one tuition is provided by the Government on a national basis by
means of a ring-fenced Standards Fund grant. This will cover tuition for all year groups
in Key Stages 2 and 3, and Key Stage 4 in National Challenge schools. The funding will
be distributed at local authority level, with local authorities having strategic responsibility
for targeting these resources.
Tuition will be carried out by tutors employed under separate contracts of employment.
DCSF guidance and NUT advice on eligibility to be employed as tutors and on
employment, pay and conditions is set out below. The amount of funding per student
covers both tutors’ pay and employers’ on-costs. There is also additional funding for
schools and local authorities to cover administration costs for the programme.
The NUT supports the policy aim of the one-to-one tuition programme, which reflects the
Union’s consistent campaigning commitment to the availability of personal tuition for all
children. Its implementation must be accompanied by adequate pay and conditions for
tutors and without imposing additional workload on class teachers.
NATURE OF ONE TO ONE TUITION
It is envisaged that teachers will identify and recommend children from their classes for
one-to-one tuition with agreement from their parent(s) or guardian(s). Tuition should only
be offered to pupils who:

entered the key stage behind the expected level; and/or

are not on course to meet national expectations or make two levels of progress;
and/or

are looked after children who would benefit from extra support.
Each student will receive 10 hours of one-to-one tuition, with an additional two hours per
child permitted for planning/liaison time with the student’s class teacher.
Tuition can take place in a school, in the student’s home, or at a town centre location
such as a library. It can take place during school hours, after school, at weekends or in
school holidays. Decisions on times and venues will be taken by the school and local
authority, with discussions with prospective tutors on exact timings.
The students will be allocated to tutors by the local authority or school. Local authorities
and schools can choose whether or not they use teachers from the students’ own
school. It is envisaged that schools will often use a mix of their own teachers and other
qualified tutors depending on the needs of their students.
The Government maintains that there are a number of differences between one-to-one
tutors and personal tutors, as follows.

Personal tutors will know each child and follow their academic progress and
personal development across all subjects; a tutor on the One-to-One Tuition
programme will only be concerned with the child’s progress in mathematics
and/or English.

Every secondary school student will have a personal tutor, whereas one-to-one
tuition is aimed only at those who need additional support in mathematics and/or
English.

Only secondary school students will have a personal tutor, whereas one-to-one
tuition will be available to students at primary and secondary schools.

Personal tutors will stay with the same student throughout secondary school,
whereas a tutor on the One-to-One Tuition programme will work with each
student for ten hours to help them reach their target.
ELIGIBILITY TO BE EMPLOYED AS TUTORS
The DCSF guidance states that one-to-one tuition can only be carried out by a “qualified
tutor”, normally:

someone with qualified teacher status (QTS);

an overseas teacher qualified to teach in schools in England1;

trainee teachers in the summer before they gain QTS; or

those with teaching and subject-specific qualifications from the higher education
or further education sectors.
All prospective tutors must hold the appropriate level of disclosure, for example a CRB
check. They will need to demonstrate sufficient knowledge of the subject they wish to
provide. That does not necessarily mean, however, that the tutors must have a degree in
the subject or be currently teaching it. It will be at the discretion of local authorities to
determine whether a prospective tutor has sufficient subject knowledge to be a tutor on
the programme.
1
The DCSF defines these teachers as “those who do not currently hold QTS, but who have been teaching in England for fewer
than 4 years and for whom one-to-one tuition falls within the definition of ‘supplementary employment’”
Cross-phase tutoring is permitted, for example a primary teacher tutoring secondary
school students. There are no set numbers of students or working hours. Each tutor has
the flexibility to decide, in liaison with the school and parents/guardians, how many
students they take on and the timing of the tutoring.
Tutors will be allowed to provide one-to-one tuition alongside their teaching job but will
not be allowed to tutor more than one student in a session.
NUT VIEW OF THE PROGRAMME
The NUT has campaigned consistently for personal tuition to be made available to all
children. In its policy statement “Bringing Down the Barriers”, published in 2004, the
Union said:
“The NUT would propose that as part of the development of personalised
learning the Government should fund and pilot, in a group of primary and
secondary schools, personal tuition arrangements for pupils which would
involve enhancing the number of teaching staff in those schools.”
The Union believes that making personal tuition available to all pupils could indeed bring
down a barrier by making its benefits available to all, rather than only for those whose
parents can afford it.
Christine Blower, General Secretary, has commented:
“Every teacher knows that there are children in their classes who could
benefit from one-to-one tuition at critical times in their school lives.
Schools have long needed sufficient qualified teachers to enable personal
tuition to be focused on those children who may have learning blocks or
who, perhaps because of home circumstances, lack their class mates’
confidence to learn”.
ADVICE ON EMPLOYMENT AND DEPLOYMENT OF TUTORS
The One-to-One Tuition programme is a voluntary programme. Teachers can choose
whether or not to take part. As with payments for CPD, ITT and out-of-school learning
activities, the NUT’s view is that participation in one-to-one tuition must remain
completely voluntary. No pressure, direct or indirect, should be placed on teachers to
become involved. Governing bodies and heads need to recognise that some teachers
have personal or other commitments which make it difficult for them to participate.
Decisions relating to the employment and appointment of tutors will usually be taken at
school level. The DCSF states that, for community schools, the employer for tutors
could be either the local authority or the school governing body, depending on what
arrangements the local authority has determined in discussion with its schools. For
voluntary aided and foundation schools, the school governing body would normally be
the employer.
The NUT recommends that:

