Chapters
- 01. How Common is it to Have a Private Tutor?
- 02. Reason to Get a Private Tutor #1 Catching Up
- 03. #2 Consolidate Knowledge
- 04. #3 Preparing for an Exam
- 05. #4 Aim for Perfection
- 06. #5 Achieve the Average
- 07. #6 Acquire a Methodology
- 08. #7 Make Them Provide Regular Work
- 09. #8 Made-to-measure Teaching
- 10. #9 Create a Passion
- 11. #10 Learn New Things
For visual learners, a monotonous class won’t pique their interest. The teacher has to incorporate visual aids such as graphs and diagrams, into the class. The way the teacher works, regardless of their professional skills, can demotivate a student.
Private tutorials are a step-by-step way to help a student to succeed.
Remotely or face to face, they work through the key points that the student didn’t understand, give them a learning method and guide them towards an objective, which could be preparing for an exam or learning something new.
How Common is it to Have a Private Tutor?
Hysterical news stories about the rise of tutoring, the death of childhood, the tiger parent and the super tutor seem to dominate the media discourse surrounding tutoring. A common statistic often used to back up these stories is the claim that around 1 in 4 children are receiving tuition (derived from a study by the Sutton Trust).
New analysis by the Tutor Pages, however, reveals that the true figure is likely to be far lower than this – more like 15% at the very most. Of that 15%, 8% would be receiving tuition from a private tutor at home, 6% would be attending a tuition centre, and 1% would have online tuition.
Media reports on private tuition tend not to differentiate between children receiving one-to-one tuition in their home, and those visiting a tuition centre. Yet it seems that there is a growing, unreported demand for group private tuition. It is also conveniently sensationalist to say that private tuition is all about rich parents employing super tutors to give their offspring an unfair leg up in the world, but how different does the story sound when we realise that children from diverse backgrounds receive tuition?
We can only hope that a more accurate understanding of the figures may lead to a more nuanced interpretation of the world of private tuition; one that recognises the many and varied reasons for it, and the positive outcomes it can lead to.
Reason to Get a Private Tutor #1 Catching Up
The first goal of private tuition is to get the student up to speed. A student can be falling behind for several reasons: missing work, changing school in the middle of the year, or their teacher being absent, etc.
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Catch up with your studies thanks to home tutorials. (Source: The American College in Spain)
The teacher or a substitute will carry on with the programme while the student is left feeling the gap in their knowledge widen. Private tutorials give the student a new opportunity to take back control. The private tutor can ask the student about their weaknesses and carry out an appraisal of them.
Catching up is always a bespoke solution. Outside of the course the student can go back over certain topics like spelling, arithmetic, or the fundamental grammar of a foreign language, which will probably never be revisited at primary or secondary school.
Private tutorials prove that students can take an important step towards catching up and they can provide needed help in reaching your educational resolutions.
#2 Consolidate Knowledge
Students are often told when they get their grades that they “cannot improve due to gaps in their knowledge”. Only by using private tutoring services can you resolve this problem. But where should you start?
In order to fill in the gaps in a student’s knowledge, you need to know what their weaknesses are.
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Get personalised help with a private tutor? (Source: Arts & Humanities Research Council)
A student often won’t dare ask a question due to nervousness or fear. This means that these gaps persist and snowball into a real problem.
A teacher can be disrupted when a student asks an unrelated question or a question on a topic from an earlier class.
During private classes, the teacher has a one on one relationship with their student, which completely changes from student to student. The student feels more comfortable asking questions which in class would make them feel stupid.
The tutor answers these questions without judging. After all, their objective is to help to student advance.
#3 Preparing for an Exam
With one on one tutoring, private tutors can have a look at the student’s record and give their opinion before they sit an exam. This could be a positive opinion, which is hugely beneficial when a student is doing resits.
The tutors UK can give a more restrained opinion like “They'll prove themselves in the exam.”
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Don't rely on luck! Use a private tutors to prepare for an exam! (Source: Sud Ouest)
GCSEs, A Levels, and professional exams are important stages throughout their education.
Private classes can act as test support and test preparation.
The tutor can put together tutoring programs to help create revision notes on the key topics of each subject and provide mock exams in order to train students for the big day.
#4 Aim for Perfection
Private tutorials can be very useful for students looking to enroll in a good university. The teaching at some secondary schools is very basic and just enough for a student to get an average grade.
Nevertheless, when it comes to getting into university or getting a scholarship, students need to aim for perfection. Students can go over past papers and study autonomously.
