How to find a tutor

Michllejoy Hughes – Bong 11+ blog

 

Michellejoy Hughes is a highly qualified and experienced teacher and tutor, with over 25 years’  experience in the education sector. Now regularly tutoring over 20 pupils a week, Michellejoy has helped hundreds of children prepare successfully for the 11plus exam.

 

How to revise for 11 plus? How do you find the right tutor for you and your child? Based on my experience, here are some points that might help:

  • Group or one-to-one tuition? Group tuition can be cheaper and some children feel more confident learning with others. Individual tuition is tailored to your child’s needs and some children concentrate better without distraction.
  • Home or away? Some tutors travel and others won’t, but if you want a tutor to travel, expect to pay for travelling time and travelling expenses.

  • Weekly or intensive lessons? Regular lessons work for many pupils, but if the process is like pulling teeth, a quick intensive block can work better!

  • Where to find a tutor? The best agencies take on great tutors and can match them carefully to your child, others care more about profit. Other tutors work independently and not through agencies. Try asking other parents for recommendations or if local schools have teachers who also tutor. (See our Related Links for more help with finding a tutor.)

What to ask potential tutors:

  • Success rates: My success rate is high because I pre-test each child that I take on. Some tutors will take on every child so their results will be lower, but they shouldn’t be too low. If a tutor doesn’t know their pupil’s results, why not?

  • Qualifications and experience: Anyone can become a tutor and a top education doesn’t guarantee results. An agency tutor or school teacher will have a DBS check, but other tutors won’t. Every tutor should want your child to feel happy, so ask as many questions as you need to.

  • Fees: Some tutors include books and materials others don’t. Ask in advance about costs and how fees are to be paid when tutoring your child.

  • Stay or go? I’m happy for parents to drop off their child or to sit in during lessons. In groups it is harder for parents to sit in, but if any tutor is uncomfortable with you being there, ask why!

  • Vacancies: Good tutors will have most lesson slots booked in advance. If a tutor has lots of spaces over many days, why?

A brilliant tutor for someone else might not be right for you. Perhaps more than anything, go with your own instinct. You know your child better than anyone else, so if something doesn’t ‘feel right’, then keep searching for the right tutor.


Michellejoy Hughes

Related Links

  • There are many places to find tutors online, but it is advisable to make sure that tutors you are contacting have suitable qualifications and experience. The Good Schools Guide offer a helpful checklist on what to look out for and have also done a review of over 50 tutor agencies. For extra piece of mind, you might want to find a tutor who carries an accreditation, such as Qualified Tutor, LEAPeducate, or The Tutors' Association.

Whether you’ve decided to tutor or not, Bond Online is a great way of doing regular 11+ exam practice with your child. Online and fully self-marking, Bond Online gives you unlimited 11+ practice questions to help prepare for the 11+ exam and regular parent reports update you on exactly what progress your child is making. Try our online sample now.