wherever possible, decisions on the deployment of tutors are taken within
schools by those best placed to assess how best to meet pupils’ needs;

agreement with individual tutors in relation to one-to-one tuition should be clearly
documented in writing setting out both the work expected and the payment rate;

where the tutor is not already employed as a teacher at the school or will be
working in addition to an existing part time contract, this agreement should be set
out in a contract of employment additional to and separate from the teacher's
main contract;

local authorities should draw up model agreements and model contracts of
employment for use in all cases. Where additional contracts of employment are
required, these should be organised and issued by local authorities, with tutors
employed by the local authority rather than individual school governing bodies.
ADVICE ON PAY AND CONDITIONS FOR TUTORS
In all cases, tutors will be paid for 12 hours per student, which allows for 10 hours of
tuition and up to two hours for planning and any liaison with the student’s class teacher.
The DCSF advises2 that tutors employed to tutor during the school day should be
employed and paid according to STPCD pay scales and conditions. Tutors will, in such
cases, therefore be paid on the qualified or unqualified teachers’ pay scale as
appropriate. Where a tutor is already employed as a teacher at the school, the working
time involved will either form part of normal working time as a full time teacher or be paid
through an additional part time contract at a pay rate based on the teacher’s usual pay
scale point entitlement.
The DCSF advises that tutors employed to provide tuition outside the school day
should be paid using the STPCD provisions for additional payment to teachers who take
part in “out of school hours learning activity”. The rate of payment for out of hours
learning activity may be determined by the governing body. Where a tutor is already
employed as a teacher at the school, payment for tuition outside of the school day does
not therefore have to be at a pay rate based on the teacher’s usual pay scale point
entitlement. The Government’s suggested “typical rate of pay” for one-to-one tuition
outside the school day is £25 per hour outside of London, £28 in Outer London and £29
in Inner London. This is slightly higher than an hourly rate based on the M6 scale point
except in the Fringe Area where it is slightly below M6. The precise rate of pay,
however, will have to be agreed with each employer.
The NUT recommends that:

teachers employed to deliver one-to-one tuition should be paid at an hourly rate
based on the pay spine position which the teacher would occupy if employed in a
full time teaching post at that school;

teachers already employed at the school should be paid at a hourly rate which
reflects the teacher’s actual total pay (i.e., actual position on the pay scale and
any additional payments) in their substantive teaching post;

where the above recommended pay rates would be below the Government’s
specified rates, teachers should be paid at the Government's specified rates.
2
http://publications.teachernet.gov.uk/eOrderingDownload/Final-HR-factsheet-January-2009..pdf
The NUT is aware that some local authorities say that the funding provided is
inadequate to pay the above rates and cannot fund payment at a rate above M3 on the
Main Scale or a corresponding level of pay on the support staff pay scales. This does
not alter the NUT's position. Qualified teachers undertaking one-to-one tuition should in
all cases be paid on the qualified teacher pay scales as described above. Qualified
teachers should not, for example, be paid on cover supervisor rates.
Employment as a tutor by a local authority or in a school maintained by a local authority
falls within the scope of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) and as such is
pensionable unless the tutor has opted out of the TPS or is already in full-time
pensionable employment with another TPS employer.
Where tutors are supplied by a supply or private tuition agency, the requirements set out
above to not apply and the agency may determine the level of pay.
ADVICE ON WORKING TIME ISSUES FOR CLASS TEACHERS
The NUT is aware of the likely implications for class teachers in primary (KS2) and
secondary schools with students taking part in the scheme. The programme provides
for liaison meetings between the tutor and the class teacher to discuss each student.
Unless steps are taken, these meetings may impose additional hours of work on class
teachers, particularly where several students in a class participate in the scheme.
The NUT expects schools to put in place measures to protect those class teachers
whose students are involved in the programme. Where meetings take place during the
school day, this should not be at the expense of class teachers' non-contact time and in
particular PPA time. Any such meetings should therefore be facilitated by use of supply
cover. Where meetings take place at the end of the school day, it is recommended that
the class teacher is given a one-off allocation of non-contact time during the school day
to compensate for the additional hours worked, paid for via the funding provided or
where this is inadequate from the school’s supply budget. Where, however, class
teachers have particular commitments after school on particular days, for example
involving childcare, these should be respected and these meetings arranged during the
school day. Whatever arrangements are made must be subject to negotiation and
agreement with the teacher concerned.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Further details on the One-to-One Tuition programme can be found at:
www.tda.gov.uk/teachers/onetoonetuition.aspx
http://publications.teachernet.gov.uk/eOrderingDownload/Final-HR-factsheet-January2009..pdf
Any individual concerns relating to the Programme should, of course, be referred to the
NUT locally or thereafter the appropriate NUT regional office.
National Union of Teachers
October 2009