Community Education Fund (CEF) Access Policy, version 2

All families, children and figures in the examples are placeholders. No real pupil or family data is used anywhere in this document.

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In brief

• The Community Education Fund is a small charitable fund. It is paid for by donations and grants, it is shared out by a published rule, and it can only help while the money lasts. NSEMM is a charity, not a benefits service, and the Fund is not for school lessons or to replace what schools should provide.
• Who can apply: families with a child in Year 7 or above. For Years 5 and 6 our lessons are £18 each. We can't offer Fund help for these years at the moment.
• One amount for your household. The amount we agree covers every child in your home in Year 7 or above. Younger brothers and sisters pay the standard price.
• How we set your amount: we look at what your household takes home each month, take off your rent or mortgage, and compare what is left with the Minimum Income Standard for a household like yours. If what is left is at or below the essentials in that standard, you pay £5 an hour; the amount then rises gently to our standard £18 an hour, reached at 1.2 times the full standard. Every family in the same situation is asked for the same amount.
• Two steps. Everyone may answer one optional question about household income. Only families who ask for help answer the fuller questions.
• You can ask to pay less if something is not covered by the questions, and you can always choose to pay more.
• We check evidence, then delete it. Documents and your detailed answers are deleted 28 days after we decide. We keep only the outcome.
• Up to 40 hours a school year. Help from the Fund covers up to 40 hours of lessons for each child from 1 September to 31 August. Each offer tells you how many sessions it covers and until when. We invite you to apply to keep help from 1 July, or sooner if your child reaches 32 hours.
• Professionals outside schools (for example social workers, health, family support and charities) can refer a family for 15 funded hours of lessons each school year. These count towards the 40 hours. We no longer accept referrals from schools. Schools can arrange school-funded tutoring through our schools programme.
• When money is short, we open fewer funded places and offer them in a published order of priority. The state of the Fund never changes your amount.
• If the Fund cannot help, we will tell you honestly and offer other help.
• Keeping a funded place. Places are limited and others are waiting, so we ask families to come to lessons on time and take part. If lessons keep being missed without a reason, we check in first, then a member of staff looks at the place with you. Support always comes first.
• If you think a decision is wrong, you can appeal under our complaints policy, within 28 days.

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Words we use

These meanings apply throughout this policy. On the application form, each of these words has a small "What does this mean?" link next to it that opens the same short explanation.

1. What the Fund is, and what it is not

1.1 NSEMM (The National Society for Education, Mentoring and Media, charity number 1209673) is a charity. Our standard price for tutoring is £18 an hour. A lesson costs us about £18 an hour to provide: mostly the tutor's pay, including holiday pay, plus the background costs of running lessons safely, such as checks, training, safeguarding and the online classroom.

1.2 The Community Education Fund helps families with children in Year 7 and above who could not otherwise afford tutoring. It is paid for by donations, grants and the extra that some families choose to pay.

1.3 The Fund is small. It cannot help every family who would like help, and it is not meant to. We are a charity, not a benefits service. Supporting household incomes is the job of the benefits system. Our job is to make sure tutoring is within reach for children whose families could not otherwise afford it, by sharing a limited fund fairly under a published rule.

1.4 The Fund is not for school lessons, and it does not replace what schools should provide. It pays towards one-to-one tutoring outside school, on top of a child's education.

1.5 Public funding for tutoring through the National Tutoring Programme ended in 2024, and nothing has replaced it. Schools receive Pupil Premium funding for disadvantaged pupils, as they have since 2011, and many schools use it to pay for tutoring. If your child gets free school meals, or is or has been looked after, it is worth asking their school what support it offers. A school that wants tutoring for a pupil can arrange a school-funded place with us through our schools programme (section 7).

1.6 The Fund runs for as long as the money lasts. The number of funded places we can offer depends on how much is in the Fund (section 8).

2. Who can apply

2.1 Year 7 and above. Families with a child in Year 7 or above, up to the age our tutoring covers, can apply.

2.2 Years 5 and 6. Year 5 is the first year group we tutor. For Years 5 and 6 our lessons are £18 each, or more if a family wishes. We can't offer Fund help for these years at the moment. NSEMM does not tutor pupils below Year 5, so we cannot offer a place or a Fund application for a child in Nursery, Reception or Years 1 to 4.

2.2a Pupils already with us. A pupil in Year 5 or Year 6 who already had a place with us, or an offer of a place, before this amendment came into force keeps the arrangement they have, including any agreed Fund amount, for as long as that place continues. A new subject for the same pupil follows their existing arrangement. This amendment applies to new pupils. A pupil placed in Year 6 at the standard price can ask for Fund help as a new request from Year 7.

2.3 How we work out the year group. We use the child's date of birth where we have it, and otherwise the year group given on the application. If a member of staff corrects a year group, the corrected year is used.

2.4 One amount per household. The amount we agree applies to every child in your home who is in Year 7 or above and has lessons with us. You do not need a separate application for each child. Each child has their own offer and their own place. The amount your household pays is the same for every child in Year 7 or above, once a member of our team has checked it. Younger brothers and sisters (Years 5 and 6) pay the standard price.

2.5 Brothers and sisters later on. If a child in your home has had a Fund place in the last 24 months and a brother or sister in Year 7 or above starts lessons, tell us. We use your household's agreed amount for the new child, once a member of staff has checked. Your whole household is then reviewed together once a year.

2.6 Applying is optional and never blocks a place. A family that does not apply, or whose application is still being checked, can start at the standard price. You can apply at any time while your child has lessons with us.

2.5 Young people paying for themselves

Most applications come from a parent or carer, and they pay. A few young people have no parent or carer who pays for them. For example, a young person whose parent lives abroad and who lives here with a guardian, a young person who has left home and is estranged from their family, or a care leaver. A young person like this can apply in their own right, and we treat them fairly and kindly.

What "nobody is paying for them" means. All of these are true:

1. They are in Year 10 or above, and under 18 (or 18 or 19 and still in full-time education).
2. They do not live with a parent or carer who has parental responsibility for them (for example, a parent lives abroad, they have left home, they live in supported housing, or they are a care leaver).
3. No parent or carer will pay for the lessons.
4. A professional who knows them confirms this in writing (see below).

