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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to think that my sons tutor is ripping us off?

51 replies

Supermummy88 · 08/12/2024 18:28

Good evening all,

My son is 9 years old and in year 5 and has had a tutor since he was in year 4. He was struggling with Maths and English and therefore a friend recommended a tutor that comes to the house. My son started off by doing an hour a week and then the tutor said that it would be beneficial for him to do 2 hours a week because he needs a full hour of English and a full hour of Maths. He’s been charging £60 a week for this. He comes after school and usually I’m at work and my mum is at home with the children after picking them up from school. My mum has mentioned quite a few times that the tutor is leaving after 40 minutes. My son also had an English test at school and did very poorly. It seems like he’s made no progress at all. The tutor has never set homework and keeps saying that it’s the parent’s responsibility for their children to do well and that he can only do so much. However, my son said that he’s been giving him tests twice a week and not actually teaching topics. We are paying a lot for this tutor and have come to the realisation that the tuition has not worked at all.

Does anyone have a private tutor for their child? Has it been working? Do they give homework sheets for your child to do through the week?

I would appreciate some advice.

Thank you x

OP posts:
AppleKatie · 08/12/2024 18:31

He does not need a tutor.

you are paying £60 a week to this random who comes to your house and leaves after 40 mins?

why?

LimeYellow · 08/12/2024 18:33

I would not be impressed at all by him leaving after 40 mins when you're paying him for an hour.

Miloarmadillo2 · 08/12/2024 18:36

If he leaves after 40 mins you only pay him £20. He’s massively taking the piss.

Have you tried just speaking to school about what your son is struggling with and helping him yourself - there are lots of workbooks available to practise skills.

Womblewife · 08/12/2024 18:38

End the service it’s not working for you and they are not doing the full hours paid for. There are ours of tutors that are excellent. This one is not. Jog them on and find another.

Caselgarcia · 08/12/2024 18:39

Ask the tutor for evidence of your son's progress? Is your son improving?

Original poster
Supermummy88 · 08/12/2024 18:52

Caselgarcia · 08/12/2024 18:39

Ask the tutor for evidence of your son's progress? Is your son improving?

Edited

He’s saying that there’s no progress because we aren’t doing enough with him at home. The thing is he doesn’t give any follow up worksheets on the topic that he’s son with my son so the he remembers what they learnt the previous lesson.

OP posts:
HPandthelastwish · 08/12/2024 18:55

You don't need a tutor, you need some CGP workbooks and BBC bitesize in small stints and to read to and be read to by your child regularly. Certainly not £3k+ of tuition a year.

Bluevelvetsofa · 08/12/2024 18:58

What has been said at parents evenings at school. Your child’s teacher will know where the gaps are and can suggest what you can do to help at home. No point in paying for a service you aren’t getting.

Octavia64 · 08/12/2024 18:58

It is unusual for a tutor to set homework.

There are situations where they might - eg tutoring for 11+ but in general it's not expected.

The hourly rate is fairly normal.

What was the English test on? If it was on a specific book or spellings that the tutor is not covering then it's unreasonable to expect your child to improve.

The only doing 40 mins is not ok.

Ohthatsabitshit · 08/12/2024 19:01

Stop the tutor because it’s not working for you on any level.

Bushmillsbabe · 08/12/2024 19:04

Does your child's school not do booster sessions? My daughter dropped behind in maths after being off for a few weeks for an op, and she was asked to go in 40 mins early 3 days a week for a term for small group booster sessions, which hugely boosted her knowledge and test scores. They run the sessions through the school year and any child who is felt to not be reaching full potential is offered booster sessions

Summerbreeze456 · 08/12/2024 19:05

Does the tutor know what to work on?
When I used to tutor (secondary Maths), I checked with the child's teacher what they needed to do. I got £25 an hour but it was for a friend and I work at the child's school, albeit in the primary section.

I'm working with DS at home but I'm a shite tutor in his case. He'd be better with someone else. Parents aren't always the best teachers (even those, who are actually teachers). It's not Maths he needs help with, though. It's writing and German and I find those way harder to help with, particularly since DS is terribly stubborn.

