Ensuring
high quality
Tute Education is dedicated to quality first, every time
Here at Tute Education, we’re dedicated to delivering exceptional online learning to the students whose education is entrusted to us. As the landscape of online and alternative education evolves, so do the standards and accreditations that govern our sector.
We welcome strong external quality control, probably because we’ve always sought it! Whilst we of course have incredibly rigorous internal policies and procedures to assure and control our quality (we actually have a whole team dedicated to it), we’ve always been mindful of not marking our own homework.
Read on to learn more about how quality comes first at Tute, every time.
Over a decade of
experience
Tute has been delivering online alternative provision since 2012 - we are not new to this
Fully-qualified
teachers
Tute only employs fully-qualified, experienced and DBS checked teachers
Pedagogical
excellence
Tute has a robust pedagogical approach underpinning all our lessons at every level and every subject
External
quality assurance
Tute is rigorously quality assured by Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust, an external Ofsted Outstanding academy trust
Dedicated in-house
quality team
Tute employs a dedicated QA team who assure and control quality
DfE approved
Tuition Partner
Tute is approved by the DfE as a Tuition Partner in the National Tutoring Programme and undergoes rigorous, annual DfE quality reviews
Safeguarding
commitment
Tute operates a safeguarded learning environment built by the team with quality and safety at the forefront
Capacity to
meet demand
Tute has a large team of teaching and non-teaching staff to ensure capacity that meets demand
DfE quality assurance
Three annual reviews carried out on behalf of the DfE
to ensure we meet standards
The National Tutoring Programme (NTP) was launched by the UK government in 2020 as part of the Covid-19 recovery plan and to tackle the growing attainment gap as a result of the pandemic. More information about the details of the programme can be found on the GOV.UK site.
As a trusted tuition partner in the NTP, we have been subject to rigorous Quality Assurance by the DfE for the last 4 years.
Tute was one of only 32 Tuition Partners approved by the DfE (out of around 400 that applied) back in November 2020. Since then, we have been subject to rigorous DfE quality assurance, the criteria for which we have met every single time.
Tribal was appointed by the Department for Education (DfE) as a delivery partner in 2022 to quality assure all NTP Tuition Partners. Tribal works closely with the DfE and the tutoring sector to ensure the highest standard of tutoring provision.
Tuition providers who wish to deliver any form of tuition as part of the NTP must apply to Tribal to become an approved NTP Tuition Partner.
Tribal developed a rigorous quality assurance framework and asses all new tuition partners against this framework prior to acceptance onto the find a tuition partner service. All tuition partners are quality assured annually to ensure continued quality of tutoring, as well as the best experience and learning outcomes for schools and pupils.
On behalf of the DfE, Tribal conducts a thorough quality assurance review to ensure high standards across various operational areas of our organisation. This is mandatory, happens three times a year, and covers a broad range of criteria.
Listed providers on Dynamic Purchasing Systems
Tute Education has cleared rigorous due diligence procedures to be listed on Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) frameworks as an approved provider to local authorities and their schools.
Our safeguarding standards, teaching and learning, recruitment procedures, curriculum offer, referral procedures and pricing have all been subject to quality assurance checks to ensure they meet local authority commissioning criteria.
We’re proudly listed on frameworks of the following local authorities…
- Birmingham Virtual School
- Bury Council
- Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
- Derby City Council
- Essex County Council
- Isle of Wight
- Norfolk County Council
- Nottinghamshire Council
- Plymouth City Council
- Trafford Council
- City of Wolverhampton Council
- Kent and Medway
- Lincolnshire Council
We are continuously adding more frameworks to our list so if you have a recommendation for a framework to join please contact us on info@tute.com.
British Educational Research Association
Dr Sharon Smith, a key member of Tute Education’s Teaching and Learning Senior Leadership Team is also co-convenor for the BERA special interest group dedicated to alternative education. This professional network explores all forms of out of school educational provision and alternative approaches within schools. The SIG aspires to be a meeting ground for the education in alternative setting or spaces and to give a voice to those who realise education and learning differently. Its aim is to promote network of critical discussion and supportive resources for researchers, practitioners, writers and thinkers.
Hosting, attending and sharing research conducted into alternative education at national and international conferences and in BERA publications is also supported by Tute.
One such example is the paper, ‘Finding the voice of students engaging in online alternative provision via digital data collection methods.’
Published in the British Journal of Education Technology, this paper explored the use of digital data collection methods in gathering student voice from students engaging in Online Alternative Provision with Tute. It assessed how students view and respond to their provision and the impact it was having on them.
Findings include:
- Practitioners should strive to ensure AP students have avenues through which they may have their student voices heard to gain insights into the effectiveness of the provision from a student perspective.
- Anonymous feedback, which enables students to be confident in expressing their views, even when verbally expressed, can be facilitated through digital data collection methods.
