Impact Event
We were delighted to welcome so many friends of TAP to our annual Impact Event last week, which was hosted this year at the fabulous Hiscox Art Café.
The event was a wonderful celebration of the hard work and collaboration of everyone involved with The Access Project over the academic year 2015/16 and saw the launch of our Impact Report for the same period.
The report highlights the direct impact that tutorials have on students’ attainment. From our volunteer survey results we also know that tutors themselves feel they benefit from their tutorials.
Impact on students
Our Impact Report shows that on average at GCSE, tutored students make a third of a grade more progress than their peers in their tutored subject. We also know that the more tutorials attended, the bigger the impact. When students in Year 11 attend more than 20 tutorials, they make half a grade more progress than their peers.
But it is not only grades that reflect this impact. Our students have great things to say about their tutorials too, with 94.6% of students saying they learn a lot in their tutorials. The support and guidance tutors give to students is vital to their progress and we would like to thank each and every volunteer tutor for every single hour of your time, all 13,852 of them!
Impact on tutors
Through our tutor survey, we know that participating as a volunteer with The Access Project also has an impact on you, the tutor.
95% of respondents agree that tutoring gives them a sense of accomplishment and 62% agree that tutoring has developed their professional skills. We asked which skills in particular our tutors felt they have developed through volunteering – communication, coaching and organisational skills came out on top but also planning, explaining and creativity were mentioned, too.
Sometimes it isn’t always apparent to start with. One tutor told us “I struggled at first to see where I was adding value but when I heard that my student had seen increases in his grades I was over the moon.”
We know that when tutors and students start to build a rapport and work towards that 20-tutorial benchmark, improvements can’t fail to be seen!
We would once again like to say a big thank you to all our volunteer tutors, you truly are at the heart of everything we do.
You said, we did!
Through the results of the survey, some tutors gave us great ideas of things they would like to see from us. We listened and we’ve taken the suggestions on board. Here is some more information about what we have done and what we are planning to do.
You said…
You would like to have more input from teachers
We…
Featured a teacher’s point of view in our supporter newsletter, giving an insight into their take on the programme. In case you missed it, you can read it here
You said… The Access Project would be even better if I could talk to other tutors about their experiences
We…
Created a tutor Facebook group for volunteers to speak to their fellow tutors, ask questions and share advice. Existing tutors can join the group here
You said… The Access Project would be even better if it was accessible nationwide
We… Are working towards our 2020 vision to work with 2500 young people and increase the regions we operate in – watch this space!
You said… You would like more structure and guidance on content (for tutorials)
We… Now have bespoke frameworks for tutorials where teachers can give guidance on the topic areas individual students would benefit from receiving support in, and we also have guidance relating to where to get more resources and ideas to aid your tutorials
You said…
You would like to receive more training
We… Are reviewing our tutor training processes for the new academic year and investing time to make sure that it reflects the needs of our tutors and will keep you updated on how things progress.
Thank you for all your suggestions. If you have any further ideas or feedback, drop us a line at info@theaccessproject.org.uk
Source: tap orig