Private tutoring companies: any suggestions?

[franmum]

Hello
I was wondering whether anyone can recommend a well respected private tuition company in London. I have had 2 tutors recommended to me through friends over the past year for 11+ and GCSE tuition, and while DD and DS enjoy the lessons, I don't feel there is enough structure to the lessons. I am not convinced that the tutor is always prepared if I am to be perfectly honest.

i want to find someone who really knows about their subject and who is really good....do people use personal recommendations or is there a private tuition company that anyone has used before?

Thank you all, Fran x

Yes. I highly recommend Osborne Cawkwell. I work through them as a tutor as well as have friends that use them for tutors for their own children. They are professional, have a really high quality of tutor and are generally very nice people! If I needed tutors for my own children I would use them without a doubt.

"student tutors" helped my DD in her Maths GCSE. The tutor from there was very good; DD enjoyed her lessons and there was improvement in her work for sure.

Good luck!

I never thought I would go near a franchise such as Kip Mc Grath but after trying a couple of others and going off personal recommendations we have our local one a try and I've been really impressed.
We had a free assessment and the tutor picked up straight away the areas DD needed help with and after only 3 weeks we have seen real improvement.

Yes I would strongly recommend My Tutor Club; they were v professional and attentive throughout and their customer service was excellent. Both tutors that we had worked v well with DS and their 11+ revision course was money well spent too. At the end of the day though, the chemistry between the tutor and DD/DS has to be there.
Hope you find someone

Thank you all for these...if i am to be honest I am still in two minds about this whole tutoring thing. there is always this niggling feeling at the back of my mind that it is too much for DS and DD. Is it just me or do other feel the same here? DH says that 1 hour a week is fine which I suppose he has a point..maybe im just being a mum

Depends what for . DD is very academic but s having 1 hour a week to help her prepare for 11+. We are doing it because we feel it's the best way to prepare her for the exam as school doesn't.
She has an activity 2 other nights a week, one of which is ending in December and she seems fine with it all. She does a bit of homework from the tutor as well but doesn't find it too stressful.
If she started to suffer we would have a rethink.

We used a private tutor once a week so as not to add too much to DD's workload/put too much pressure on, we were also trying an agency referred to us by a teacher at the school DD is applying for (family friend) but never heard of - Aspire Academics local to us. So far, very good and would recommend to you. Slightly concerned with how much tutoring her peers are receiving in relation, so we are also thinking of reserving her a place on their winter revision course.

Franmum I completely agree. It's been difficult because DD is very academic and yet some of the kids in her class know material years ahead because of their private tutors. Ugh. There are a lot of tutoring agencies out there, but from what I gather there are only a few that have met all of their tutors (scary...) and monitor the quality of the teaching. It just seems like an unnecessary rat race. Anyway, we did use a private tutor for the 11+/GCSE, and she was really excellent tbh. I think the agency did a good job of trying to match DD's personality and monitoring the progress, but I can't speak for other tutor/child matches. PM me if you have any qs.

IsabellaDWJ: I think it all comes back down to supply and demand. there just aren't enough school places for the increasing number of students applying for independents / grammars etc which makes these entrance exams even more competitive...the unfortunate result is that exams are pressured on kids at an even younger age...i only worked seriously for my A-Levels!

I have to say though that having read DD's half term report over the weekend (she is doing 11+ in January), the school report was just so thin on the ground...so vague...it could have been written for any child....which has convinced me that to get detailed and honest feedback and to have an idea of where DD/DS are in relation to other kids, a tutor is a good alternative (provided they are qualified and experienced etc).

Thank you all for the above suggestions.

Shepsheep: I contacted My Tutor Club and registered DD for a half term course they are doing. Thank you also to Wiiftiimama, I called Osborne Cawkwell as well they said they'll get back to me this week

Franmum: Best of luck! And how frustrating about the lack of school input. I used Wentworth Tutors as they were recommended by a couple of friends for being particularly good at the maths.

Shepsheep: your recommendation has worked wonders! Thank you!! thank you!!
The 11+ course I signed DD up for this past weekend was fantastic; well organised, rich content and the feedback report was excellent. And they have sent us a lovely tutor who clicks perfectly with DD

phew...a sigh of relief! Fran x

I have met, been interviewed and was thoroughly impressed by a sole tutor from Compton Tutors working out of Camden's Pancras Library.

I have read most of the comments and recommendations from parents of tuition services and have really picked up some great tips. I incidentally used them to cross-interview the tutor I had been recommended. This tutor however seemed to really key into the way my child thinks and therefore learns best. He asked loads of questions to tease information out and build on latent knowledge, he knew when to shut up as well! Whilst it was small group work (4 in a group) the work set was contrived not just to tease out whatever but more focus was put on confidence building exercises, Debates, Readings, Recitations, Map Reading, General Knowledge and Topical Discussion. These are the are the skills in my opinion are the building blocks BEFORE the trad' learning.

He assesses children in these group and then recommends or not one-to ones

I think I have found my tutor!!!

Hi, I was in the same problem searching for private tutors for my two sons. The school had suggested private tutors for their maths and english. To be honest I looked around quite a bit but a close friend recommended Education Complete They turned out to be really good. They cover London area. It was a big help for my two sons, there schools were also impressed too.

I used Examberry for my twins 11+ preparation. They take your child through each step with a starter course in Year 4, a thorough class on Maths, English, Verbal reasoning and Non Verbal reasoning in Year 5 through to a preparation lesson for the exams in Year 6. They run small classes of no more than 8 and my girls have really enjoyed the sessions. They said the group is small enough to get proper help from the tutor but big enough to make friends and have fun. Check them out www.examberry.com

I have come across Enjoy Education and My Tutor Club. I have used both and they are very good indeed; My Tutor Club were very responsive, supportive and just generally extremely on top of everything. i also registered DS for one of their 11+ courses in December which he absolutely loved! I couldn't believe it he wanted to go again!! Enjoy Education are also very thorough and professional too i must say and my experience with them has always been excellent too

I'm a private tutor and in my area (far far North UK!) people find it harder to locate good tutors just because we're not in a major city and so on. I've had a few people find me through Tutor Hunt. I've used other sites but this is the one which has been the best for both parents/students and myself as a tutor. The student pays an introduction fee and then they can purchase your details. This means you don't continue to pay a fee to an agency on top of your tuition fee.
I just want to add though, I now find most new students via Facebook. It's like a modern version of word of mouth as people can be told about you or see your page and then have the opportunity for a 'chat' through messaging, which they seem to find less scary than phoning me up! This also helps me to find out who is serious before I've invested too much time, if that makes sense?

hmm @peekyboo i'm not sure about contacting tutors on facebook at least from a parent's perspective....it is difficult to check the tutor's credentials and backgrounds I would have thought. You need to know who they say they are..

I agree it can be really restrictive trying to find a good tutor local to your area, but if your DS or DD are happy with online tutoring these guys www.transmission-education.com/ use Cambridge-educated tutors and work through their online 'classroom' which has a whiteboard and video chat. The joys of 21st century technology! :)