To pay for a maths Tutor for GCSE's?

[PullingOutHair123]

Ok, so I admit posting here for traffic.

But how the hell do you find a good tutor? The internet is full of companies offering tutoring, or sites full of degree students looking to top up their incomes (fair play to them).

But how on earth do you find a decent tutor, at a reasonable price - whatever that is. Some are nearly £100 per hour - some charge less, but then you find out the lessons are only 30 mins so by the minute they are even more expensive.

How do you KNOW that this person a) knows anything about maths and b) understands the curriculum that your child's school is running? And does distance tutoring really work, or is face to face better?

AIBU - or is this a massive unknown, and potentially very expensive decision?

We went with someone a friend recommended. Not the most expensive but at the higher end.
A-level students advertisinig at very low cost but they have no experience in actually teaching so we avoid that route.
Most tutors will let you have a couple of trial sessions before committing to booking for a term.

I wouldn't get a teenager doing a degree! As you say, no one should blame them for showing initiative, and it's very hard for them to get jobs these days. And they might be brilliant at maths! But that doesn't make them a teacher. If I gave birth in 5 seconds without a whimper, that doesn't mean I'm a good midwife. If I'm the fittest and fastest in my gym class, it doesn't mean I'd be a good instructor.
So I'd want to make sure I got a fully qualified person, and someone who had ideally been teaching long enough to know all about the exam boards etc, not a newly qualified one, and I's want to check how many years they'd worked at schools/taught exam groups.

Can't help with Maths, but my daughter's English GCSE tutor was a Durham student who taught online on one of those platforms. Absolute star! She only charged £24-28 per hour (her rates went up) but she was fantastic. My daughter improved from 4/4 to 9/8 in Eng Lang/Lit. She was very familiar with the exam board and mark scheme though as she went through it herself and got 9s/A*s

Thank you for all the comments and recommendations.

I’ve applied to a few more tonight (one local one looked really promising, but full). And will look at the companies recommended in the morning.

Think will avoid teens looking to try and get some income. As @seahorsessky has layed out, while fabulous in their intent, I need someone who is experienced, can spot the gaps and get her up to speed.

so much harder than I thought….

I think it's a mistake discounting student-tutors, especially if they have recently successfully sat the same exam board exams and are very familiar with the mark scheme.

I asked on Facebook, then searched her online, asked what school they worked in and role, searched their ofsted and GCSE results for that school. She was great, however he still only went up one level. But he is dyslexia and maybe adhd.

Maybe, but some people msy be naturally good at teaching, and brilliant A level students are very much in the thickets and have study skills ingrained. Dd is a brilliant teacher and mathematician, so hopefully OP can find an equivalent at her locsl sixth form.

I got recommendations off friends/local Facebook groups. The best people do get booked up. We did both face to face and online for different subjects/DC and it all worked well, all either current or former teachers. My DD later tutored her degree subject at A level online for a few years when she was at uni. Same board/syllabus that she had done. She had great results from her tutees, and parents were very grateful. I wouldn't necessarily discount that route especially if you're looking for a cost effective solution.

How do you KNOW that this person a) knows anything about maths and b) understands the curriculum that your child's school is running? And does distance tutoring really work, or is face to face better?

I am a qualified maths teacher, and have tutored maths one-to-one for 27 years.

To answer your questions:
a) They should have a maths degree or a related subject, e.g., computer science, physics, economics.
b) They should have qualified teacher status (QTS), and experience of the required syllabus (typically Pearson/Edexcel or AQA, but there are others).
c) imo face-to-face is better than online because maths often involves graphs, charts and diagrams, which are easier to show and discuss in person.

The truth is, good maths tutors are very difficult to find. ALL my work in the last 27 years has been via word-of-mouth - usually friends and siblings of previous students. I have had 2 or 3 A-level students who've gone on to tutor GCSE students, and this can work, but only if the student is at least average ability, with no SEN.

I live/work in SW London/ North Surrey, and charge £40 per hour, with lessons at my home. Tbh, this is probably a little low - £50 ph is probably fair in this area unless there are SEN, or if travel is involved.

I do understand your difficulties. Agencies can be hit-and-miss, personal recommendations are the way to go if possible. Be prepared to pay a premium if you have limited availability or if you need the tutor to travel to you.

These prices are wild! I paid £36 for 80minute lessons and ds had two lessons per week.
I spent just under 1k in total and it was worth every penny.
Ds missed a huge amount of school due to ill health and I didn’t want to put him through resits. He’s very capable but had just missed far too much content. He passed.

I've used a local agency to find a qualified teacher and also gambled on one who was new to the area and was advertising on FB. I have recommended her to about a dozen people since. I don't dispute some youngsters may be brilliant but teachers have learned how to teach and I think that adds a lot of value, and potentially speed. Especially in maths where someone who has taught the material to a class to GCSE should be easily in command of different possible approaches, and able to adapt if the first way doesn't click for the student. .

When I was at school (many years ago!), a couple of the Maths teachers did extra tutoring. I had a dreadful teacher for Higher, and so managed to get the teacher I had for O Grade, to do an extra tutoring session. Might be worth checking with any teachers you think would be a good shout, at the school?