Pupils in Years 7 to 9. A pupil in Years 7 to 9 should never be paying for their own lessons. If a pupil this age tells us that no parent or carer will pay, the form does not ask them anything more. It tells them kindly to talk to us, and our safeguarding lead is told straight away so they can check on the pupil's welfare first (this is a welfare check, not a form). Then we help through a professional outside school who knows them, who can refer them through the professional referral route (section 6, fully funded sessions), or through the council's Virtual School where that fits.

The questions the form asks (shown when the person applying says they are the pupil):

• "Who will pay for these lessons?" (Me / A parent or carer / Someone else)
• "Do you live with a parent or carer?" (Yes / No)
• "Does anyone send you money or give you an allowance?" and "Do you have a job?" (with how much and how often)
• "Do you pay anything towards rent or food where you live?" (how much)
• "Who could confirm your situation?" (A teacher or someone at your school or college / A support worker / A social worker), with their work email

If they live with a parent or carer, they are part of that family, so the form explains kindly that the application needs to come from that parent or carer, and offers to send them the link. We do not ask a young person whether their parent supports them with money. If a young person tells us at any point that a parent at home will not support them, that is treated with care: our safeguarding lead is told, and the young person is pointed to a professional (for example a support worker, or a social worker if one is involved) who can refer them through the professional referral route (section 6).

Parent, carer or guardian: who counts as "family". What matters is whether the adult has legal responsibility for the young person (parental responsibility):

Young people often do not know the term "parental responsibility", so the form asks in plain words: "Who looks after you day to day?" (Mum or dad / A step-parent / A guardian or relative that a court has made responsible for me / A foster carer / A relative or family friend while my parents are away / An education guardian / No one, I live on my own or in supported housing / Not sure). "Not sure" goes to a person, who checks kindly with the young person or the professional who confirms their situation.

Boarding school and "living with". "Where you live" means the home you go back to in the school holidays. A pupil at boarding school lives with their parents, so their parents apply and their household counts, even though the pupil is away during term. A pupil whose boarding or school fees are paid by their family is supported by that family and cannot use this route. Overseas pupils with an education guardian whose parents pay their school fees are in the same position: their parents apply.

How we work out their amount (a little wider than "just them"):

• We count the regular money the young person has coming in from other people: an allowance, and any money sent or given to them by anyone (including a parent abroad or a guardian).
• Their own earnings from a part-time job: the first £400 a month is ignored, so we never take a young person's own work away from them. Anything above that counts.
• We count what they pay towards rent or food as their housing cost.
• Their household is one young person. Most young people in this position will be at or below the essentials line, so their amount will usually be £5. If they cannot pay that, they can ask to pay less (section 4).

Evidence. Instead of payslips: a short letter or email about their circumstances from someone at their school or college, a support worker, or a social worker. We contact the professional directly using a work email address. Bank statements are asked for only if the young person has a job.

Paying. We only take payment by card. A young person pays before each lesson, using a card in their own name (many young people have one from age 11) or a card a guardian lends them for this. Because lessons are paid for before they happen, a young person never builds up a debt, and we never chase a young person for money. If a payment does not go through, the next lesson is not booked until it does, and we message them kindly. Their place is held for 4 weeks.

Stopping misuse. This route is not a way round the household rules:

• The professional's confirmation is required, and we check it directly with them.
• Staff check for an existing parent or carer account at the same address, phone number or email. If there is one, the application is treated as that family's.
• A person decides every application on this route. It is never automatic.
• The usual honesty rules apply (section 5.5), and these applications are always included in the spot checks.

Keeping them safe.

• An under 18 who lives with someone who is not a parent or close relative, for 28 days or more, may be in a private fostering arrangement. Where the signs are there, our safeguarding lead considers whether the local authority needs to be told, as the law expects.
• We check who can give consent for lessons and data, and that the young person is not being pressured to pay.
• Lessons, recordings and safeguarding rules are the same as for every other pupil.

3. How we set your amount

Children's own earnings. Money a child or young person earns from a part-time job is never counted as household income, and we never ask about it on a family application. It is theirs.

Which schools. Help with the cost is offered only when the child's education is state-funded. The form already asks whether the child is home educated and, if so, which describes it best (elective home education, education otherwise than at school, not currently in education, or not known). It uses those answers and the school the family selects (from the government's schools register, Get Information About Schools) to decide whether to offer the "help with the cost" option.

Why elective home education is never eligible (Adrian Angol-Henry, CEO, 13/10/2026). There are no exceptions, and staff cannot override this. The family has chosen to take on their child's education and its cost. Where a child cannot attend school because of their health, arranging suitable education is the council's duty under section 19 of the Education Act 1996. Special educational needs are met through an Education, Health and Care plan under the Children and Families Act 2014. NSEMM supports state-funded education and does not replace the duties parents and councils hold. An EHE family is always offered the standard price, with a short line pointing them to their council for support or an EHC needs assessment. Education otherwise than at school arranged by the council is not elective home education and stays eligible.

Equality note. This rule turns on the type of education a child receives, not on disability or any other protected characteristic. Its aim is to target limited charitable funds at children in state-funded education, and not to replace the duties parents and councils hold (sections 7 and 19 of the Education Act 1996, and EHC plans under the Children and Families Act 2014). It is proportionate because EHE families can still have lessons at the standard price, and are signposted to the council routes that exist for health needs and special educational needs.

3.1 Step 1: one question for everyone

When you apply for tutoring, we ask everyone one optional question: roughly how much your household takes home each month. You type a figure, and we keep only the £500 range it falls in, never the figure itself. You can choose "I would rather not say".

We use this to see whether we are reaching the families we were set up to help, and in totals for our reports and Fund planning. On its own it never sets your amount.

