GCSE tutor when below in all subjects

Also don't panic, there's loads of time and its not an unusual situation to be in!

it is a huge mistake to leave the effort until yrs 10 and 12. He will be very behind by then if he has been wasting all his time at school. Have a serious talk with him about how important his educational results are even if he doesn’t go to uni, and go see some of his teachers with him to get him going on some work.

If he, like most children his age doesn't really know how to revise, is a bit lazy/ more interested in other things and isn't 100% focused in class then even if you got him a tutor in every subject he wouldn't improve much. If he's already having 3-6 hours a week in a subject 1 more won't make much difference , there are clearly more general problems.
Speak to a local tutoring company and explain the situation. Ask for someone who will work generally across the subjects, teach him some revision techniques and get him completing homework and test preparation across the subjects. They're subject knowledge doesn't matter at this point. Then give it until the next reports or parents evening and see if any subjects are standing out as being weak areas.

Hi Op. As another poster said, look for some clues as to why this is happening. What have teachers said in his reports or at parents evening? What do his schoolbooks look like where he writes class work and homework? What does he do at home when he does homework? Maybe go and talk to his teachers or at least one or two of them. Perhaps try getting a tutor for one subject first eg either English or Maths, unless his teachers in those subjects offer to give him some extra practice if he stays after school and works with them, or if they give him some targeted work to do at home and then stays after school teacher will go through it with him on a 121 basis and then he redoes it or a similar task to see if he’s improved?
I think it’s good that you have noticed this issue before finding yourself halfway through GCSEs.

How bothered is he by his poor results?

Will he be more interested in doing GCSEs in subjects he has partly chosen?

Ultimately he needs to want a tutor and want to improve. Or your cash is wasted.

Good luck.

You need to have a conversation with his teacher to try and find out what is actually behind these grades. If he is performing to his ability, then I would leave him be and accept that these are going to be the sort of grades he has to work with; help him plot a realistic path to what he wants to do. If he is bright and underperforming out of laziness, I doubt a tutor will help.

The only scenario in which I think a tutor would be useful is if there is an academic problem holding him back; is he definitely not dyslexic/dyspraxic etc? If he is struggling with either literacy or numeracy, a specialist tutor in either of those areas would probably help bring up his grades in all subjects, but you need to know what's behind the underperformance first. You can't fix a problem if you don't know what it is.

What sort of school does he go to? If it's selective, then bear in mind that below average might still be very good.

Does your son know how to revise? Making notes it not necessarily the best way to do it - there are (for example) lots of online apps now, some fantastic YouTube videos, school will provide online revision resources etc.

If he's just not motivated then throwing money at a tutor might be pointless. I think year 9 is a hard year - secondary school has lost its newness and excitedness, and GCSEs are too far away to really feel that they need to worry yet.

I'd focus on understanding what he can work on and seeing if you can do that.

If he’s lazy, a tutor won’t help.

Does he know how to revise?
Does he need tutors or to actually bother to revise?
Finally what does 'below average' mean - are they predicting GCSE grades based on this?

What does he want to do next? Being brutal, maths and English he could retake if he had to, but he won't get funding to retake anything else. If he's interested in e.g. a healthcare job, he may need biology, or he may need a language for certain unis, etc. So I would focus on a tutor for subjects that relate to his interests.

If he doesn't have any clear interests, then maths/English are the obvious ones.

You could get a science tutor who also does maths.

I used to alternate the two subjects with my students but it'll be hard if he is very behind. He still needs to ensure he is doing revision in between tuition sessions.

Get on YouTube find a guy called Thomas frank and look at how to revise effectively