Regarding a private tutor

[decisionsdecisions123]

I recently decided it was time to get a tutor for my son in a subject he is kind of failing in (GCSE). We had one lesson for an hour (we pay for an hours tuition), all good. Then the next lesson came around and I had made it clear on the phone that an important exam was coming up which would contribute to the final grade. I had even said that if possible, could we fit in another lesson in the same week to make sure he was prepared for it. So the tutor comes, I leave them to it, and 40 mins later I am called to the room because the tutor is now getting their coat on to leave. Now, I would have gone to the room when the hour was coming up so I was really quite shocked to see that the lesson was over so soon. Tutor asked if we still wanted the extra lesson and I said we will see. Yes, I should have asked why the lesson was over 20 mins early but I was just embarrassed to ask for some reason.

When the tutor left I asked my son what had happened and he said that they were both just sat there looking at each other not knowing what to do and so the tutor said they would leave!

AIBU to think that if you are a tutor who charges for an hour then you do an hours worth of work, especially in the early days? There are plenty of things they could have done. His school book was in front of him if the tutor was stuck for ideas.

I am not sure what to do now, to continue and see what happens or look for someone else. The tutor seemed to know their stuff and isn't charging the ridiculous £30+ an hour that other people like to charge and I cant really afford to go anywhere near that amount anyway so I feel my options are limited.

Many thanks for reading and I would welcome your comments!

AIBU to think that if you are a tutor who charges for an hour then you do an hours worth of work, especially in the early days?

AIBU to think that if you have paid someone for an hour to do anything, you don't let them leave after 40 mins without a single word from you and then complain about it online afterwards?

Purple of course the tutor should provide the content, but a proper tutor who would do that will cost more, and OP has said that's not possible. Seems this tutor doesn't know where to start, through inexperience or lack of planning or both. Workbooks could be a quick way to show what exactly the student is struggling with and help the tutor to plan more proactive teaching the next time.

A proper tutor wouldn't necessarily cost more. Like I said, round here people charge £20 for GCSE tutoring. I'd be very surprised if the op couldn't find someone else for the £30 an hour she's paying this tutor.

This is unacceptable. I am a tutor in maths and sciences, educated to degree level. I always put in an least an hour (usually overrun). I started off planning lessons then found we didn't stick very closely to the plans because we would spend a lot of time on particular topics/what had been covered in school that week. There is always more than enough to do and I use my own workbooks as well as pupils' schoolwork. If we had covered something after 40minutes I would have provided some questions on another topic or discussed exam/revision strategy. I do not think a tutor needs to be a qualified teacher. I was put off school teaching by the thought of having to stand up in front of a huge class (I hate public speaking) and the stress/workload, whereas I have always enjoyed teaching others 1-2-1 or in small groups without any associated stress.

Some harsh replies on this thread. 'You get what you pay for' and 'a proper tutor costs more' are all untrue in the case.
That tutor was shit. You can get a better one. Have used a few in my time as mine are Home Ed.
I am in the southeast and the most a really experienced tutor here would be £30. And note, I say experienced as you can get very good tutors for £20/£25.
Ask around, check out sites like First Tutor and Tutor Hunt.

Constance, I will ignore your unhelpful comment.

Thank you everyone else, you have provided helpful comments and suggestions. I also think, as someone else remarked that a good tutor doesn't necessarily need to be a qualified teacher and similarly, a qualified teacher doesn't always make a great tutor.

I would be happy for lessons to cover what he is doing in school this week along with a bit of basics being covered thoroughly. I don't think the tutor has done as MiaowtheCat suggested and considered how the lesson might be broken into chunks, rather its a case of turning up without giving it a seconds thought and seeing what my son says.

I'm not paying £30, its closer to £20 and I realise its cheap for where I live but as I said, I cant afford to go any higher and I think that actually, its a decent amount of money when no thought at all is going into it and there are no travel costs involved.

TTTatty, thank you for the website ideas.

We paid £28 last year for a tutor who was a qualified teacher and he was excellent. I think a tutor could possibly get away with finishing 5 mins early if the pupil had worked really hard and had completed a piece of work, but 20 mins early is ridiculous and suggests that they don't really know what they are doing.

Constance Not everyone feels confident enough to confront in the moment.

£30 an hour for a tutor is pretty reasonable and we are NW where prices are lower and not as much calling for them and this is the rate here.
Anything less and you may not get the standard you need.

If your son had an important exam coming up why did you leave it till relatively late to have a tutor? The penultimate lesson doesn't give much time.

They and we were told about the exam with 6 days notice, that is how it works. I didn't leave it until late.

If it was me I'd speak to tutor and ask why they finished so early especially since you told him of the important exam coming up.
it does seem strange to stop so early in the lesson.
Does your son enjoy the subject is there some other way you could help him gain the info he needs as well as having a tutor.
What subject is it? Apologies if you have already said.

Have you considered online tuition? I'm a personal tutor and although £30 is my usual rate, I offer tuition through Skype at £20 ph. It's not appropriate for all children but you may get a better calibre of tutor for a lower rate.

Pal of mine does Skype tutoring- she charges less as she doesn't have to travel, and she gets good outcomes!

