I'm a "super-tutor" to the London elite

[heatherheather22]

AMA

So a student might have memorised the entire text book and mark scheme, might be getting full marks in all exams - but still not pass an Oxbridge interview, if they are not good at analysing academic material on the spot and expressing their thought process aloud. So preparing a student for A-levels is a very different business to preparing them for Oxbridge interviews.

Surely if you are preparing them well for A'level English then you are preparing them to analyse academic material on the spot.
I am not sure how the preparation for an Oxbridge interview is different. If a student needs help to speak their answer rather than write it, are they really Oxbridge material?

Surely if you are preparing them well for A'level English then you are preparing them to analyse academic material on the spot.

There is certainly overlap in the two skillsets, but you have more time to plan your answer in A-level exams. Also, you can make a pretty educated guess about what kind of text they will give you, whereas in interviews they can and do throw anything at you. I was asked to talk about soap operas scripts in mine...

If a student needs help to speak their answer rather than write it, are they really Oxbridge material?

Arguably not. But you could equally say that if a student needs private schooling/extra tuition to get top marks in their exams, then they aren't really A* material. IMO, if they get into Oxbridge they are Oxbridge material, although some have had much more help BECOMING Oxbridge material.

Another difference is that in interviews the tutor will argue the opposite point of view and the candidate is expected to argue back/moderate their position. Debating with minimal preparation is a completely different skill. In written exams obviously there is no debate, the student explains their opinions and that's that.

Sounds interesting. I sometimes spot tutoring jobs for clients who are on yachts all year and want someone to teach their kids on board. I wonder what that would be like!

I sometimes spot tutoring jobs for clients who are on yachts all year and want someone to teach their kids on board. I wonder what that would be like!

Ha, I've never tutored on a yacht, but I did get flown out to Milan once. The client wanted me to come to Sardinia too but they were a horrible family so I turned them down. A friend of mine in the same line of work gets flown out to Switzerland for the weekend fairly regularly.

Do you ever get asked to teach children of parents who are French or Italian?

Do you ever get asked to teach children of parents who are French or Italian?

Yep, I've had two French clients and two Italian clients.

(To clarify, I was teaching them English/exam technique, not French/Italian as languages.)

Do you tutor and famous peoples children?

*any

I think you are super good at handling snarky people with grace and courtesy, OP! You have demonstrated your skill over and over again on this thread.

I also get the impression that you are thoughtful, insightful, kind, well educated, enthusiastic about what you do, and highly skilled at expressing yourself. I bet you are a great tutor.

Do you tutor any famous peoples children?

Only once - the kids of a pop star/reality TV host. I've also tutored the kids of very senior businessman who's not exactly famous, but he's been featured in the FT more than once for insider trading :/

@claraschu Honestly, thank-you. What a kind thing to say. It's so nice to see that on MN where many people are so quick to criticise.

Have you experienced tutoring someone like my yr 11 son , who does the bare minimum in school , isn't predicted great grades but has the potential if it wasn't for his oh so annoying teenage miasma of laziness and disdain for learning?

We are sending him to weekly tutor (£30) ,experienced medically retired teacher. I would want at least £70 to do his job

Handled the answers very well. Clearly a decent tutor. I don't know what it is about some school teachers that they often seem so defensive. I wonder if it is teaching in schools that makes them like that or the people like that go into schools.

We (outer London ) used a tutor briefly for 2 of our chldren just because they were doing some exams at 7+ that their schools were not preparing them for so they could have a bit of practice with exam papers and it worked fine.

It is not always that easy a job once you have small children as the tutoring hours are usually when people want to be with their children.

Have you experienced tutoring someone like my yr 11 son , who does the bare minimum in school , isn't predicted great grades but has the potential if it wasn't for his oh so annoying teenage miasma of laziness and disdain for learning?

Oh yes. I know it's incredibly stressful and frustrating trying to educate someone who doesn't want to learn. It must be a difficult situation and you have my sympathy!

