Levelling the Tutoring Playing Field: The Power of Volunteer Tutors to Tackle Inequality in Education

This article explores the growth and journey of Action Tutoring, an educational charity established in 2012 that seeks to support pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds to achieve at least national standards in the core subjects of English and maths, using a wide range of high-quality volunteer tutors.The charity aims to address the large attainment gap between pupils from disadvantaged families and their wealthier peers by making the benefit of tutoring available to those that wouldn’t otherwise afford it. Since its inception in 2012,Action Tutoring has grown rapidly, now working in eight cities across England supporting 3,000 disadvantaged young people a year through partnerships with both primary and secondary schools, with this expected to grow significantly further in the coming year. Action Tutoring has developed a carefully structured, well-managed and tailored programme, which ensures it can drive the best possible impact for its pupils.This article explores the structure of the Action Tutoring programme, designed to make it as impactful and scalable as possible, and the impact that the organisation has had to date.