Regardless of the academic level at which your child is studying, one-to-one tuition brings a vast amount of benefits. Whether they’re helping with English, Maths, Science or general exam skills, a tutor can focus their full attention on your child and their individual learning. With normal classes of 20-30 pupils, this is a huge advantage.
Let’s look at some of these benefits a bit closer.
The 6 main benefits of one to one tuition are:
Personalised teaching & support
The right pace for your child
Rapid improvement
A safe environment to ask questions
An expert in your home
Fewer distractions
1. Personalised Teaching & Support
In a normal classroom setting or with group tuition, the teacher has to support lots of individuals and so it is very difficult to help each child in the way they really need. A one-to-one tutor will work closely with your child on the topics they struggle with and will be able to pinpoint the issues that are causing them difficulties.
A good tutor will get to the root cause of the problem, whether this be mental maths skills, structuring English essays or understanding what exam questions mean.
2. The Right Pace For Your Child
In a group or school setting, the teacher has to cover a specific curriculum (or set of topics) in a set time. This can mean that if a child does not understand something or needs to recap previous learning, the teacher is unable to slow the class to do this. Similarly, the most able children may become bored. Both sets of children can lose confidence and become demotivated.
A one-to-one tutor has no such constraints. If a child finds a topic easy, the tutor can move quickly to something more challenging. Whilst if a child is struggling with a particular topic, the tutor can spend longer on it and get to the root cause of the problem, even if that means going back over learning from the past.
3. Rapid Improvement
In any one hour at school, a child will be lucky to get 5 minutes of their teacher's undivided attention and support. In an hour session with a one-to-one tutor, the teacher is completely focused on the child's needs, explaining how to improve, deal with problems, asking probing questions, answering your child's questions and moving the child as quickly as suitable to higher level questions.
It is no wonder then that children with one-to-one tutors significantly outperform those who do not in exams.
4. A Safe Environment To Ask Questions
Sometimes students feel shy or frightened to ask questions in front of the class. They may worry that the teacher or their peers will think they are stupid & be scared of being laughed, told off and feeling embarrassed. With a good tutor, these worries will evaporate.
The right tutor like the qualified teachers at GCSE Masterclass will use lots of praise & encouragement, they will respond clearly to all questions and ensure your child feels confident asking as many questions as they need to progress successfully.
5. An Expert In Your Home
The right tutor will almost always be a qualified, experienced teacher who knows their subject and the exam structure well. They will at first ensure your child has the knowledge and skills needed and then use lots of past exam questions, with example answers, to ensure your child knows how to get the top grades.
It is really important to choose the right tutor/teacher as a poor quality tutor can actually worsen a child's grades & confidence. My advice is qualified, experienced teachers who can provide references are crucial for GCSE & A-Level tutoring whilst people who have actually passed the 11+ exams typically have the knowledge & skills needed in reasoning, maths and English to support a child well.
6. Fewer Distractions
Finally, if your child is learning in a home setting, they will have fewer distractions with little noise or interruptions from classmates.
How We Can Help
At GCSE Masterclass, we use only the very best teachers. All our staff are fully qualified, experienced teachers who have a proven track record of high quality teaching and excellent results within their GCSE classes.
Contact us to find out more about how we can quickly improve your child’s confidence, grades and future.
Written by Kate, for GCSE Masterclass.