Still have a question about the programme? We'll hope to answer it here!
Q: I know Team Up offers opportunities for tuition in English and Maths - however I also heard Science was offered in previous years (prior to 2015). Why isn't it offered this year?
Last year we went through a detailed process of thinking through how we can make the biggest impact as a social enterprise. We looked at national data which showed that there was a key correlation between students getting 5 A*-C grades at GCSE, and a student doing well in Maths and doing well in English. Science alone had little correlation to the outcome we want to achieve for our students.
We also looked at our internal resourcing and the quality of the support we were giving to our tutors. We realised we were stretching ourselves too thin, and subsequently, not offering the level of support we would like to give to our tutors. This was not only making things difficult for our volunteers but also reducing the impact on the progress of our pupils. By focusing on English and Maths, we are going to be able to supply all our tutors this year with a full suite of resources for the lessons that they will teach. We think this is going to make a tremendous difference to the quality of tuition that takes place, and accordingly to the results of the pupils that receive our tuition.
In subsequent years we would definitely like to look at moving back to covering science, but only if we're assured we can provide the same level of quality support to our science tutors, and so know that we are making the biggest difference we can to the pupils we work with.
Q: Do you cover travel expenses?
Absolutely - we fully reimburse expenses for travel to and from your school. The process for claiming may vary slightly according to your university or circumstance, and we will brief you on how to claim prior to the start of the programme. Of course, the main thing to remember is to hold on to your receipts and tickets, and claim within one month!
Q: Are there opportunities available to tutor outside of London?
The Team Up programme is currently only available in London - however we do plan to establish regional bases to enable Team Up tuition to have impact in other parts of the country. If you are a student outside London interested in participating, email us on info@teamup.org.uk letting us know which university you attend, and we'll keep you updated on our plans.
Q: How often do I have to tutor?
Your volunteering will involve committing to a 1.5 hour session each week for ten weeks. Sessions are scheduled during university term time, to ensure that they do not clash with your holidays if you are a student.