One-to-one tuition 'can help disadvantaged pupils reach potential'

February 02 2011

Providing one-to-one tuition for disadvantaged pupils can help them to reach their potential, it has been claimed.

Stephen Shields, chief executive of Shine (Support and Help in Education), an organisation which aims to help disadvantaged children and young people by supporting programmes that concentrate on core educational subjects, said young people can do better if they have more access to support and learning opportunities that they do not have at home.

"Individual, one-to-one support and educational programmes and study support at the margins of the school day and on Saturdays [are especially helpful]," he commented.

"We also believe that schools would benefit from using programmes that are proven to be successful in raising achievement levels, and programmes that engage parents, and that the earlier these interventions start the more successful they will be in terms of closing the attainment gap that exists between these young people and their more privileged peers."

Speaking last week to the Chronicle, Stephen Grix of MidKent College suggested that fewer young people from disadvantaged backgrounds will enter higher education because of the coalition's decision to axe Education Maintenance Allowance payments.

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