If you'll accept some unsolicited advice...IMO the best thing to do is to have a light-hearted, non-critical chat that begins with "Any idea what job you might like when you're older?" Try to bring this up in a casual conversational manner so it doesn't seem like you're trying to have a Serious Talk with him. Once he's listed some jobs, say (again, cheerfully and casually), for example, "Okay, so if you want to be a TV presenter you need to have great communication skills. It's probably important to have good marks in English. You also need to know what's going on in the world so probably a good idea to learn about history and politics." Or "If you want to be a football coach you'd get better jobs if you also know about physiotherapy. Studying biology and chemistry would be a good start."

Try to avoid giving the impression that you're telling him what to do. But I realise that's much easier said than done...best of luck, hope the situation improves! Might be worth taking him to a careers advisor who is separate from his school if that's a possibility?

thanks..it is a major ball ache trying to get him to engage ...mock results in a few weeks , maybe a conversation as per your suggestion and the results may spur on some sort of action.

the ‘^^super’ tutor label!

Thanks for this thread OP.

We now know that the ‘well educated ‘ in ‘top London schools’ are havjng to pay huge amounts in top of all this to get their kids j to Oxbridge.

While many kids in S London comprehensives get A* s without even having their own desk at home to study at and spend Sunday’s in the public library in Brixton as a place to do their work.... and yet the stats for Oxbridge undergraduates so very heavily over-represent private school students. Does this give you any discomfort?

What are the best or most expensive gifts you've been given?

What ridiculous or OTT things/behaviours have you seen in homes?

many kids in S London comprehensives get A* s without even having their own desk at home to study at and spend Sunday’s in the public library in Brixton as a place to do their work.... and yet the stats for Oxbridge undergraduates so very heavily over-represent private school students. Does this give you any discomfort?

Yes, of course. However, I think the way to make Oxbridge more diverse and representative is not to try to clamp down on private schooling/tuition (which would never work anyway) but rather to encourage more state school applicants to apply (and trust that the interviewers can pick the best candidates regardless of levels of "grooming", because they can). Probably stating the obvious, but state school students are far less likely to apply than private school students. This is why I get so angry that the press love to run stories about how Oxbridge is incredibly exclusive and snobbish/incredibly stressful and full of kids with eating disorders and depression. While these are certainly issues at Oxbridge, they are also issues at literally every prestigious university. Oxbridge is particularly demonised in the press and it scares students off applying if they're not from a background that lets you assume you can handle it.

To be fair to Oxford, they were doing a LOT of outreach/access work when I was there, but obviously more remains to be done.

What are the best or most expensive gifts you've been given?

I don't get gifts that often tbh! Doesn't really seem to be a "thing" in tutoring, especially since the average length of time I work with each student is pretty short, about 2 months. I did get an Italian jumper from a longer-term client once. TBH the best presents I've been given were bunches of flowers from clients who were nice families and appreciated me. And texts letting me know my students achieved the marks they wanted. Cheesy I know!

What ridiculous or OTT things/behaviours have you seen in homes?

Oh Christ, where to begin. The family who had a cleaner for five hours a day, five days a week (it was a four bedroom house). The woman who complained to her cleaner (who had left her young son behind in the Philippines to make more money) that it was SOOOO difficult and stressful having to organise cleaning for both her town house AND country house. The woman who complained that Eton wasn't good enough. The ex-model yummy mummy who put her objectively completely healthy 7-year-old on a diet because she wanted her to be skinnier. The 15-year-old who told me that if she didn't get into Oxbridge, Harvard or Yale her "life would be over". The 17-year-old wearing almost £2000 of Cartier jewellery. The 14-year-old who was so exhausted that he fell asleep mid-way through a sentence (he was one of the most hot-housed kids I've ever seen). Give me a couple of minutes, I'll think of more...

Ooh, a personal favourite: the guy who asked me to give his THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD advice on how to prepare for Oxbridge.