3.2 Step 2: the fuller questions, only if you ask for help

If your child is in Year 7 or above and you tick "I would like help with the cost", we ask a few more questions:

1. Whether any of these apply to your family: asylum support; a child who is looked after by the council, or a care leaver; no recourse to public funds; someone in your home gets guarantee Pension Credit. These do not skip the other questions. They tell us which letter you can send as evidence, and they help us decide who to offer places to first.
2. Who lives in your home: the number of adults, and how many children, with each child's age. We already know the age of the child you applied for.
3. Where your household's money comes from: for example pay from a job, self-employment, Universal Credit, other benefits, a pension, maintenance, or no income.
4. How much your household takes home: pay after tax, all benefits (including Universal Credit in full and Child Benefit), pensions and maintenance you receive. You can enter it for any period (a week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, a month or a year) and the form converts it.
5. Your rent or mortgage: the full rent, even if Universal Credit or Housing Benefit pays some of it (we count that help as income in question 4), or your monthly mortgage payment, including any service charge or ground rent. Do not include council tax or bills.

3.3 The rule

3.3.1 We use a published rule, so every family in the same situation is asked for the same amount.

3.3.2 We work out what your household has left each week after rent or mortgage.

3.3.3 We compare it with the Minimum Income Standard for a household of your size. The Minimum Income Standard is what members of the public agree a household in the UK needs for a minimum acceptable standard of living. It is published every year by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University. We size it to your household using the official household weights the Department for Work and Pensions uses for income after housing costs.

3.3.4 Then:

• if what you have left is at or below the essentials in the Minimum Income Standard, your amount is £5 an hour;
• if what you have left is at or above 1.2 times the full Minimum Income Standard, your amount is our standard price of £18 an hour;
• in between, your amount rises gently, starting slowly just above the lower line. It goes up in 50p steps, rounded up.

The exact formula, this year's figures and a worked example are in Appendix A.

3.3.5 One rule for the whole country. We do not adjust for London or any other area. All our lessons are online.

3.3.6 What you see. The form works out your amount straight away and shows it as "to be confirmed". It also shows how much of the cost the Fund pays: the difference between your amount and the £18 a lesson costs us to provide. If your amount is £18 an hour, you are covering the full cost of your lessons, and we tell you so.

3.3.7 A person decides. The rule suggests an amount. A member of our team checks your evidence and confirms every amount before you are charged it. No amount is final until a person has decided. The rule and its settings are published in Appendix A, so you can see how your amount was worked out. If you think it is wrong, you can appeal (section 11).

We show our decision on your application page. We send you an email to say there is an update, but the email never says what the decision is, so that your information stays private.

3.3.8 The state of the Fund never changes your amount. How much is in the Fund decides how many places we can open and who is offered one first (section 8), not the price. The only exception is section 3.5.

3.4 Yearly review of the settings

Each September the new Minimum Income Standard figures are published. We adopt them on 1 October each year, as a new version of the rule, and the trustees review the other settings (the essentials start line, the 1.2 line, the curve, the £5 floor and the £18 standard price) at the same time. Each decision records which version of the rule was used. Families' amounts are worked out again at their next yearly review, not part-way through the year.

3.5 Emergency decision by the trustees

If the Fund is at risk of running out, the trustees may, by a recorded decision, raise the £5 floor for everyone part-way through the year. We will give families at least 4 weeks' notice before any change. No one else can change amounts outside the yearly review.

4. Paying less or paying more

4.1 Asking to pay less

The questions cannot capture everything. If your amount is still too much, you can ask to pay less:

• tell us how much you could pay an hour;
• tell us what makes it hard to pay, by ticking any that apply: debts or arrears; extra costs of a disability or health condition; caring for someone; childcare costs; a recent drop in income; income that goes up and down; something else;
• add a short explanation if you want to. Only the person deciding sees it, and it is deleted with your other answers.

Each reason you tick adds one piece of evidence to your To do list, for example a letter showing a debt repayment, a PIP, DLA or Attendance Allowance letter, a Carer's Allowance letter, a childcare invoice, proof of the change in income, or 3 months of bank statements if your income goes up and down.

A member of staff decides every request and records the reason. Asking to pay less never affects your child's place in the queue.

A lower amount agreed because of a short-term change is reviewed after 3 months. A lower amount agreed for a lasting reason (for example disability or caring) is reviewed once a year.

4.2 Paying more

You can always choose to pay more than your amount, up to the standard £18 an hour, and you can change it at any time on your portal. Every pound you pay above your amount means the Fund pays a pound less for your child's lessons, and that pound can help another child.

5. Evidence

5.1 What we ask for

We ask only for what your answers need. Your list is built from your answers and appears as items on your To do list in your portal, each with its own upload:

You may cover up anything we do not need, such as account numbers or other people's details that are not part of your household income.

5.2 How we check it

A member of our team checks that your answers fit your documents. If an answer is slightly out, we correct it rather than turn you down, and tell you the confirmed amount.

5.3 Spot checks

1 in 10 decisions, chosen at random, is checked again by a second member of staff before the documents are deleted.

5.4 Deleting your evidence

Every document, and your step 2 answers, are deleted 28 days after we tell you our decision. If you appeal within that time, they are kept until the appeal is decided, then deleted. We never copy figures from your documents into notes, emails or our records.

We keep only the outcome: your confirmed amount, the version of the rule, the type of evidence checked, the date, and who decided (section 12).

5.5 Honesty

We trust what families tell us, and we check evidence. Giving false information to get help from the Fund may lead to the tutoring arrangement ending and to us asking for the cost of funded lessons back, as set out in our Terms and Conditions. We may ask for evidence at any stage.

6. Professional referrals

6.0 Why referrals are fully funded. Professional referrals are for exceptional circumstances, where a professional outside school has judged that a child needs help now. Their judgement is independent evidence of need, so the first sessions are fully funded without asking the family to prove their income first.

6.1 Who can refer. Professionals outside schools who already know a family's situation can refer a child in Year 7 or above. For example:

• social workers and early help or family support workers;
• registered health professionals, such as GPs, health visitors and nurses;
• youth workers and youth justice workers;
• Independent Domestic Violence Advisors;
• local authority officers, such as home education officers;
• caseworkers at charities and community organisations.

Counsellors and therapists cannot refer, because a child's therapeutic relationship should not be used to produce charity referrals.

Who counts as outside school. What matters is who employs the professional, not where they work. Colleges and sixth forms count as schools. Someone employed by a school, a sixth form, a college or an academy trust cannot refer, whatever their role (for example a teacher, SENCO, pastoral lead or attendance officer employed by the school or college). Someone employed by another organisation can refer even when they work in a school, for example a school nurse employed by the NHS or an early help worker employed by the council. If we cannot tell who employs them, we ask the professional and check it before we accept the referral.

