Children's Secretary Ed Balls has announced that thousands of seven-to-16-year olds this year will get intensive bursts of 10 hours one-to-one tuition with a qualified tutor to get them back on track in the basics � up to 150,000 in English and 150,000 in mathematics.

It is the first step to reaching the Government's commitment that by March 2011, 300,000 pupils overall in English and 300,000 overall in mathematics will be getting one-to-one tuition a year - with GCSE students in schools in the most challenging circumstances also getting support.

Mr Balls said one-to-one was a vital way to get children who may have fallen back over the long-summer holidays up to speed quickly. The Government's expert group on assessment recommended in May that tuition for 11 and 12-year-olds was vital to smooth pupils' progress when they changed schools at 11.

And he said he wanted to create an army of tutors from newly-qualified, existing, retired and part-time teachers to drive up pupils' progress and improve their own professional development.

Over 25,000 one-to-one tutors have already registered with the Training and Development Agency (TDA) since it launched its recruitment campaign in June - with the overall aim of reaching up to 100,000 by 2010/11.

Tutors will get paid an hourly rate of between �25 to �29 out of school hours and schools can take on full-time tutors so that tuition can take place during normal classroom hours, as well as evenings and weekends.

A wide range of teachers have signed up as tutors so far: some are full-time teachers looking to expand their range of teaching skills; some are teachers returning from maternity leave who are attracted to the flexible hours; and others are retired teachers who want to continue to support children who need extra help.

It comes after 50,000 pupils have benefited from Government funded one-to-one tuition programme to date over the last two years - with clear evidence students making remarkable progress quickly.

And it follows proposals to legislate to give a legally guaranteed support from September 2010 for pupils at risk of falling behind in English and mathematics - the school's White Paper in June set out specific, enforceable entitlements for all children and young people during their school careers.

Children's Secretary Ed Balls said:

"This is a big step forward to helping all children reach their potential at school.

"I want to create real momentum over the next two years. Thousands of tutors have already come forward with a huge commitment to improve children's progress - but I think we've got the potential to create an army of highly qualified tutors to help pupils get most out of primary school and hit the ground running at secondary.

"No child should stall or get stuck at any stage of their education. We know that many children at certain points of their school careers benefit from a short burst of tailored, individual support, on top of effective class teaching - particularly changing schools at 11.

"There is already clear evidence that where one-to-one tuition is being used, many children are making marked improvements in English and maths and improving their attitude, confidence and motivation in class.

"Nationally results in primary and secondary school have risen hugely over the last decade. But we've never made any bones about needing to target the small minority in danger of falling behind or not making as fast progress as their peers - particularly those with SEN, who need the most support.

"This is a clear statement that the time that one-to-one tuition was the sole preserve of the well-off or for parents to struggle to afford fees is over. This means that all pupils will get the extra support, if they need it, to get back on track, whatever their family's income."

Over 15,000 7 to 14 year olds are getting up to ten hours one-to-one tuition as part of the Making Good Progress pilot in 450 schools - where teachers identify pupils who are 'stuck', 'slow moving' or falling behind national expectations during the latter stage of each Key Stage.

The interim evaluation of the programme, published last December, found that tuition had had a positive impact on pupil confidence and motivation, as well as having an impact on the quality of pupils' learning and their progression back in the classroom.

A further 36,000 10 and 11-year-olds have had one-to-one tuition in the spring and summer terms this year - as part of the build up to the national scheme starting. That's on top the Every Child A Reader and Every Child Counts schemes which uses one-to-one and small group tuition to target under-7s who are in danger of falling behind by the time they start.

The Pupil Guarantee, proposed in the White Paper, means that every pupil starting Key Stage 2 behind expectations in English and maths and who is not on course to make good progress over the Key Stage will have guaranteed one-to-one tuition - so they can make at least two levels of progress by the end of primary school.

And every 11-year-old struggling in the basics and behind expectations in English and mathematics when they start secondary school, will get either one-to-one or small group support in Year 7, to get them back on track.