26th September 2018 9:00
By Blue Tutors
School students in Waltham Forest have received tutoring for free from university students, paid for by the L&Q Foundation. Reported on the East London and West Essex Guardian’s website, the housing association helped 27 pupils in the area.
The programme ran from October 2017 until July 2018 and was aimed at students in years 4, 5 and 6 from low-income families. The idea was to provide a more equal opportunity for students and help low-income parents who can not afford to pay for tuition themselves. Two thirds of the families involved were from low-income households and are receiving means-tested benefits.
In addition, the other third of families had children who speak English as an additional language (EAL) because these students were also identified as needing extra help. After the extra tuition, EAL students working above the national average in maths increased by 450%. The tutors were 14 students currently studying at university.