A NEW network of young tutors will help up to 600 students retake their GCSEs next month.
Activate Learning, which runs Bracknell & Wokingham College and Reading College, has teamed up with peer tutoring organisation Yipiyap, to link students with a tutor who is of a similar age to offer support and teaching via remote lessons.
More than 20 tutors from across the UK, each providing two days a week, will take part and have recently completed A-levels and have deferred university to do this.
Anne Morris, founder of Yipiyap, says: “Peer teaching has generated proven results as the tutors are so close in age and relatable – they can help bring a bit of fun to the process, which is needed as most of the maths and English GCSE students don’t enjoy the subject in question – but it’s vital they achieve these qualifications to open up the opportunities they want.”
While school-assessed grades in the wake of Covid led to many pupils getting excellent results, many did not receive Grade 4 in maths and English, which, as of 2016, requires a resit.
Anne Haig-Smith, director of the Applied Learning Foundation at Activate Learning, said: “We are delighted to be working with Yipiyap on this innovative new project that will provide our students with additional support as they attempt to improve on their GCSE maths and English grades from the summer.
“As a digital-first organisation, we were drawn to the project as Yipiyap was able to work with our existing online learning platform, ALO, to deliver the tuition to our students, which meant it was a streamlined service that we are able to track and record through our management systems and ensure our learners are always within a safe online environment.”
And she also praised the youngsters who are tutoring.
“The other beauty of this project is that it’s young people working with our students and helping them to better understand the material they are studying,” she said.
Funding for the paid tutors is provided from Activate Learning.
