School funding cuts leaving students feeling under pressure

New research by online tutor service,, revealed that 88 per cent of primary and secondary students surveyed felt there is pressure on them to perform to a certain level in exams, yet almost half (42 per cent) revealed that despite this, their school does not, or is unable to, offer any additional support.

 

The data further highlights the pressures and funding cuts that schools are currently facing and the negative impact it is having on students, with 49 per cent of respondents stating that they felt like their individual needs were not being met by their teacher.

 

And while these needs include being supported to achieve good grades and personal goals, the survey – which received over 2,000 responses from students – revealed that ‘feeling stress-free’ was in fact more important to students than meeting parental or teachers’ expectations.

With the growing teacher recruitment crisis and schools unable to offer extra help, many students have turned to tutoring; the top five reasons for this including to help schoolwork, improve exam results, build confidence and because of poor quality teaching at their school.

 

John Underhill, operations director at Tutor Hunt said: “Schools are being seriously underfunded and sadly the consequence of this means they’re not always able to provide additional support. With pressures mounting, students are having to look externally for the extra help.

“Currently the top three subjects that students are tutored in are maths, English and chemistry. Yet, with just one extra hour’s support a week, almost all of the students surveyed (95 per cent) said they felt more reassured ahead of their exams.

 

“Giving them this reassurance and confidence will no doubt have a positive influence on their wellbeing and the upcoming green paper on young people’s mental health is a step in the right direction. As parents, teachers, tutors and guardians, it is in our interest to better support our students so that they are able to fulfil their full potential.”