Your Guide to Employing a Private Tutor
When you have found an appropriate tutor whom you are interested in it can be quite daunting knowing what relevant questions to ask the tutor and
what to look for upon your first meeting.
Therefore from our experience of tutoring many students over several years we have prepared the following guide to help you ask the right questions to enable you to choose the right tutor for you.
What to ask a Private Tutor
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We find that it is always best to arrange an initial meeting with the Tutor first. There are two reasons for this. The student is able
to identify whether they will be able to communicate well with the tutor. The student /parent will also be able to explain the areas of the
syllabi that the student is having difficulty with.
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Before you meet the tutor perhaps you may wish to list the topics that you may wish to discuss. Obviously this depends on many factors,
i.e. the age of the child, the venue where tuition will be undertaken etc.
Again the following are only a guideline but may answer your queries.
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Have they been CRB checked? Obviously if you have young children this will concern you more than perhaps if your child is requiring tuition for
say A Levels, although bear in mind that CRB checks are not infallible and are not mandatory for people working as private tutors. If you are unsure
and require proof ask the tutor to show you their disclosure confirmation from the CRB to prove that they have been checked. Teachers that work in
schools and other people who work with children or vulnerable adults unsupervised will have had to undergo a more rigorous check called enhanced
disclosure. For more details visit the CRB or Disclosure web sites. Details of which can be found
on our links Page
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Their qualifications. However again bear in mind that if a tutor does not have PGCE status it does not mean that they are unable to tutor as well as
a qualified teacher. Both teachers and non teachers can bring a wealth of experience to tutoring. Good tutors are the ones which can communicate their
subject well, regardless of PGCE status which qualifies you to work in a school or college classroom. Remember tuition is for individuals and small
groups not for a large group of students.
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Their experience of tutoring /teaching. Again this does not particularly give any guarantees but after asking the following questions you will be
able to obtain a clearer picture how good the tutor is. The following come from experience of tutoring, not something you can learn in an
evening!
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What syllabi the tutor is familiar with? A good tutor who knows the syllabus well will be able to tell you the topics that need covering and be able to
talk about these topics in the depth that the syllabus requires.
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What resources they provide if any? This can be anything from plans, questions and worksheets to examination papers. Good tutoring is also about good
organisation. The more resources a student has the greater chance of improvement and / or obtaining good examination grades.
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What relevant books / software is the tutor able to advise you to buy, for your child?
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Does the tutor give updates on the students progress. Sometimes it is not always possible for the tutor to see the parent of a student before or
after lessons. If this is the case we find that it is beneficial to ask for the parents to phone us or we ask a convenient time to phone them to give them
regular updates on their childs progress. Again a good tutor will have records for each student, and so will find it easy to give you information about which
topics, questions and homework has been set and how the student is progressing.
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Does the tutor charge a cancellation fee. Tutors are usually highly qualified professionals and as a result most tutors do charge a fee, after all their
time has been booked, and especially if the cancellation has been a last minute one. We suggest that as a parent you give at least 48 hours notice wherever
possible. If you know well in advance that you have to cancel then tell the tutor with plenty of time to spare as they then may be able to fit another
student into your appointment time and so not lose out financially. (please remember that for many tutors tuition is their only or main source of
income and cancelled lessons can drastically affect that weeks income.) Remember to check with the tutor how much cancellation notice they require
as this may vary.
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The tutor's contact details and the times that they are available for contact. Again try to be considerate towards the tutor. We have established certain
contact times because we find that we were occasionally being contacted at times such as 7.30 a.m. on a Sunday morning or 11.00 p.m. on a Friday
evening!
- After any further questions you then may wish to ask the tutor and the tutor has put to you then you need to negotiate the time venue and frequency of
tuition. Although it varies from student to student we find most students request one hour/ week of tuition per subject. However this depends on the level
of tuition, the students level of ability and how long it is until the examination etc. The number of hours of tuition you want a week is up to you but as a
general guide and if the exam is several months away then at least to start off with one hour per week per subject required should be enough. You can
always ask the Tutor for extra time later on if you feel it is necessary, but please bear in mind some of the very best tutors may be fully booked and
will be unable to do extra time, especially in the run up to the main examination times.
- Although most tutors are very professional in their approach to tuition, there are, as in every profession, some tutors who do not offer a good service.
Please don't be afraid to stop tuition with a tutor if you do not feel that you are getting the level of service that you expect and are after all,
paying for. Be especially wary of tutors who:-
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Are constantly moving the time and day of the lesson. Most reputable tutors will give you a time and day and stick to it every week. They may need
to rearrange from time to time of course, but if you find your time being changed every other week then the tutor is obviously not committed to
you and or the student.
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Regularly turn up late, or worse don't turn up at all for appointments that you have made without contacting you beforehand.
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Are regularly cancelling their lessons, often at short notice, usually with a lame excuse such as my car has broken down etc. If you find that you
have arranged one hour a week but because of repeated cancellations by the tutor you are actually getting on average one hour per fortnight it
is a sure sign that you have employed a tutor who is only doing tuition as a sideline. They will turn up when they are strapped for cash and
cancel on you when they are not. Students are much more likely to progress and achieve if they have regular tuition such as an hour per week
and at a regular time. Don't put up with a level of service that you feel is not meeting your expectations.
If you are serious about private tuition we advise you to start as soon as possible. If you leave it too late you may find that it is very
difficult not only for the tutor to cover the amount of work in such a short space of time, but that the student is ineffectively "cramming" and
finds the level of work very difficult to cope with.
Home Tutors Directory has listings of tutors, tutoring agencies and tuition agencies across the whole of the UK
including tutors providing tutoring for the following :
- Private Education
- Preschool education and early childhood education
- Primary education i.e. KS1, KS2, 11+ (eleven plus)
- Further education and college education i.e A-Level, NVQs, GNVQs
- Higher education and Graduate Education i.e. student tutors for individuals studying for an educational degree i.e Bachelors, BA, BSc, Masters Education, MSc, MA, M.Phil, PhD education degrees
- Online Education, Distance Education and Intenet tuition
- Language Tutors, Language Tutoring and Language Tuition
- EFL Tutors, ESL Tutors, TEFL Tutors
- Music Tutors
Do you still have a question we have not answered? Why not have a look at our Frequently asked questions.
If you have reached this page and are looking to find tutors or a tutoring agency, click on the links below to find private tutors providing private
tuition in your area.
Good Luck with your search!
Please remember to mention HomeTutorsDirectory.co.uk when first contacting tutors whose details you have found on this site....
