Opting for private tutoring

My daughter is 15 so maybe outside of your interest. She just started with an English tutor and one for math and chemistry. She is academically competitive and is predicted 7s and 8s, but is not confident in math and feels a bit let down by chemistry teacher (the majority of her top set class did poorly in chemistry last test under exam conditions). English i believe there is a lot of exam technique to ensure consistency in marking. So yes she is having tutors to get the best grades possible in her iGCSEs (which may still go ahead). Also, she is moving schools for sixth form and her offer is conditional on her achieving certain grades.
Both online (would normally be face to face) and found through word of mouth.

Moved to the UK when my DC was 6 years old. Wanted him to continue with his Mandarin after school studies.

Where I live there are very few mandarin tutors, they charge a lot of money, they want you to go to their house to study, we holiday a lot so many lessons would be missed, they have limited time slots available mainly at inconvenient times and the supplier is king!

Because of the above I went through an online school in China. Because of time differences available times are limited, but still suitable. It is about 60% cheaper than a local teacher. Can still have lessons while on holiday. Can schedule extra lessons relatively easily. After 6 years of this I am not sure if the teacher has ever taken a holiday, but they did cancel a couple of lessons last Chinese New Year (I guess they are getting lazy). The customer is king!

I doubt the teacher would be able to prep DC for GCSE, but no problem as he will fly through that anyway.

Word of mouth/ open secret here. They do have an online presence but for my first DC I went with one with a national name but was local. Big mistake, knowing what I know now. Not all tutors are equal.

We got a tutor for DS1 to prepare and stretch him for 11+ entry. We got a recommendation from a friend and used him for a bit but he then left to go into actual teaching. We then found another through an agency. She completed DS1 and he was successful. Now we are prepping DS2 for 11+ and using the same woman again.

My DD10 used a local tutoring school to prepare her for an 11+ exam (she did two, which had different formats). She was doing well at school but I wanted her to access specific content and exam technique. When lockdown hit they took the lessons online and even did a few for free during the Easter holidays. They made no bones about teaching to the test but the learning will be useful in year 6 and beyond. Some of the content has appeared in my DS’s Year 9 maths! She was always buzzing when she came out. Anyway, it did the trick and she’ll have a place at the grammar school. There was a very high number of passes from the tutoring school as they are very successful at what they do.

Sky Go to the Home Ed boards. There will be loads of people there worried about focus on exam grades & teaching to the test I reckon.

It's not ideal, especially English Language. But it is what we are used to. I'm not going to expend effort worrying about it when I can't change it.

I would have liked some more BTEC type options for GCSE level. these seemed to go with the 'new GCSEs'

It would be interesting to know how other countries 'gatekeep' their higher education. I know the USA has their SATs, but gleaning from films the kids still have to have a lot of knowledge to score high, so it is still a test where info has to be learned for it.

Teacher training days should not be taken from children's learning days which they were.

No they weren't, surely? They were taken from holidays, but incorporated into term time so teachers could still take time away in their own holidays.

Teachers should not have 13 weeks off a year. Some of that time they should be working on developing the product and school and ensuring they are fully ready when kids return

They do (well an awful lot of them do). They just aren't officially paid for it. A teacher who has moved from say y2 to y6 doesn't just rock up on the first day of September with no prep. Similarly a secondary teacher doesn't just start teaching bottom set y10 without work.

Current as in not current Covid situational

Introduction of a proper support and performance management framework for teachers that is routinely used. This would identify poor teaching, give them support but ultimately weed them out.

Proper development programmes and mentoring as teachers progress. The current system is based on TLRs whereby extra payments are made for every slight responsibility but no assessment of outcomes for many. When teachers do start moving into SLT roles there is an assumption they are automatically capable. They are not and many teachers in SLT positions are really really poor, especially in respect of the business side of running a school. For example finances, estates, he's,th and safety...and a biggie which has been exposed during Covid as awful IT systems with some teachers who lack even basic understanding.

My last is to review the number of teaching and working days. Teacher training days should not be taken from children's learning days which they were. Teachers should not have 13 weeks off a year. So,e of that time they should be working on developing the product and school and ensuring they are fully ready when kids return

When you say 'current' do you mean homeschooling with live lessons from school, or do you mean the official non-covid system?

Current: I am monitoring my DD's inbox. If you get behind (which she is), it is incredibly stressful with all the stuff piling in.

Usual: Controlled Assessments had to go as they were so open to abuse. However the exam system I feel is unsuitable for lower achievers, especially any with SEN.
English Language GCSE isn't fit for purpose for showing comprehension and written skills - far too technical.

Specialism in the subject and some knowledge of the curriculum. We were not insistent on being an ex teacher. On one occasion if was a masters post grad (daughter) and some trainee teacher.

The match was important...in fact very important. son very resistant in having a tutor as wasn't cool. Said he wouldn't engage until said tutor arrived...lad in early 20s with lots in common....20 mins later getting on like a house on fire and after that was even up for additional tutoring if required.

A current or ex-teacher with knowledge and experience of the course/board requirements.

Someone who would be patient, gentle and encouraging with my DD (ie good personality match)

We didn't consider online 1-2-1 tutoring as we felt the interaction of the tutor being there was important and I think we were proved right. Obviously now it would be different

Grades are what are needed for the next level. They are the gatekeepers for A levels, university etc.

Personally I would imagine very few parents (bar the Home Educators who are on a different board here on MN) would pay for tutors but not care about grades.

DD was using seneca. It is great for getting basic core knowledge instilled. I view it more as a revision tool than a teaching one really from what I have seen.

OP The one I have seen mentioned here a lot is Tassomai for science. It has a 'grade guarantee' if you 'finish' it, or something.

DS uses Seneca and also said it was very simple and not very engaging. Thank you for other suggestions,I'd not heard of them.

Neither poor quality teaching, nor not being stretched enough.

For us

• from y8 - English tuition as DD was struggling. Was 'below expectations' in y6 and although making progress was only predicted grade 2/3 at GCSE. So some focused 1-1 we though would help. (We also didn't want the massive panic we had had with DD1 in y11).
• from mid y11 - Some other tutoring as DD is too unwell to access school so we are having to do our own thing in an attempt to achieve something out of the current GCSE mess.

English started face to face. Any tutoring DD is getting is now on zoom.

OP what platforms are available? Would be really helpful if you could name a few.