CurlewKate · 08/12/2024 19:17

Presumably he has no qualifications at that price...

oviraptor21 · 08/12/2024 19:21

You need a refund for all the sessions where he only stayed 40 minutes but charged 2 hours.
Ask him to set homework within the lesson. To be checked at the following lesson.
Alternatively ditch him.and get someone better.

DaveWatts · 08/12/2024 19:26

It doesn't sound great. When I was tutoring I always did a couple of baseline tests/tasks at the start to be repeated later on in order to show progress, as well as chatting to the parent and pupil about their goals and expectations and timelines for achieving them. Then I'd email weekly to update on topics covered and progress made, and if homework was requested I'd set that too. And only doing 40 minutes instead of an hour is just taking the piss.

Wrt the hourly rate it depends where you are, that would be very cheap for London.

Naddd · 08/12/2024 19:28

Why haven't you said anything to him about him leaving early?
And he is talking nonsense if your child is making no progress and it's down to you not doing work with him then what is the point of the tutor?
Has he said what extra work needs to be done?

Original poster
Supermummy88 · 08/12/2024 19:40

CurlewKate · 08/12/2024 19:17

Presumably he has no qualifications at that price...

He’s a qualified primary school teacher. Over the last 6 months he has been doing the bare minimum with my son. Just keeps doing assessments, which means he is just sitting there whilst my son does the assessment.

OP posts:
femfemlicious · 08/12/2024 19:49

Supermummy88 · 08/12/2024 19:40

He’s a qualified primary school teacher. Over the last 6 months he has been doing the bare minimum with my son. Just keeps doing assessments, which means he is just sitting there whilst my son does the assessment.

Show quote history

Wow that's terrible. I got my daughter a tutor online and they did a great job

Maray1967 · 08/12/2024 19:56

Both of mine had tutors. DS1 had English from Y6 to GCSE and a few months of A level Physics. DS2 has maths- £40 a hour but he does it fortnightly. Both made/are making good progress - all tutors were explaining and reinforcing concepts/ not just setting assessments. Neither had homework set by the tutor. You’re being ripped off.

Cosyblankets · 08/12/2024 19:59

As a tutor i would never do an assessment in a session. Ask him to leave you the assessment or direct you to the right place to find one online. Get your son to do it on his own and then he can go over it in the session with him and he can show your son how to improve.

Mugcake · 08/12/2024 20:21

It's not on that the tutor is leaving early. However it's unusual for a tutor to set homework, you'd then expect them to go over it and mark it etc. This is extra work for them. They should be prepping proper lessons though based on what your DC is learning at school, assuming you're providing this information to them. Ultimately there are good and bad tutors so if it's not working for you, you could try a different one or stop tuition all together

is30tooyoungformidlifecrisis · 08/12/2024 20:34

I'm a qualified primary teacher and I've done private tutoring with this age before. £30 per hour is a standard price, but the work is not. You could try another tutor, they should be better than this.

ShodAndShadySenators · 08/12/2024 20:35

My son's tutor set homework, she had no problems marking his work and preparing for the next lesson in her own time. She wasn't cheap but she was very good at adjusting for each pupil's individual characteristics and getting the best out of the pupil.

I don't think I'd continue with this tutor if I were you, they're taking the piss about the timekeeping, not actively teaching during the session plus your child isn't making measurable progress. There are far better tutors out there, get shot of this one and find someone who reviews well.

PinkyBlueMe · 08/12/2024 20:41

Haven't you asked why he leaves after 40 minutes? That seems outrageous when you're paying for 2 hours.

cansu · 08/12/2024 20:48
  1. He should be staying for one hour.
  2. He should be working with your son not simply giving him practise tests to do.

You need a new tutor or maybe you don't need one at all. If you do think he needs one, you should ask his school teacher for some idea of what areas he or she thinks he needs to work on. E.g in English - sentence construction, punctuation, retrieval, inference questions etc