Students make big leaps in progress following online tuition

Thousands of students across England have improved their maths assessment scores by an average of 76% following participation in online tutoring.

The analysis of 93,000 hours of online tuition by tuition provider Pearson and online tutoring and teaching platform Bramble, has been released this week in a new impact report. With analysis of tuition sessions involving more than 2,200 students, the research also revealed the significant progress made by students eligible for Pupil Premium funding:

• Key Stage 2 Pupil Premium students increased their attainment scores by 73% across all subjects
• Key Stage 4 Pupil Premium students, who started from a higher baseline, made impressive gains of 59% across all subjects
• Pupil Premium students, across all key stages, increased their maths scores by 76%
• Pupil Premium students studying English progressed at 52%.

The analysis, based on student performance before and after a course of 15 one-hour tutoring sessions in English, maths or science delivered by Pearson tutors using the Bramble live online tutoring platform as part of the government-funded National Tutoring Programme (NTP), was carried out between September 2021 and September 2022.

Further data also revealed:

• A 76% increase in assessment scores following maths catch-up tutoring across Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4
• A 73% increase in student confidence levels across the board
• A 77% increase in student understanding levels across the board.

Typically delivered in small groups of three students to one Pearson tutor, the data analysed included 4,400 pre and post tuition assessments, a range of engagement data and almost 80,000 CUE (confidence, understanding and engagement) ratings.

Analysis using Bramble’s Smart Subtopic Detection technology showed that number, algebra and geometry were the top three topics covered in maths tutoring sessions.

Interaction and search data collated from the Bramble platform produced some impressive statistics: during the 93,000 hours of Pearson-led online tutoring assessed, 180 million words were spoken by tutors and students, and 641,000 resources shared.

The impact report also highlights findings from Bramble’s annual tuition survey, which surveyed more than 2,200 teachers, tutors, students and parents during the summer. The survey provided an insight into the benefits of online tuition and included:

• 87% of all students found online tutoring to be more effective or as effective as the in-person alternative
• 81% of teachers reported a positive impact from external tuition

The top three benefits of online tuition according to teachers and tutors were found to be helping students to be more relaxed and focussed, the ability to cover more content online and safeguarding benefits of lesson recordings.

Will Chambers, Bramble co-founder, said: “This impact report analyses the largest ever sample of students to participate in live online tuition during the second year of the National Tutoring Programme and offers real proof that tuition delivered by Pearson tutors using the Bramble platform delivers a significant and sustained impact on pupil progress, particularly for students eligible for Pupil Premium funding.”

Hayley White, Business Lead for Tutoring at Pearson added: “These findings reinforce what we know – that when the right people, right processes and right tools are on hand, learners clearly can and do succeed. By creating high-quality, engaging sessions with a tutor workforce that exclusively comprises fully qualified UK teachers, skilled in meeting individual needs and learning styles whilst aligning with existing classroom plans and practices, we can ensure that the thousands of students participating in our programme have the best chance of fulfilling their potential. Together with Bramble, we look forward to supporting many thousands more in the years ahead.”