6.1a Letters from schools. We do not accept referrals from schools, sixth forms or colleges. A letter from one of them, whether the family sends it or they do, is not a referral and it is not evidence for the Fund. It is only background. Section 2.5 is separate: there, a member of school or college staff only confirms a young person's circumstances, and that confirmation is not a referral.

Decisions from 21/10/2026. Every Fund decision made on or after 21/10/2026 follows this policy in full, including on applications sent before that date. Decisions made before 21/10/2026 stand.

6.2 15 funded hours. A referral gives the child 15 funded hours of lessons in the school year (1 September to 31 August). The family pays nothing for these. We count the hours of each lesson, so a 1.5-hour lesson uses 1.5 of the 15 hours. A new referral in a later school year gives another 15 funded hours, within the limits in 6.5. The 15 hours count towards the 40 hours a child can have from the Fund in a school year. The rest of the 40 hours (up to 25) is not guaranteed: it is offered in the normal priority order, like any application. (Not if the child has had a Full Bursary this school year, see 6A.2a.) A funded place from a referral is subject to the referral being accepted (sections 6.5 and 6.7) and to what the Fund can offer at the time (section 8).

6.3 Then the usual Fund rule. We plan the move so there is no gap in lessons:

• We ask early. After 8 funded hours, the family gets a To do item in their portal inviting them to answer the Fund questions (section 3), with reminders after 11 and 13 hours. We tell the referrer when the invitation goes out.
• A provisional amount. The questions take a few minutes. As soon as the family has answered, the rule works out a provisional amount to apply from the first lesson after the 15 funded hours. A member of staff confirms it within 2 working days of the family answering, and always before the first session is charged at that amount. Until it is confirmed, the previous arrangement continues: the funded referral session, or for exam years £5 an hour. Your offer then covers up to the hours left in the school year (up to 25 hours, not guaranteed: offered in the normal priority order), until 31 August. Evidence is due within 28 days. If the evidence changes the amount, we adjust it from the next session. We never backdate a change.
• If the family has not answered by 15 hours, the place is held, not lost. Lessons pause for up to 4 weeks. We send a message and a portal To do, and a member of staff calls only if the family has asked for calls or needs one. If they answer during that time, lessons restart at the provisional amount. After 4 weeks the place is offered to the next family, and the family can apply again.
• If the evidence is late, missing or does not support the answers. By day 28 after the provisional amount started:
  • we send one reminder at day 21;
  • at day 28 the amount moves to what the evidence does support, or to the standard £18 if there is no evidence, from the next session, with 1 week's notice. We never backdate this;
  • the family can still send evidence later, and we then correct the amount from the next session;
  • if the evidence shows the family should have paid less than the provisional amount, we credit the difference to their account as lesson credit (our refunds are given as lesson credit);
  • a mistake or a late document is not dishonesty. Only deliberately false information is dealt with under the honesty rules in 5.5, which may include asking for the difference back.
• Exam years. For pupils in Year 11 or Year 13, and pupils resitting GCSEs:
  • lessons are never paused for paperwork. If the family has not answered by 15 hours, lessons carry on at £5 an hour for up to 4 weeks while they finish, then the usual rules apply;
  • from 1 April to the end of the exams, a Year 11 or Year 13 pupil's place is never released because of missing paperwork. Staff keep following it up instead;
  • a Year 11 pupil moving into Year 12 (at college or sixth form) stays eligible, and the 15 funded referral hours start again on 1 September as usual.

6.4 Referrer updates. We tell the referrer at the start that the first 15 hours are fully funded and that the family then moves to the usual Fund rule, and we tell them again at the switch. We never tell a referrer what a family pays.

6.5 Limits on referrals. The number of referrals we can accept depends on the state of the Fund (section 8). Each school year:

A referral over the limit is still received and held. A hold is not a refusal: it is flagged for a member of staff, who decides whether to place the child as an exception, keep the referral held, or decline it, and records the reason. We tell the referrer, and the family can apply in the usual way (section 3) or join the waiting list.

6.6 Years 6 and below. Referrals for funded sessions are for Year 7 and above only. A referral for a child in Year 5 or Year 6 that has been received but not offered is declined. The family can apply themselves at the standard price.

6.7 Checking the referrer. We confirm every referrer before funded sessions start, using their work email address and organisation. The referral must name the child, and the family must agree to it. Guidance for professionals is in Appendix B.

6A. Full Bursary

6A.1 What it is. A Full Bursary is for families in the deepest hardship, where even our lowest amount of £5 an hour would be too much. It pays for the first 12 lessons in full: the family pays nothing for them. After that, the usual Fund rule in section 3 applies, and you can still ask to pay less (section 4.1).

6A.2 Who can have one. A Full Bursary is never given automatically. A named member of our team decides, after checking evidence. All of these must be true:

• your family is already in our highest priority group when we order funded places (section 8.2). The bursary does not change your place in that order;
• your child is in Year 7 or above;
• your child is not electively home educated;
• and at least one of these applies to your family:
  • what your household has left after rent or mortgage is at or below 75% of the essentials line in the Minimum Income Standard (section 3.3). The trustees set this percentage and review it each year with the other settings;
  • a professional outside school has referred your child (section 6.1);
  • you are living in temporary accommodation, or you are homeless;
  • you have no recourse to public funds;
  • you are receiving Home Office asylum support (section 95 or section 98). Having claimed asylum is not enough on its own: we need to see that you are receiving the support;
  • a parent or carer over State Pension age who gets the Guarantee Credit part of Pension Credit is responsible for your child, and your child lives with them. The other extra amounts in Pension Credit (for carers, severe disability or housing costs) do not count on their own.

6A.2a A referral or a Full Bursary, not both. In one school year (1 September to 31 August) a child can have either the funded sessions from a professional referral (section 6.2) or a Full Bursary, never both. If your child has had a referral's funded sessions this school year, we cannot give a Full Bursary this school year, and if your child has had a Full Bursary this school year, a new referral does not bring funded sessions this school year. In both cases we look at help with the cost under the usual Fund rule instead (section 3). A professional referral can still be the reason for a Full Bursary if your child has not had a referral's funded sessions this school year.

