11 November 2010 Last updated at 21:24 ET

Pupils' right to one-to-one catch-up tuition ended

By Hannah Richardson BBC News education reporter

One-to-one schemes have been invaluable in helping struggling children catch up

Struggling pupils' automatic right to one-to-one tuition has been axed in the government's shake-up of England's school funding.

Pupils who had fallen behind in reading or numeracy were to have a right to catch-up help under a number of schemes being rolled out nationally from 2011.

The funding for these successful programmes is now being channelled into the national schools budget.

Head teachers will then decide whether to continue or sign up for the schemes.

Labour had pledged that pupils who fell behind at primary school and early in secondary school would receive one-to-one or small-group catch-up help from 2011.

But tens of thousands of pupils already receive that help with many more due to obtain it under schemes being rolled out across England.

Explaining the decision to head teachers after the Spending Review, Education Secretary Michael Gove said the "ringfences were being removed" from a number of programmes and school grants.

These include one-to-one tuition for secondary children, Every Child a Reader, Every Child Counts for primary age pupils, and a number of other budgets allocated to schools.

Mr Gove said the move would give head teachers "complete freedom over how this money is spent".

This implies the schools currently in receipt of these extra funds will retain them when next year's allocations are made.

But in fact the cash will go into a national budget to be re-allocated to local authorities at the beginning of December.

Schools, however, are unlikely to find out the size of their budgets until after Christmas.

Deprived areas

In the meantime, the Every Child a Chance Trust - which runs the Every Child a Reader and Every Child Counts schemes for 60,000 primary school pupils - has been asked to delay the publication of research which could persuade head teachers of the effectiveness of their programme.

This study builds on research which shows that after 40 hours of individual reading help children advance almost two years in their reading age.

On the numeracy programme, gains of more than a year or 14 months are made after 20 hours of one-to-one coaching.

The coalition government had protected the schemes, known as Every Child a Reader and Every Child Counts, until the end of the current financial year.

But schools minister Nick Gibb has told concerned MPs the effectiveness of the Every Child programmes is currently being reviewed.

A Department for Education spokeswoman said: "We believe schools are best placed to buy in support for children who need help with literacy and numeracy in primary schools - it is not for central government to dictate how they do this.

"The department will set out further details on raising standards in schools in a white paper later this year."

General secretary of the NASUWT Chris Keates said the government was using the funds from schemes such as these to make it appear that the overall national schools budget was increasing.

She said these funds would instead be spread across a larger number of schools more thinly.

'Culture change'

She added that those in deprived areas would be the ones to lose out, as they had previously received a greater share of these funds.

"No job, no programme and no school is safe under these cuts," she warned.

She claimed Labour had been planning to spend £40.6bn in 2010-2011 - some £1.6bn more than the £39bn promised by the end of the spending review period.

Shadow education secretary Andy Burnham said Labour's commitment to one-to-one tuition for students struggling in the "three Rs" meant that no child would be left behind.

"We support moves to give head teachers greater freedom but removing guarantees for parents at a time when most schools will see their budgets cut means exposing our children to a lottery - some will get this help, some won't."

"For those families currently seeing the benefits of the Every Child schemes, it will be a bitter blow if they lose this support."

General secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders Brian Lightman said there had been a fundamental change in culture, with head teachers being given more autonomy to decide what was best for their pupils.

But he added that despite the promise of a 0.1% increase in the national schools budget, with rising school rolls and inflationary pressures most schools would effectively have less money.

Read a selection of your comments

My son is in year one and really struggles with reading and writing. His confidence was so low in reception. He was so aware that his class mates were leaving him behind and he really worried about it. Since starting year one he has been having one-to-one sessions with a teacher from the learning support service in our town. The difference in him has been incredible. His confidence has soared and he is now really enjoying learning. She has changed school for him - he's no longer frightened to try to tackle reading and writing; it's pleasurable for him. To think other children in his position might not get this support is so upsetting to me.

Kay Gardner, Stockport, UK

I am a well qualified teacher who has had to rely on supply work for several years. This has been almost non-existent for the last couple of years due to the use of unqualified cover supervisors who can be employed relatively cheaply. This year I have managed to obtain work as a one-to-one tutor, which, although not particularly well paid is professionally quite fulfilling. It seems that this source of income too will soon become unavailable. I have managed to allocate some money each year to improving my skills and qualifications in the hope of finding a permanent teaching post. In common with many other parents, I now have the additional worry of a university fee as I do not want her to begin her career with huge debts.

Jane Corlett, UK

Whilst one-to-one maths is an excellent concept, using individual tutors is not the most cost effective way of achieving progress. My own child - just turned 10-years-old, has been on "Springboard Maths" at school where a group are given help twice a week for 10 weeks, but it has made little difference. He has however, been using an online personal tutor, where the pupil is assessed and as a result, lessons are geared to their own ability, not age. Since he started using it (on average 90 minutes a week) in February 2010, his maths age has gone from 8.17 years to 9.64 years, an increase of 1.47 years, and due to the way it is presented, he has found maths a fun subject.

Peter Roberts, Dereham, Norfolk, UK

My son was diagnosed as mildly autistic when he was five. Immediately afterwards he started receiving one-to-one tuition and help with his speech and understanding. By the time he was out of infant school he didn't need any extra help, as he had reached an acceptable standard. The two years of extra help must have cost a lot, but in terms of giving him a normal life (and possibly keeping him off benefits in future), it must have been a saving.

Iva, Ely, UK

I have worked as a one-to-one tutor for the last two years, and have seen first hand the benefits of this provision. Pupils have shown a huge increase in confidence, not only when working with me individually, but also when they are back in the classroom. Their academic improvement has been amazing, far beyond what was expected. For some children, just having someone there to reassure them at every step makes all the difference. Take this provision away and I dread to think what will happen to British education.

R, UK

I am currently a teacher with some 15 years experience who is receiving additional specialist training to implement the numbers count programme into my school. The every child scheme is not just about one-to-one tuition, it is about SPECIALIST tuition, and as has been said is directed at the lowest achievers in our education system. It is essential that these children continue to receive this type of early intervention if we are to give future generations a chance to become valued members of society and to reduce spending on unemployment benefit in years to come.

J Greenwood, UK