However, home tutoring is more focused and can be useful for speaking practice (for languages) and some of the trickier subjects.
The teacher can even act as a coach to help the student to gain confidence. One way they do that is helping their students set and keep educational goals.
In fact, private tutorials are an investment for the future.
#5 Achieve the Average
Despite all the work being put in, re-sitting can be a real threat to a student averaging a failing grade.
It’s demotivating. The child feels like a failure and struggles to work, stuck firmly in the belief that they’re just going to fail.
However, with private tutorials, you can turn things around. It’s important to react quickly. If the 1st term was catastrophic and the student is already failing, immediate steps have to be taken. If the 1st and 2nd terms were average overall, where the student isn’t failing by much, you can still turn things around by the 3rd term.
Which subjects require the most work?
Core subjects such as English and Maths. Sometimes this might require a specialised reading tutor or an algebra tutor.
#6 Acquire a Methodology
Some bad grades aren’t due to the students ability to learn, but rather due to their learning style. They might prefer to learn through drilling, while the teacher prefers guided discovery. Despite spending hours on their studies, they still get bad grades.
Were they tested on conjugations in the exam even though they usually do much better at comprehension? Maybe it's time to look for Spanish tutors for a bit of supplemental instruction. It's easy to find a tutor online!
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Get your methodology right! (Source: Björn Larsson)
Private tutors can help a student in primary school or secondary school change how they work in order to work more effectively. How? They can teach them how to make revision sheets for French, history, or geography or how to apply their maths formulae.
Their approach might be failing them when it comes to the exams. A student mightn’t be able to understand the questions or read a text in a foreign language. The private tutorials may focus on exam technique.
Weekly practice exercises or mock exams will give students a huge advantage when it comes to eradicating a failing exam methodology.
If you feel stressed by exams, check out our tips.
#7 Make Them Provide Regular Work
A student who works regularly will get to know the content of their courses in a matter of weeks.
However, it’s quite common for students to only revise what they need to know for an exam or an essay when they need to know it.
Learning then becomes cramming.
Then the student doesn’t open their binder for weeks.
Private tutorials force students to be more disciplined. The private tutor can tell the student which topics they need to go over and then give them exercises during the week. Corrected activities can then be sent back to student via email. The student will learn quickly by working regularly.
By putting aside half an hour every day to study a subject, students can see their grades improve by one or two grade boundaries.
#8 Made-to-measure Teaching
Teachers at primary school, secondary school, or university work with one type of material: books, handouts, PowerPoint, etc. However, this type of learning doesn’t work for everyone. It takes a certain type of educator to become a tutor.
Auditory learners won’t benefit from these visuals. They prefer to hear things being explained directly like you would with in home tutoring.
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Private tutorials are made to measure. (Source: Suit Engine)
A one to one private tutor over webcam can explain concepts until the student perfectly understands the idea.
Visual learners prefer to work with graphs and diagrams. If they're to have any academic success, their tutor needs to take this into account.
The tutor can give them visual aids that have been adapted to them or even help the student make them themselves.
This is what we mean by made-to-measure private tutorials.
#9 Create a Passion
Have you always dreamt of learning the piano, guitar, yoga, or even creating a computer game? Private tutorials are often thought of as academic support. However, you can also learn a musical instrument or sports with the best tutors around.
These types of skills take time, as anyone being tutored will agree. When you work, it's very difficult to find the time to take a class.
However, leisure and private academic tutoring.can often work with your schedule. You can have weekend classes or even late-night classes thanks to online tutoring. However, if you want to get ahead, you’ll need to make sure you work with your online tutor regularly and that they give you homework and coursework assignments. You should work with them at least twice a month.
#10 Learn New Things
Sometimes we feel like we’re going nowhere, especially at work. However, you can’t always just up and leave your job today or tomorrow. You can find fulfilment by learning new skills.
Focus on your current aspirations. Have you always wanted to learn the language of love? Get in touch with a French tutor today! Learning a new language can get you ready to travel the world.
Want to learn how to play the guitar? There’s no age limit when it comes to having private tutorials or learning a musical instrument. An in home tutor is ready to teach you.
A private tutor can teach you at your own speed, while also acting as a counselor and advising you on how to become a better learner. Find a tutor today!
Having discussed the reasons for hiring a private tutor, it must be said it is not for everyone. Be sure to consult the reasons people may not choose to hire a private tutor.
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