6A.3 Evidence. Because a Full Bursary pays for everything, we ask for a little more than for a usual Fund decision, and a member of our team checks every item. For example: proof of every income in your home and 3 months of bank statements; a letter from the council or your caseworker about your temporary accommodation; a Home Office document showing the no recourse to public funds condition; your asylum support letter or ASPEN card; or your Pension Credit award letter. Each document appears on your To do list with its own upload. As with all Fund evidence, documents are deleted 28 days after we decide (section 5.4).

6A.4 After the 12 lessons. We plan the move so there is no gap in lessons, in the same way as for referrals (section 6.3):

• at lesson 6 you get a To do item inviting you to answer the Fund questions, with reminders at lessons 9 and 11;
• once you have answered, the rule works out a provisional amount to apply from lesson 13, and a member of staff confirms it before any lesson is charged at that amount;
• lessons never pause for paperwork. If you have not answered by lesson 12, your lessons carry on. A member of staff may set £5 an hour for up to 4 weeks while you finish, and you can still ask for a lower amount.

6A.5 How many we can give. A Full Bursary is paid for by the Fund, so the number we can give each school term depends on the state of the Fund (section 8.1), worked out when we decide:

If the limit for the term is the only reason we cannot give one straight away, we say so plainly. Your request is held, not refused. A member of our team decides whether to give it as an exception, keep it held, or decline it, and writes down why. You can still be considered for help under the usual rule in the meantime.

6A.6 What we record. Who decided, when, which reason applied, the type of evidence checked, and the state of the Fund at the time. We never record figures from your documents. You can appeal a decision under section 11.

6A.7 How the Fund pays for it. Each bursary lesson is paid for by the Fund at the full cost of the lesson (currently £15.07 an hour, see Appendix A.2). There is no charge to the family.

7. Schools

7.1 We no longer accept referrals from schools.

7.1a Why. Schools receive Pupil Premium funding for disadvantaged pupils, and they can pay for tutoring through our schools programme. NSEMM receives no government funding, and nothing has replaced the National Tutoring Programme. The Fund is a small amount of charitable money, so it cannot pay for what schools are funded to do.

7.2 A school that wants tutoring for its pupils can arrange school-funded tutoring through the NSEMM schools programme: https://learn.nsemm.org.uk/enquiry/schools. The schools programme costs £25 a pupil for each group session and £20 a pupil for each one-to-one session, paid by the school. Schools may choose to use their Pupil Premium funding for this.

7.3 A family whose school suggested tutoring can still apply themselves in the usual way. This is not a referral, and the 15 funded hours in section 6 do not apply.

8. When places are limited

8.1 Fund status

We work out the state of the Fund by looking at what is already promised. We take the money in the Fund, take off what we have already promised to pay for the lessons of families who have a funded place now, and count how many more hour-long sessions what is left could pay for, at the real cost of a lesson: the tutor's pay including holiday pay (currently £15.07 an hour, see Appendix A.2). To stop the status switching back and forth, it only changes once the Fund has moved 5 sessions past a line. The status decides how many new places we open and how many referrals we accept. It never changes what any family pays.

When reduced-price places are full, we tell you honestly. You can start now at the standard price, or join the waiting list for a place at your amount. The limit on the share of the Fund drawn by Year 6 pupils (the board's ceiling of about 10%) now applies only to Year 6 pupils who already have a Fund place (2.2a).

8.2 Priority

When there are more families than funded places, we offer places in order of priority. We look at:

• how much help with the cost the family needs, from the published rule;
• whether the child is looked after or a care leaver;
• whether the child has important exams soon;
• how long the family has been waiting;
• whether a professional has referred the child (within the limits in section 6);
• whether the child has special educational needs or a disability;
• whether the child is missing school or at risk of exclusion;
• whether a brother or sister already has lessons with us;
• a small amount for the area you live in: how deprived it is, from the Index of Multiple Deprivation for your home postcode (5 points for the most deprived 20% of areas in England, deciles 1 and 2, and 3 points for the next 20%, deciles 3 and 4);
• a small amount for the type of school: 3 points for a state-funded school, and 5 points for a special school, alternative provision or a pupil referral unit. Home education and independent schools get no points for this.

We give these last two a small weight because they help us reach children in the most disadvantaged areas and schools. They only add a few points to the order of priority. They never decide funding, the price or whether a child is eligible, on their own or with anything else.

Whether we have a tutor available at the right level is checked separately. Families never see a priority score, and it never changes the amount a family pays.

We do not use ethnicity, religion, nationality, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy, marriage, or whether English is your first language.

9. Other help when the Fund cannot help

If we cannot offer a funded place straight away, we will tell you honestly and offer other help where we can:

• signposting to your child's school, your local council and other organisations that may help, including asking the school what it offers through Pupil Premium;
• study resources on our website, at no cost to you;
• small-group sessions: planned, not available yet;
• fortnightly sessions instead of weekly, so funded hours go further;
• a place on our waiting list, with a check-in every 4 weeks and an honest idea of how long it may take;
• for schools, our schools programme (section 7).

If we cannot help through the Fund, your application page tells you why, in plain words, and suggests where else to get help for that reason. The reasons are: your child is in Year 5 or Year 6; your child is home educated; your child goes to a fee-paying independent school; your household income is above the level where the Fund can help; we did not have the information we needed; the information we were given was different from what we found when we checked; for a young person applying alone, a professional has not yet confirmed their situation; your child already has a funded place or other help for these lessons; the Fund has no places right now (your child joins the waiting list); or we already had an application for your child.

10. Keeping a funded place

10.1 Yearly review. Every funded place is reviewed once a school year (1 September to 31 August), or sooner when its 40 hours for the year are close to running out (10.4a). We ask the step 2 questions again and work out your amount under that year's rule.

10.2 Tell us about changes. If your circumstances change, tell us on your portal and we will look again.

10.3 Regular lessons and taking part. A funded place supports a child's regular tutoring. It is not an open-ended entitlement. Places are limited and other families are waiting, so we ask families with a funded place to come to lessons, on time, and to take part.