- Use of live, online interactive lessons are a valuable form of AP worthy of further exploration.
Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust
Tute Education has a long-established collaboration with Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust. We work closely with numerous schools within the trust and with the teacher training partnership supported by the University of Warwick and Newman University.
This collaboration bolsters our robust quality assurance processes and ensures the impact and efficacy of our solutions.
Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust’s involvement with Tute encompasses two key areas:
Shireland’s Senior Leadership Team (SLT) conducts an independent assessment of Tute’s teaching quality by meticulously reviewing 50 online lessons annually. This rigorous review not only adds an additional layer of standardisation to our observation process but also serves as an external inspection akin to OFSTED, providing impartial grading and detailed reports on our performance. These insights inform our internal Continuous Professional Development (CPD) initiatives and shape our strategic plans for enhancing our online school’s delivery.
Sir Mark Grundy and his SLT offer invaluable feedback on Tute Education’s broader strategic direction, guiding us on how to align our educational delivery with evolving requirements. This strategic collaboration aids our business development efforts, ensuring our pedagogical approach remains responsive to the Department for Education’s (DfE) strategies. Additionally, Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust provides us with tailored advice on addressing the challenges schools encounter in improving attainment levels, further enriching our strategic decision-making processes.
It created many efficiencies for us including reducing staff workload."
Education Endowment Fund Research
The Education Endowment Fund (EEF) commissioned the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) and the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) to run nimble randomised controlled trials (RCTs) with approved NTP year 1 (2020−21) Tuition Partners to evaluate different strategies to reach and engage both schools and pupils in the National Tutoring Programme.
Tute Education took part in one such trial, entitled: ‘Leveraging Pupil-Tutor Similarity to Improve Pupil Attendance.’ (June 2022)
The trial found:
- Where relationship building activities were used there was a positive impact on student attendance to lessons.
- Where relationship building activities were used there was a positive impact specifically on pupil premium students’ attendance to lessons.
- When pupils and tutors had better relationships, pupils were more likely to attend sessions and more likely to engage in the learning process.
Chartered College of Teaching
Tute Education prioritises evidence-informed practice within our teaching and learning team, fostering engagement with external bodies and authorities.
Dr Sharon Smith, a key member of Tute’s Teaching and Learning Senior Leadership Team acts as a Research Champion at Tute Education, supported by The Chartered College of Teaching to support and develop a culture of research-engagement at Tute.
This engagement serves to enhance teaching and learning by improving methodologies and student outcomes, building a professional learning community across the teaching team, fostering collaboration and support among educators. Additionally, the impacts also include an improved CPD provision, aligning opportunities with the latest research and evidence, further elevating educational impact at Tute.
Dr Sharon Smith (Reading Champion) also engaged in the FEA Journal Club project, a programme designed to provide high-quality professional development in SEND education by provides an opportunity for the respective parties to come together to critically engage with the best-available research in SEND education and discuss how the findings can support students with SEND in their context. This programme aims to positively impact teacher effectiveness, collaboration, SEND student outcomes and provide effective professional development.
Tute has also joined the Research Mark Accreditation pilot scheme with The Chartered College of Teaching. This exclusive kitemark will recognise and celebrate Tute’s engagement with research and evidence across the setting.
To be awarded Research Mark, Research Champions will be required to demonstrate that their organisation fulfils the high standard set out in the Research Mark Standard.
There are six complementary and consecutive areas that make up Research Mark, which build towards sustained and embedded engagement with research and evidence across the setting: 
Online Education Accreditation Scheme
The Online Education Accreditation Scheme (OEAS), introduced by the DfE, is the relevant accreditation for providers like us. This scheme is not an Ofsted registration but an accreditation that signifies a provider has met a set of standards akin to those for independent schools. Successful accreditation leads to an entry on the DfE’s Get Information about Schools webpage, offering reassurance about the quality of education provided.
Ofsted, as the appointed quality assurance body, conducts inspections under the OEAS. However, it’s the DfE that makes the final decision on accreditation. This ensures a rigorous and fair assessment of online education providers, aligned with non-statutory standards for education quality and safeguarding.
We are closely monitoring the OEAS and considering our application to ensure it reflects our unwavering commitment to delivering high-quality online education. We are preparing to align with the OEAS’s requirements and are planning to relocate our operations to England to meet eligibility criteria.
Our commitment to transparency and quality remains our priority. We want to ensure that all our stakeholders understand the accreditation landscape and the standards we strive to meet. Stay tuned for further updates as we continue to navigate the accreditation process and uphold the highest standards in online education.
It’s important to clarify that no online education providers, including Tute, can be registered with Ofsted. Similarly, direct Department for Education (DfE) registration is not applicable to online education providers. This is a common misconception, and we want to set the record straight for outvalued partners.