I just got a tutor for ds1 - A level year. He's doing maths, further maths and computer science. He's bright but has lost his way a bit. My mum and my sister died in the last year and they lived 200 miles away, so it has been stressful for us all and I haven't been around a lot.

He did well in his as levels but crashed afterwards. Got admitted to hospital with palpitations and was feeling stressed.

Nowt is worth that - I have worked hard with him on managing stress and anxiety, headspace etc, reassuring him that it isn't the be all and end all, and he's much better.

He also asked for some help with his maths so I got a tutor.

She is great! she has an MSc in education as well as being really well qualified in maths. We went together for an initial consultation, and she listened to him and knew exactly where he was at.She planned immediate first aid measures on differential equations and picked up on the material he hadn't quite grasped that under pinned it in an earlier module,which they will be revisiting.

A lot of it went over my head, but when we came away, ds1 said "yeah she's really good - she is spot on -I trust her! "

He is doing well now - he goes once a week, and with everything else his stress levels have fallen.

She costs £40 an hour - ir is expensive and when my children go to their dads eow I do an extra shift, and and ex dh contributes too - but it is deffo the full hour, and and she really knows what she is doing.

What I would give done serious thought to op is the fact that if you carry on with this person every week until your ds sits his exams you will end up giving her over £500. If she doesn't seem to want to plan, she doesn't seem to care about your ds' exams, she seemd like she's treating it as an extra bit of cash rather than a serious job, she sits staring at your ds not really knowing what to do and then leaves early do you really want to give her such a large amount of cash if money is tight?

You need to have a serious chat with her about what is expected of her for the money you are paying her. You most certainly shouldn't feel you need to support her in being a better tutor.

Give her the chance to explain why her last lesson was so rubbish if you want to be nice but if she isn't doing her job let her go and find someone else.

Have you considered talking to his school as well though? We run Saturday school for maths and English for children in year 10 &11 and extra one to one help when needed.

"ridiculous £30+ an hour"

Not really. We paid £34 per hour to our DD's 11+ tutor. He was a retired grammar school teacher with 40+ years experience. He was very, very good at his job and had a 12 month waiting list.

He had a good rapport with our DDs, and was always very patient and measured. And he knew the 11+ exam upside down, and back to front and had an exceptional pass rate. He made it very clear that he couldn't teach intelligence...but if the pupil was intelligent enough he could teach timing, technique and a few tricks of the trade.

That's what we were paying for and he was worth every penny. Our DDs walked into the 11+ exams smiling, and walked out smiling too.

Anyone can set themselves up as a tutor, but it takes genuine skill to be any good at it. IME you get what you pay for.

I am paying £30 an hour for a level tutoring. He stays the full hour and last week went considerably over his time. My DD was anxious about personal tutoring as she assumed it would mean more work, but the tutor just looks at what she has been doing at college and helps her understand it. On days where she doesn't need this help he has introduced her to memory techniques. Sorry op I always talk too much, get rid and get someone else in. GCSE teachers at school may be willing

I usually find that we go over the hour as there is so much to do/say each week, whether GCSE or a level. There are all sorts of games that I can play at the end of a session which test knowledge, analysis and application of ideas. Flexibility and creativity are two key attributes as a tutor.

I charge £40 per hour but I have a masters in one subject I tutor and a PhD in another plus I lecture at a prestigious university. (For context, my physiology charges £50 per hour and my mum's personal trainer is £35 per hour, so I feel I'm charging a fair amount for my 3 years of BA, year of MA and 4 years of PhD!).

Get rid of this piss taker! It's outrageous they should leave early - if ever I can only do 30/40mins due to traffic or clashing appointments, I discount by the proportion of the lesson missed.

Physiology should read physio - flipping autocorrect!

Lots to think about there. I am aware of Skype tutoring but I wasn't really sure how good it would be and exactly how it would work so haven't tried it out. It seems a bit strange if you know what I mean!

I had considered asking a teacher at school but then I imagine that they would charge at least £30 an hour. Unfortunately there are no weekend/after school classes.

I have been searching the internet in the hope of finding another tutor nearby but sadly no one is popping up yet. Its parents evening soon so I will ask the teacher then for some suggestions.

I think I am also now worried that if I pay even more money (and have to cut down in other areas) I might still get someone who has no idea what they are doing and doesn't help. I do consider the fact that I could well be throwing away £500 on someone who really couldn't care less and just wants a bit of extra clothes shopping money. When I had asked the tutor about a possible weekend lesson as an addition to help prep for the exam I was told they don't like to work weekends so I guess they aren't hard up.

Hmm, decisions, decisions! Thanks everyone.

Depending on subject have you tried You Tube, Khan Academy, BBC bite size?

Only skimmed the thread, so sorry if it's been said already:

It may be cheaper per hour to take your DS to the tutor rather than having one come to your home. I know its a PITA finding something to do for an hour while you wait, but worth it if it makes the difference between affording a decent one or not. We paid £23 for an hour at a v/good tutors own home for DD3 when she was struggling with her maths. I just used to sit and wait in the car, or drive to Costas depending on the mood.

I would get shot of your current one anyway. Sitting doing nothing? Ye gods i'd be livid. And want a partial refund.