"Little or no lesson activity" means any of these:

• lessons are not happening for a long time;
• lessons are often missed for family reasons (10.3a);
• the student often joins very late (10.3a);
• the student is not taking part in lessons, for example the tutor's lesson records show low engagement over several lessons in a row.

If a funded place has little or no lesson activity, a member of staff reviews it. If they decide to act, we write to the family (message and a portal To do), explain why and give 10 working days to respond in the portal and put things right; staff call only if the family has asked for calls or needs one. After that they may pause the place, with a written reason. Pausing can be undone. Before a paused place is closed, we give 28 days' written notice. Closing ends the funded place and any funded extras that come with it, and the place goes back to families on the waiting list. The family can apply again later. These are staff decisions, not an automatic cut-off, and you can appeal them (section 11).

10.3a Missed lessons in a school term. We count lessons missed for family reasons in each school term:

• the student did not join and there was no agreed reason;
• the family cancelled with less than 24 hours' notice and no reason was given, whether or not the lesson was charged;
• a problem with the family's own device or connection stopped the lesson and no reason was given, whether or not the lesson was charged;
• the student joined very late (for example, for less than half of the lesson while the tutor was there).

We never count: lessons the tutor missed, technical problems on the tutor's side or ours, absences we have agreed with the family, lessons cancelled with 24 hours' notice or more, short-notice cancellations where you gave us a reason, or cancellations because of illness or leave.

These numbers are points at which we look at the place. They never decide anything on their own:

• If 2 lessons in a term are missed without a reason, we get in touch, with a friendly check-in to ask how things are going and offer help.
• If 4 are missed, a member of staff reviews the place as in 10.3, looking at your family's circumstances. We write down our reasons.

The count starts again each term.

10.3b Support comes first. Sometimes there are reasons why lessons are hard, such as bullying, health or family circumstances. We will always ask, listen and offer help before we review a place, for example a different lesson time, a short break, or pointing the family to other support. If we are worried about a child's welfare, our safeguarding procedures come first, and a review of funding never takes the place of a welfare check.

10.3c Check-ins. The start and end check-ins (after the second lesson, and when tutoring ends) are part of this agreement: the parent or carer fills in their part, and we strongly encourage the child to fill in theirs. You can skip any question, and your answers never affect your place or your lessons.

10.4a A funded place is 40 hours a school year. Help from the Fund covers up to 40 hours of lessons for each student in each school year (1 September to 31 August). This is the same as 40 sessions (see "Session" in "Words we use"). The 40 hours are for the student, across all their subjects and tutors: a change of tutor or a new subject does not start a new 40 hours.

We count the booked length of each lesson that takes place, including when the student joins late, and of lessons the family misses without telling us in time (a charged no-show). We do not count lessons that did not happen for reasons that were not the family's, such as the tutor not coming, a technical problem on the tutor's side or ours, or a cancelled lesson.

Each offer tells you how many sessions it covers and until when. We invite you, on your portal, to apply to keep help with the cost when your child has used 32 hours in the school year, or from 1 July, whichever comes first. This means a person can decide over the summer and lessons can carry on in September. If we agree, we send you a new offer for an additional number of sessions until a set date, and you accept it like any other offer. A new offer is a fresh decision. Its terms, including your amount and the number of sessions, may be different from your last offer. A further offer is not guaranteed. Your lessons carry on without a gap while we look at your answers. We cannot guarantee the same tutor, but we will try our best to keep your child with the tutor they know.

Hours you have not used by 31 August do not carry over to the next school year. If hours went unused because your tutor missed lessons, we may add them to your next offer. A member of our team decides this and records why.

If lessons would go past what your offer covers, or past 40 hours in the school year, a member of our team decides whether they go ahead. We never cancel lessons that are already booked because of this.

10.4b Breaks of more than 6 weeks. If lessons stop for more than 6 weeks (whether you paused them or they simply stopped), the funded place ends and you need to apply to the Fund again. Your new application is assessed like any other, and a place is not guaranteed. School holidays count towards the 6 weeks, including the summer holiday, so lessons over the summer keep a place going. Lessons in July and August count towards that school year's 40 hours. If you have accepted a new offer, your lessons carry on from 1 September with no gap. Exam-year pupils (Year 11, Year 13 and GCSE resits) keep the protection in section 6.3 from 1 April to the end of their exams. Missed lessons during a place that carries on are covered by 10.3a.

10.4 Applying again. If we cannot help through the Fund, you can apply again after 30 days. If your circumstances change before then, tell us: a member of our team can let you apply sooner, and records why. You are welcome to have lessons at the standard price in the meantime. If you do not take up lessons at the standard price or appeal, we close your application 28 days after the decision. We never close it while an appeal is open.

10.5 Stopping lessons. You can stop lessons at any time. Where possible, please give us two weeks' notice. If you stop lessons yourself, your funded place ends, and you would need to apply to the Fund again if you want help later. Lessons already within 24 hours follow our Cancellations and refunds policy.

10.6 Charges, cancellations and refunds. We take your amount about 24 hours before each lesson. A cancellation less than 24 hours before is normally charged; a refund is at our discretion. If the tutor does not join, or more than a quarter of the lesson is lost because the tutor is late, you get a full refund. A problem with your own device or connection is treated like a late cancellation. Refunds are lesson credit by default. The full rules are in our Cancellations and refunds policy. If you get a refund, we refund what you paid, and the Fund's share goes back to the Fund.

11. Fairness, appeals and conflicts of interest

11.1 Appealing a decision

If you think a Fund decision is wrong, you can appeal within 28 days of the decision. This covers every Fund decision: a decision that we cannot help, the amount we agree, and a review that pauses or ends a place.

Use Appeal this decision on your application page, or the link in our message to you. It takes you to our feedback and complaints form, with your application number filled in where we have it. Your appeal is handled under our complaints policy, by a member of our team who was not involved in the decision, and we reply within the times that policy sets. You do not need an account to appeal.

After 28 days your evidence has been deleted, so if your circumstances change, tell us and apply again instead. Every decision and change is recorded with a reason in our internal audit log.

11.2 Conflicts of interest

The application asks whether you are connected to anyone who works for or volunteers with NSEMM, or is a trustee. Anyone connected to a family (as a relative, friend, or that child's tutor) must say so and must not decide or review that family's application. An application from the family of a member of staff or a trustee is decided by two people, one of them a trustee with no connection, and the reason is recorded.

