Quality beyond qualifications: Quality assurance at Tute

“Fully qualified is where we start – not where we stop.”

At Tute Education, we start with what many would consider the end goal: a team of fully qualified, experienced teachers. But for us, that’s just the beginning. Here we appreciate that teaching online isn’t just a different medium – it’s a brand-new profession.

Delivering high-quality online learning experiences that lead to the very best outcomes for all students – whatever that looks like for them – requires more than just meeting minimum requirements. It demands a culture of continuous improvement, genuine collaboration, and rigorous, research-informed practice. And that’s exactly what our Quality Assurance (QA) team and process is designed to support.

A framework built for online teaching excellence

Every Tute teacher joins us with strong credentials as a fully qualified teacher, but even the best classroom experience doesn’t automatically translate to excellence in an online setting. That’s why our QA processes are carefully designed not only to maintain standards but to adapt them to the unique challenges and opportunities of online learning.

From day one, each teacher is paired with a dedicated Quality Team member who can provide guidance, support, and feedback throughout the academic year. Their journey starts with a rigorous training and induction programme before any teaching online begins. Teachers are also supported via a learning walk and full lesson review in the first two weeks of their teaching practice at Tute  – not as a check-box exercise, but as the beginning of a collaborative process focused on growth.

Lesson observations, safeguarding spot-checks, and reviews of student feedback continue throughout the year, with every interaction grounded in meaningful dialogue. For us, quality assurance isn’t about passing judgment – it’s about providing opportunities for coaching. It’s about helping our teachers become not just great practitioners, but great online educators.

This commitment aligns with the AP Quality Toolkit’s emphasis on AP Workforce Development and Wellbeing – recognising that “recruiting, retaining and developing high quality staff within a supportive school culture” is foundational to delivering high-quality AP and maintaining consistency for vulnerable learners.

Teachers as learners, always

One of the things our teachers value most about the QA process is that it’s a two-way conversation. They’re not being assessed – they’re being supported. Our team creates space for teachers to reflect on their own practice, explore new strategies, and take ownership of their development.

As one Tute teacher put it, “The QA process facilitates timely and personalised discussion of our practice… an iterative process of continual reflection, with a seamless thread building from term to term.”

“I have found the QA team to be incredibly supportive, giving me the opportunity to reflect on my practice and providing me with practical suggestions for improvement. I appreciate that this process is a dialogue and not simply a judgement. John is a brilliant QA who focuses on the successes of each lesson and works with you to consider how you can make it even better. I feel motivated and inspired after our discussions.”

English Teacher at Tute

“I have found the quality process incredibly helpful in refining my teaching practice. It’s really useful to identify where my areas of strength are and those where I can try some new things out to help the skill translate better from the classroom to the virtual classroom. I’ve found the whole process to be incredibly positive and the goals/improvements always feel achievable and motivational 

I focused on metacognition as one of my areas for improvement and I think this really had an impact on student independence and ownership of their learning.”

Science Teacher at Tute

This continual loop of observation, feedback, and follow-up means that progress is not only tracked – it’s celebrated. In the 2023–24 academic year, a third of our teaching staff made at least one full band of progress in their QA checks which are simply banded as 1-5 (no one-word judgements here, thanks!). Many started strong and continued to improve even within the same banding, demonstrating the impact of our developmental approach. So far this term, 95% of Tute teachers maintained or improved their online practice compared to the prior term which is exceptional.

Online practice and pedagogy is a specialism – and we’ve made it ours

Great online teaching isn’t just about replicating the classroom on a screen. It requires a different mindset, skill set, and toolkit – and we support our teachers to build all three.

Through microteach training, targeted induction on online pedagogy, and personalised feedback and coaching, we ensure that every teacher at Tute is an expert in both online teaching and online learning. That dual expertise is what allows us to deliver engaging, inclusive, and high-impact lessons that work for our learners, even where other provision has failed.

We also align closely with the AP Quality Toolkit’s focus on Research and Innovation, which highlights the importance of “a commitment to continual development, innovation and the application of evidence-based practice.”

This is not theoretical for us. Tute was awarded the Research Mark kitemark by the Chartered College of Teaching in 2024, recognising our embedded commitment to evidence-based practice from leadership through to classroom delivery. We’re proud to be one of the first organisations in the country to receive this recognition – a clear testament to the impact of our reflective and research-engaged teaching culture and you can read more about this here.

Third-party assurance: why it matters

We don’t just say we deliver quality – we open our doors to external review and let others verify it. As a Department for Education (DfE)-approved Tuition Partner under the National Tutoring Programme (NTP), we passed all elements of the Tribal quality audit, meeting rigorous standards for organisation, safeguarding and quality of provision.

In addition, our strategic partnership with Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust provides a valuable layer of independent scrutiny. Across each academic year, Shireland colleagues complete 50 independent observations of Tute lessons across a range of key stages and subjects. Their assessments confirm what our own data showed: 100% of the observed lessons met or exceeded our quality standards.

This kind of collaborative external validation again speaks directly to the AP Quality Toolkit’s vision of shared quality frameworks, robust self-evaluation, and system-wide transparency.

Quality at Tute is a team effort

Behind every great lesson is a network of support. Our QA team doesn’t just review – they lead. Their role is to keep best practice at the forefront of everything we do, using data to identify trends, guiding improvement, and fostering a shared vision for excellent teaching.

They ensure that our standards are consistent, our methods are evidence-informed, and our impact is measurable. And in doing so, they help make our vision a reality: an education system where any child, anywhere, can achieve their potential.

Join the conversation

We’re proud to be leading the way in online learning – and we know that great teaching is at the heart of it. If you’re an educator, leader, or partner who wants to see online learning done right, let’s talk.

At Tute, we believe that when teachers are well-supported, students thrive. And that’s the quality that matters most.

Sharon Smith, Assistant Head of Teaching and Learning – Outcomes