For dd1 we had a uni maths student initially for year 10. She was helpful but when GCSEs loomed dd herself asked for a “proper teacher”. So we found the scary retired head of maths lady. She was brilliant next level to the student.

Both ours like us are very skewed one way and find English humanities and languages easy but struggle with maths. So for us maths gcse was high stakes so the right tutor was key.

We're paying £38 for face to face GCSE Maths to help close the gap between ds's predicted grade 4 and his MTG of 7. He's a local former teacher who has a fully equipped classroom in his garden. Word of mouth and recommendations. Ds has been going to him since the start of Y11, and we're considering using him for science too (4 predicted, MTG 6). He's currently edging towards a more solid 5, so moving in the right direction already. Just wish we weren't having to close so many gaps in learning (ds has adhd which the school have known about now for 2 years, with zero intervention).

I had the same problem. Year 11. My daughter’s problem was due to poor behaviour in class, teachers having time off and one who just left in the middle of the week to go and work in IT. I couldn’t find a tutor and I wasn’t really sure what she needed or had missed.
I signed up to My EdSpace. This is 2 x 1 hour online streamed lessons twice a week. It is not one to one so not for everyone and might not be right for you. I see it as a back up lessons for any future problems with teachers this year. Children ask questions in the chat that are answered by moderators if the teacher does not due to having to keep the lesson flowing to cover everything in the hour. What I like is that you can pause the lesson if going too fast or go back and watch previous lessons as they are available for the year. There is a workbook for every lesson and homework questions with a video explanation if you get the answer wrong. My daughter likes it and feels more confident.
It costs approximately £500 per year and you can pay it in 3 monthly instalments. But it’s paid up front. You can pay extra to access a personal tutor who answers any questions but I did not get this option

I'm not sure why some posters are advocating free trials. I am a former teacher, now a tutor. I don't do free trials and I never have. I don't ask for commitment they can cancel with notice at any time. But my time is not free whether it's a trial or an existing client. I'm fully booked with a waiting list and have been for a long time. I wouldn't expect anyone else to work for nothing.

OP you know your own child. Some students need guidance rather than teaching. If they need the confidence boost of talking through the questions and methods one to one then a uni student maybe OK. If they need to move up several grades then you'd be more likely to be successful with a qualified teacher.

Word of mouth is always the best way.

I used a site on Facebook where undergrad students offer tutoring. My daughter was predicted a 2 and passed with a 4 thanks to the young lady who never failed to turn up and support her. She was incredible

Agree cosy. Also the “see a solicitor for the first free half hour”. If you want a skilled professional you need to pay for that. Plus you can’t sort everything out in one meeting it’s an ongoing process.

Finding a good maths tutor is genuinely harder than it should be. Three checks that actually filter well: (1) insist on a trial lesson first — you're testing whether they can explain YOUR child's weak topics, not whether they have a degree; (2) ask how they'd diagnose the gaps before lesson one — anyone who says "we'll just start from the beginning" is wasting your money; (3) make sure they teach the right exam board's method (AQA vs Edexcel genuinely matters at GCSE maths). On price: you don't need £100/hr — experienced online specialists typically run £30–50/hr. The Superprof silence is common for in-person tutors; online tutors reply faster because geography stops mattering.

I'm with BrightPath International Tutors — our maths specialist works exactly this way (diagnostic first, then a targeted plan). Happy to answer questions about what to look for either way.

I used Tutor Hunt. Each person is vetted and has to prove their qualifications. Each tutor writes a blurb about themselves. Many are Maths teachers in schools with experience of certain specifications. They also have an evaluation from previous tutees. I found a brilliant retired ex Head of Maths when youngest D's needed one. He took him in Year 8 all the way through to end of A level. He doesn't tutor anymore but continued with ds even after he stopped taking in new tutees.

Vetted in what way?
I used to be on there I don't remember being vetted but it was a long time ago now. I can't remember proving my qualifications either but I could be wrong
Edit I've just looked at the website and they do ask for enhanced DBS. Can't see where they ask for proof of qualifications though. As a self employed person you can't apply for enhanced DBS unless this has changed you had to do it from one of those umbrella companies. I've been tutoring for more than 15 years since leaving teaching and I've never once been asked for a DBS from a parent for a one to one lesson

We use Kip McGrath. I arsed about on various sites messaging independent tutors in the area for a while but they never messaged back so I just went with a reputable company. We pay £80 PW for both maths and English language.

Lots of tutors don't use the tutor sites as they take a cut of the fee, though, so if you can find them independently, you might get better value overall.

I've occasionally been asked for DBS check, but not as often as I thought I'd be, but I do have one as I'm part of a professional association for specific learning difficulties teachers, which acts as the umbrella organisation. I'm not a qualified classroom teacher either, but perhaps even more experienced in changing my approach for different students, and working one-to-one, so don't necessarily rule someone out for not having worked in a school, either.

I offer a meeting with parents/pupil to chat things through first, but it's not a full trial lesson. If they want to stay for a lesson, then that is the first lesson's cost. I don't make them commit until they've had a couple of lessons, though, after which there is a half term notice period.

Yes weazelling around trying to get skilled professionals to provide their services for “free” is quite unedifying.

They ask tutors to send in proof of qualifications.