Tutoring for A'levels how many do it

[Dggrs45]

I was just wondering how often do people get tutors for A'levels. My kids are still a few years away but I do teach undergrads at a top London uni and was wondering how frequent that is.

1 to 1 focused teaching is almost always better.
Explain concepts in multiple ways. Instant feedback.
More short focused exercises on weak areas.

I got a language tutor for myself as an adult 2 x per week 1 hour each time.
Made very rapid progress in a few months.

There are some YouTube channels and others set up like this.
One example is Kahn Academy for Maths.

It seems quite common to have GCSE tutor, especially in math as you have to get at least a 4. Plus the wide variety of subjects means a child might be weak in certain areas and not others.
But A levels you normally have already demonstrated the ability in the subject, so it's less likely to need a tutor.

There's a huge difference between a tutor and a proxy.

I think you're talking about a proxy who does the work for them. Some will take exams for them.

A tutor teaches the concepts but doesn't do the work for them.

I just don't think it's sustainable and clearly is the wrong choice as an A Level if a tutor is required

Again this only makes sense if the child is getting good consistent teaching at school and doesn't have any other difficulties affecting their learning, like dyslexia, illness etc. Otherwise it just displays a lack of understanding of the huge disparity in students' circumstances and in what different schools can offer.

I don't think you can blame a child for choosing an A level they are interested in and good at, and need for their choice of degree, if they then find that their teacher is not a specialist in the subject, or if their school can't recruit and they end up with a succession of supply teachers, or if they or their teacher is off with covid for large chunks of the course. A levels are quite intense and there isn't a lot of wriggle room if things are disrupted.

But their reasoning is wrong.

What subjects is she wanting help with?

I absolutely understand though that if a DC has missed a class or hasn't quite understood some part then they need to contact their teacher at school.

Failing that then yes a tutor is always going to be great to talk things through at the pupils oen pace to catch up and understand a point

However A Levels are all about teaching yourself to work these things out for yourself

They have videos and PowerPoints giving them everything they could possibly need.

So if they can't work it out from that then they're in trouble tutor or no tutor.

Sheer hard work and determination is required

I tutor for sciences and at the moment a lot of my A level students have missed massive chunks of prior GCSE knowledge due to covid. Practicals we're removed from exams, etc, so the basics are missing in a lot of cases.

Others have come from schools where they only did combined science and are now in a cohort of peers who did three separate GCSEs, so again, missing content that the teacher may cover quite quickly if 95% have already done it.

Others have been excessively spoon-fed at GCSE and have found A-level a massive jump. Got a shock that they have gone from getting 8s to Ds. These need a confidence boost and guidance on how to become independent learners.

Still others just don't 'get it' the way they are taught it. The subject might have been something they were good at at GCSE, and they took the A level but maybe it's the wrong fit. They might not specifically need that subject to do their degree, but they do need ABB, or whatever, and it's too late to switch. So they get a tutor, scrape a B, and never use most of it again.

Also, students seem much more isolated that when I was at college, so some of them just want someone to bounce ideas off while they do their homework, just an hour a week of discussion using the vocabulary can make a big difference to a lot of them.

Sciences and maths are bloody hard at A Level

The jump is enormous

Lots of grit and determination from the student is required to work it all out, catch up from where they are etc to do well

Just because you are in small classes doesn't mean the teacher is any good.

I did Chemistry A level where I had 3 teachers. The teacher for one part of the syllabus was useless. Luckily after lots of complaints, during the time some students went and got tutors as nothing was happening, another one of the teachers covered part of his lessons but at lunch times.

Oh and that useless teacher who was the one who was most highly qualified in the subject and had gone to Cambridge.

@livinthedreamnot I had similar at university e.g. small class with most qualified lecturer but couldn't lecture for toffee. Luckily being older I knew how to deal with it.

My dd had a Maths tutor for A level Maths.

A level is part self study but also 4 or 5 hours taught a week. It’s only a 2 year course and some subjects only have one teacher. If that teacher leaves and not replaced mid course (as they can’t recruit a replacement) or goes on long term sick then having a tutor simply replaces that face to face teaching.
My dcs school prioritises sixth form so eg will give lower school class a supply and send their teacher to 6th form class but not all schools can do that. Their Classics teacher has been very ill with Covid and off, he’s the only one teaching that so no classes offered at all.
I’ve heard stories from friends about local college - no teacher for large part of course or no suitably qualified teacher. I wouldn’t criticise a student for having a tutor if they want some face to face teaching same as peers at other schools and colleges.

You get your child a tutor so they get 3A*

Most kids who have a tutor get nowhere near an A*. Getting a tutor isn’t buying a top grade, it’s extra support for a student who is struggling.

Some subjects may also need catch up as way gcse was examined 2022 was to cut swathes of syllabus (as they couldn’t teach full syllabus due to Covid) But all schools and exam boards cut different bits.
If it’s a subject like science that builds on past knowledge it must be hard work for A level teachers. I know DDs school still tried to cover none assessed work in sciences as lots do science in sixth form but not all kids in sixth form go to lower school. If you missed a whole topic but A level syllabus expected you to have covered it then again a few face to face lessons to bring you up to speed seems sensible.

My yr 12 had most of her gcse science lessons in a none science room as they were running a Covid bubble system confining each yr group to a block and she wasn’t ever in the science block. She’s not doing science A levels but I don’t think she did any practicals. I wouldn’t think less of any of her peers wanted a catch up with a tutor.

DS2 didn't even finished his GCSE triple science syllabus due to Covid, and went on to do two science A levels and try and play catch up.
This is why this year 13 as the last of the four COVID affected exam years should have allowances made when grading A levels next year. Maybe not as much as in previous years, but certainly as they've also never sat public exams before they're at more disadvantage which should be compensated for.

I am a tutor and A level tutoring is more popular than anything else. I occassionally get a Common Entrance student or GCSE but most of them want A level tutoring.

No - all teaching was done during the school day including homework club for revision time.

@Unicorn1919 do you know whether they get a tutor for each subject or just say Maths or MFL?

I don't see how tutoring 'inflates people's grades'. If you got more hours of a subject at school you'd do better in that subject, so tutoring is no different except that one to one teaching can be more intense.

I don't see how tutoring 'inflates people's grades'.

Then why on earth are people willing to pay for it?

my daughter had a tutor for A level biology. she got her from a grade D in the mock to a B (borderline A) in the actual exam. didn’t mean she struggled at uni. she got a first and is now half way through a doctorate. grades are just the currency you use to buy your way into the course. in most cases (although not all ) they bear little relation to the course of study at uni.

Sweet peas what I mean is that there's no reason a student should struggle in uni if they get a place because grades 'inflated' by tutoring. They have just learnt more, just the same as if they had more hours of the subject at school

to those saying that tutoring is self-defeating - are you mad?

how is that?

the tutors are generally helping to provide more time for questioning/reassuring pupils about their own knowledge - they don't write the assessments or sit the exams on the pupil's behalf!

DD1 had a chemistry tutor for a-level, as she lacked confidence in her ability, and was anxious about putting her hand up in class. with a tutor she was able to check her understanding much more easily, and found in most cases that her understanding was fine - it really built her confidence.

greater confidence in your subject knowledge at a-level will only be a benefit at university or later.

to suggest it's harmful is ludicrous.

Wow, I'm shocked at how much tutoring is going on!

I wonder how these students will fare at University when they attend a few lectures and perhaps some tutorials - they could struggle..?!

My ds has just started at Imperial College and the pace of teaching is much faster than at school with A levels! He's managing fine but I wonder how he'd fare if if hadn't managed his 4 A levels by himself (and the school obviously?!