Year 11 pupils receiving Tutor Trust English tuition achieved lower English GCSE scores than comparison pupils (effect size −0.16), but this difference cannot be attributed to the tuition¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r1 · q2 · i0 negligible
Currency · newest study 2015 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i0 On average, pupils receiving Tutor Trust English tutoring achieved lower English GCSE scores than pupils in the comparison group (effect size −0.16, about two months' progress), with attribution ruled out by design limitations. → Buchanan 2015

Evidence¶

Buchanan 2015¶

Buchanan, E., Morrison, J., Walker, M., Aston, H., & Cook, R. (2015). Tutor Trust Secondary: Evaluation report and Executive summary. Education Endowment Foundation. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED581539

q2 · i0 · causal · r1

Quasi-experimental multilevel regression analysis of 409 Tutor Trust English tutees from 19 schools against 62,970 comparison pupils; the results table prints an effect size of −0.16 ("−2 months") for all pupils in English. The evaluators attribute the unattributable difference to the absence of a high-quality comparison group and missing pupil-level SEN, EAL and LAC data.

"On average, pupils receiving Tutor Trust English tutoring achieved lower English GCSE scores than pupils in the comparison group. However, it is not possible to attribute these differences to the tuition provided. Specifically, the absence of a high- quality comparison group made it impossible to rule out the possibility that the differences observed were due to differences between pupils who received tuition and those who did not."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Year 11 pupils receiving Tutor Trust mathematics tuition achieved slightly higher mathematics GCSE scores than comparison pupils, but this difference cannot be attributed to the tuition — related
• Pupils receiving Tutor Trust tuition made marginally less progress in English and mathematics than matched comparison pupils, with differences not statistically significant — related
• Delivering the Tutor Trust programme cost approximately £185 per pupil, based on groups of three pupils receiving 25 tuition sessions — related
• Participating schools were positive about the tuition and keen to work with the Tutor Trust again, and staff saw a need for more affordable high-quality tuition — related
• Schools perceived Tutor Trust tuition as most effective when tutors had strong pedagogical skills, subject knowledge, and could engage pupils and target sessions appropriately — related
• Schools involved in qualitative interviews were positive about the tuition, keen to work with the Tutor Trust again, and confident it benefited their pupils — related
• Teachers and tutors perceived tuition as most effective when tutors had strong pedagogical skills and subject knowledge, engaged successfully with pupils, and targeted sessions appropriately — related