Queen Alexandra College's (QAC) Statement on the 16-19 Tuition Fund

The ESFA has made funding available to colleges to support students who have had their learning affected by the Coronavirus pandemic. The Tuition Fund is ring-fenced for schools, colleges and all other 16 to 19 providers to mitigate the disruption to learning arising from coronavirus.

The funding can be used to provide small group tuition for 16 to 19-year-olds on a study programme where their learning has been disrupted. Although the support is targeted based on prior attainment in maths/English, the funding is not limited to support in these subjects and will be provided according to need across a variety of subjects; students (age 16-24) with an Educational Health and Care plan (EHCP) are included in this funding.

Examples of some of the support that QAC is offering are:

  • GCSE resit preparation and Functional Skills assessment twilight sessions.
  • Additional 1:1 targeted sessions in English and maths.
  • Tailored support intervention for all High Needs Students, this includes therapies (Physiotherapy and Occupational Sensory – OT) and support services such as Braille, mentoring and counselling.
  • Individualised vocational catch-up sessions for knowledge and practical skills development.

Implementation

The College will use the funding as follows:

  • Recruiting specialists to work with students in small groups to support teaching and learning.
  • Increasing the hours of some existing staff.
  • Run 1 to 1 or small group sessions in addition to the existing timetabled hours.
  • Offering additional support and interventions based on the individual needs of each student.
  • Ensuring students have suitable accessibility software and hardware to enable home learning.

Queen Alexandra College’s commitment

The College is committed to ensuring that the tuition fund is used in accordance with the Government’s guidance on the 16 to 19 Tuition Fund by:

  • producing this statement setting out how the fund will be used to support the most disadvantaged students.
  • publishing this statement on the College website.
  • recording the use of the fund, including references to individual students who receive support, the needs of those students, the number of hours of tuition delivered and retaining the evidence of the tuition provided.
  • delivering the extra tuition and spend the allocated funds in the academic year 2020/21.
  • notifying the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) of any underspend from the Fund for it to be reclaimed.

ESFA guidance related to the Tuition Fund is available here.