11.3 Equality

We apply the same published rule to everyone. We do not use ethnicity, religion, nationality, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy or marriage in any decision. Treating disabled children more favourably in the order of priority is allowed under the Equality Act 2010, and the extra costs of a disability can be a reason to pay less.

If you need help to apply, for example by phone, in another language, in a different format, or with someone applying on your behalf, tell us and we will make reasonable adjustments. We look at totals each year to check the Fund is reaching the families it was set up for.

12. Your data

12.1 Lawful basis. We process the information in this policy because we have a legitimate interest in directing a limited charitable fund to the families who need it, fairly and with a record of each decision (UK GDPR Article 6(1)(f)). Where you choose to tell us about special educational needs, disability or health, we ask for your explicit consent in a separate, optional box (Article 9(2)(a)). If a safeguarding concern arises, we may record and share it under the law that allows this to protect a child.

12.2 Automated decisions. UK GDPR Article 22 gives you the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing that has a legal or similarly significant effect on you. Some parts of the Fund run on rules: the rule that works out your amount, and the fund status and referral limits that can hold an application or referral. None of these makes a decision with a significant effect on its own:

• a member of staff checks and confirms every amount before it is charged;
• a provisional amount after a referral is confirmed by a member of staff within 2 working days of the family answering, and before the first session is charged at that amount (section 6.3);
• a hold because of fund status or a referral limit is a flag for a member of staff, who decides to place the child as an exception, keep the hold, or decline, and records the reason;
• a Full Bursary is always decided by a named member of staff after checking evidence, and a Full Bursary held because of the limit in 6A.5 is a flag for a person in the same way.

Some rules are applied by the application form itself: help with the cost is not offered for a child in Year 5 or Year 6, for elective home education, or for a fee-paying independent school (sections 2 and 3). These are published rules you can see. If you think one has been applied wrongly, tell us or appeal, and a person looks at it.

We tell you how the rule works (Appendix A), that a person checks every decision, and that you can have a person look again and challenge the decision through the appeal route in section 11. We follow the ICO's guidance on automated decision-making and profiling: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/individual-rights/automated-decision-making-and-profiling/.

12.3 Who sees it. Only the person who pays, our administrators, our finance staff and the CEF officer can see a family's money information. Tutors, pupils, volunteers and other staff never do.

12.4 What we keep and what we delete.

12.5 Sharing. We may contact a referrer to confirm a referral is genuine. To protect the Fund we may check information with, and report confirmed fraud to, Cifas, the UK fraud-prevention service, only where proportionate and under a data-sharing agreement. We share only the minimum needed.

12.6 More information. Our privacy notice explains your rights and how to contact us: privacy notice. Our data protection impact assessment for the Fund is NSEMM-DPIA-2026-001, version 1.2, approved by our Data Protection Officer on 14/10/2026.

13. About this policy

This policy was adopted by the trustees on 14/10/2026 (RES-2026-009). Changes are approved by the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Academic Officer acting together, under the delegation in RES-2026-008, and reported to the next trustee meeting. The CEO keeps it up to date and brings it to the trustees each October with the new Minimum Income Standard figures. The CEF officer keeps the staff procedure for the Fund (the CEF Budget Management SOP) in line with this policy. Questions: [email protected].

Amendment 1 (version 2.1): Approved by the CEO 19/10/2026 and confirmed by the Chief Academic Officer 19/10/2026 (RES-2026-008), to be reported to the trustees.

Amendment 2 (version 2.2): CEO decision, confirmed by the CEO on 17/10/2026, to be reported to the trustees at their next meeting.

Amendment 3 (version 2.3): Approved 18/10/2026 under RES-2026-008, with a note to the trustees. The Full Bursary (section 6A) and the young person route from Year 10 (section 2.5).

Amendment 4 (version 2.4): Approved by the CEO 21/10/2026 and confirmed by the Chief Academic Officer 21/10/2026 (RES-2026-008), to be reported to the trustees. The start date, who counts as a professional outside school (6.1), letters from schools (6.1a) and decisions from 21/10/2026.

Amendment 5 (version 2.5): Approved by the CEO and the Chief Academic Officer under RES-2026-008 on 23/10/2026, to be reported to the trustees. Years 5 and 6 pay the standard price and new Fund places start at Year 7; pupils already placed keep their arrangement (2.2a).

Amendment 6 (version 2.6): professional referrals give 15 funded hours, not 15 sessions; approved by the CEO and the Chief Education Officer under RES-2026-008 on 23/10/2026, to be reported to the trustees. The hours of each lesson are counted, so a 1.5-hour lesson uses 1.5 of the 15 (6.2, 6.3, 6.4 and Appendix B). The schools programme is not changed.

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Appendix A. The rule, the settings and a worked example

A.1 The formula

weekly figures  = monthly figure × 12 ÷ 52
left            = weekly take-home income − weekly rent or mortgage
W (household)   = 0.58 for the first adult
                + 0.42 for each other adult
                + 0.42 for each child aged 14 to 19
                + 0.20 for each child under 14
E (lower line)  = 1.0 × MIS essentials per unit × W
F (upper line)  = 1.2 × full MIS per unit × W
t               = (left − E) ÷ (F − E), kept between 0 and 1
amount          = £5 + £13 × t^1.3, rounded UP to the next 50p
                  never below £5, never above £18

• Take-home income: after income tax and National Insurance, including all benefits (Universal Credit in full, including any housing element, and Child Benefit), pensions and maintenance received.
• Rent or mortgage: the full rent before any help, or the full monthly mortgage payment, including service charge and ground rent. Council tax and water are not taken off, because the Minimum Income Standard budgets already include them.
• MIS essentials: the weekly Minimum Income Standard budget without rent, childcare, and the "social and cultural participation" line.
• Full MIS: the same budget including the participation line.
• W uses the Department for Work and Pensions after-housing-costs weights (Households Below Average Income). A young person aged 18 or 19 still at school or college counts as a child aged 14 to 19.
• A household with one adult uses the lone-parent MIS figures; two or more adults use the couple figures.
• All sums are done in pence. Rounding happens once, at the end.

A.2 Settings from 1 October 2026

A.3 How the amount climbs between the two lines

A.4 Example lines for some households (money left each month after rent or mortgage)

A.5 Worked example (placeholder household H-1)

Household H-1: one adult, two children aged 12 and 15. Placeholder figures: take-home £4,200 a month, rent £900 a month.

1. Weekly take-home: £4,200 × 12 ÷ 52 = £969.23. Weekly rent: £900 × 12 ÷ 52 = £207.69. Left: £761.54.
2. W = 0.58 (adult) + 0.20 (child aged 12) + 0.42 (child aged 15) = 1.20.
3. Lower line E = 1.0 × £547.44 × 1.20 = £656.93.
4. Upper line F = 1.2 × £695.92 × 1.20 = £1,002.12.
5. t = (£761.54 − £656.93) ÷ (£1,002.12 − £656.93) = £104.61 ÷ £345.20 = 0.3030.
6. t^1.3 = 0.2118. £5 + £13 × 0.2118 = £7.75.
7. Rounded up to the next 50p: £8.00 an hour.
8. On the family's breakdown, the Fund's share is £18.00 − £8.00 = £10.00 an hour. (In the Fund's own accounts, the Fund records the real cash it pays towards the lesson, not this figure. See A.2.)

The same household taking home £3,000 a month would have £484.62 a week left, below the lower line, so it would pay £5 (the Fund's share is £13). Taking home £5,000 a month, it would have £946.15 left and pay £15.50 (the Fund's share is £2.50). Taking home £5,600 a month, it would be above the upper line and pay £18, covering the full cost of its lessons.

A.6 Sources

• Joseph Rowntree Foundation and CRSP, Loughborough University, A Minimum Income Standard for the United Kingdom in 2026: https://www.jrf.org.uk/income-savings-and-debt/a-minimum-income-standard-for-the-united-kingdom-in-2026
• CRSP, Minimum Income Standard: https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/crsp/minimum-income-standard/
• DWP, Households Below Average Income: Background Information and Methodology report FYE 2025: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-for-financial-years-ending-1995-to-2025/households-below-average-income-background-information-and-methodology-report-fye-2025

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Appendix B. Guide for referrers

Who this is for: professionals outside schools who work with a family, such as social workers, early help and family support workers, health professionals, youth and youth justice workers, Independent Domestic Violence Advisors, local authority officers and charity caseworkers.

Schools: we no longer accept referrals from schools. If you work in a school and want tutoring for a pupil, please arrange a school-funded place through our schools programme: https://learn.nsemm.org.uk/enquiry/schools. It costs £25 a pupil for each group session and £20 a pupil for each one-to-one session, paid by the school, and schools may choose to use Pupil Premium for it.

What a referral gives: 15 funded hours of lessons in the school year (1 September to 31 August) for a child in Year 7 or above. The family pays nothing for these, and a 1.5-hour lesson uses 1.5 of the 15 hours. A funded place is subject to the referral being accepted and to what the Fund can offer at the time. We cannot accept referrals for funded sessions for children in Year 6 or below. A referral for a child in Year 5 or Year 6 that has been received but not offered is declined, and the family can apply themselves at the standard price.

What happens after 15 hours: after 8 hours we invite the family to answer the Community Education Fund questions in their portal, with reminders after 11 and 13 hours, and we let you know when we invite them. Once they answer, their amount under our published rule (between £5 and £18 an hour) applies provisionally from the first lesson after the 15 funded hours, while we check their evidence, so there is no gap in lessons. If they have not answered by 15 hours, their place is held and lessons pause for up to 4 weeks while we contact them. A new referral in a later school year gives another 15 funded hours, within the limits. The rest of the 40 hours is not guaranteed: it is offered in the normal priority order, like any application. We tell you when the funded hours start and again when the family moves to the usual arrangements. We never share what a family pays.

If evidence is late or does not support the answers: we remind the family at day 21. At day 28 the amount moves to what the evidence supports, or to £18 if there is none, from the next session with 1 week's notice, never backdated. Later evidence corrects it from the next session, and if they overpaid, the difference becomes lesson credit. Honest mistakes are not treated as dishonesty.

Exam years: for Year 11, Year 13 and GCSE resit pupils, lessons are never paused for paperwork: if the family has not answered by 15 hours, lessons carry on at £5 for up to 4 weeks. From 1 April to the end of the exams their place is never released for missing paperwork. A Year 11 pupil moving into Year 12 stays eligible, and the 15 funded hours start again on 1 September.

Why referrals are fully funded, and why not schools: referrals are for exceptional circumstances, where you have judged that a child needs help now. Schools receive Pupil Premium and can fund tutoring through our schools programme; NSEMM receives no government funding and nothing has replaced the National Tutoring Programme, so the Fund cannot pay for what schools are funded to do.

Limits: the number of referrals we can accept each school year depends on the state of the Fund (section 6.5 of the policy). If we are over the limit, we still record the referral and a member of staff decides whether to place the child as an exception, keep it held or decline it. We tell you, and the family can apply in the usual way or join the waiting list.

How to refer:

1. Talk to the family first. They must agree to the referral.
2. Use the online referral form at https://learn.nsemm.org.uk/refer, from your work email address, giving your name, role and organisation and naming the child.
3. We confirm who you are before funded sessions start. We may contact you to check the referral is genuine.
4. You can follow the family's progress (not their money details) through the referrer link we send you.

What we ask of you: tell us only what we need to offer support. Do not send case files. If you have a safeguarding concern about the child, follow your own organisation's procedures; you can also tell our safeguarding lead.

Counsellors and therapists cannot refer, because a child's therapeutic relationship should not be used to produce charity referrals.

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Appendix C. Adoption record

This policy was adopted by the trustees of The National Society for Education, Mentoring and Media (charity number 1209673) at a quorate trustee meeting held on 14/10/2026 (two trustees present: Adrian Angol-Henry, Chair and Chief Executive Officer, and Socks Ansell, Chief Academic Officer), under clause 19 of the constitution.

Amendments

The signed minutes are held by the secretary. The canonical records are in the governance resolutions register of the admin app. The original draft of the resolution wording (a written resolution under clause 17, never circulated) was replaced by this meeting decision.