Starting up as 11 plus tutor

[11plusprep1]

I am looking for advice . What would attract you if you have to go for tutor who is newly in this profession ? How much discount would you be expecting?
I want to start from somewhere but not sure how to advertise it. This will be my first year I have already planned all the lessons in advance. I will be focusing on exam techniques as well as getting foundations strong. Any ideas/tips would be appreciated

What I don't understand is how does anyone start tutoring if no one will go to them unless they have a proven track record?

Op - I am sure some people will be attracted to the discount if the alternative is not being able to afford any tutoring.

Makeitwork44 the point here is 11+ tutoring though. Which is very specific and time constrained. OP could maybe consider doing a little bit of general tutoring at primary level just aimed at people who want to improve. That way they can get experience and build skills.

You absolutely need good spelling for both verbal reasoning papers and English papers. There's literally sections wanting you to spot spelling errors, and for verbal reasoning recognising words within words/forming compound words etc.

You absolutely need to do more than just go over past papers!!!! You need to assess the Learner, work put weak areas, teach a lot of yr 6 maths and English that they won't have covered in school by the test (ratios, algebra etc). You need lots of practice questions for every type of question - not just the past papers.

I honestly think you are not in a position to do this. You also need to understand how children learn and how to best teach each individual child . Actual exam technique comes much later in the year.

If its tutoring you like the idea of - what area was your degree? Could you offer that as a tuition subject?

MakeItWork - but you wouldn't go a driving instructor that couldn't drive a car well would you? Be their first pupil so "they can learn"? Or similarly go to a self styled lawyer with no legal training....
Or someone who has called themselves a hairdresser and be their first client as they "have to learn." You'd still want them to be good at haircutting ...

I started tutoring as I was an experienced qualified teacher. My first tutored child was a sibling of a child I had taught at a previous school. I finally got to the point where I had enough pupils to undertake tutoring as my only source of income.

It's taken nearly 10 years.

This year, two children have requested to be taught for the 11+. I have made it clear I have no history of success in this area, but given my track record with SATS, they are giving me a chance. I have to say though, it's very different to SATS (and primary in general) and I'm not really enjoying it. I probably won't taken any more 11+ pupils in the future.

Really winds me up when people who aren't even qualified teachers think that they have everything they need to teach children.

Do these people also think they could be dentists/vets/hairdresser because they've watched enough times?!

I also have to query the discount. Christ, how much are people paying for 11+ tutoring, because 70% discount for me would leave me doing it for £9 an hour!

I am sure there is trainee word in the English dictionary. No one is born with skills , people acquire skills. Some of us have to work hard to achieve those skills and some are naturally talented. I am passionate about this and is willing to put hard work to make this work. I came to UK with nothing. I have succeeded so far with everything I have hoped for. I would not back off as some posters think I should.I believe in myself. If I have to learn more , I will learn.

I applaud your ambition, but I would not risk hiring you as a tutor for my child for the 11+ and don’t think I am alone! Your English skills are just not up to THIS job and your ‘tutoring’ could actually be detrimental to children.

You can still work though! You could tutor in your degree subject by all means-what was that? Or join a tutoring agency if that’s what you want to do-you would hopefully be supervised there. Please don’t ask parents to pay to gamble with the one chance their children have to pass the 11+.

I have degree in Science, which is approved in UK formally @howshouldibehave.
I am glad you can afford quality tutor. But I will help those people who can't afford. I have not asked you to sign up for me. I have asked for feedback, which you have provided it. I am thankful for that. Honestly, I don't have time to reply to your every message. Your messages are repetitive.You sound very negative.

@11plusprep1 honestly if this is your ambition why don't you do a PGCE and train properly as a teacher. A few years of upper primary teaching and you will be in a much better place to teach.

You can't currently offer this as it is so unfair to the children you practice on.

Another avenue if you want to teach is to volunteer with adult ed Maths/English - they are always keen for volunteers. A year in you could do a post 16 teaching qualification and help adults to get to a similar level as 11+.

Actual 11+ tuition is intense and requires a lot of skills you don't currently have but the above avenues are ideas if you are keen to go in this direction.

Offering science tuition to those struggling with secondary science could be a different avenue then?

The "negativity" isn't just to be mean. It is clear you are trying to enter a field you aren't fully equipped to enter so it's helpful to know now rather than later!

What is your first language? Would conversation classes in that language be an option? You could volunteer in schools if they teach it first to build up experience but conversation classes by someone who natively speaks it are highly valued. And lower stakes than 11+.

I’m not being negative, I’m being realistic. Please don’t do this; it would be totally unprofessional of you to tutor children in English when your own capability and skills are not anywhere near the level they would need to be.

The people I know who have set themselves up as tutors are experienced primary school teachers. One has a degree in maths, the other has a degree in English and both have masters in education. They had built up a really good reputation with children and parents at the outstanding primary school they taught at for 10 years so when they decided to set up a business, they had a proven track record of engaging with kids and a ready source of clients.

They are very successful.

If you want to teach, train to become a teacher. It's a bit insulting to all the teachers who have worked so hard in their careers to think you can match their skills and experience with no formal training at all.

I think this is one of the many a huge problem, it sounds as though you are prepared to take money off people who probably can’t afford to lose it by offering a very inferior service. With your poor level of written English would you be able to develop a child’s written language skills? If you can’t spot the errors in your own writing you are not going to be able to see them in someone else’s work. You could well end up disadvantaging a bright child whose actual written English is far better than yours by not helping them to progress, or even worse confusing them, especially if they have non native English speaking parents whose own grasp of English is sketchy and who could not spot your errors.

By all means offer yourself as a practice tutor for non verbal tests, but for any tests involving written language ( and I am including maths here as written problems need a good grasp of written language) please steer clear of tutoring.

I venture to guess that your child’s success is probably due more to their innate ability and good teaching at their school than to your well meaning interventions.

As others have suggested, try signing on at a reputable tutoring agency who would be able to monitor your lessons , give appropriate feedback as to your suitability, and most importantly ensure that parents and children are getting a fair deal.

I don't think so I am that bad as you guys are making me. If I can help my daughter achieve a higher score , I would not mess anyone's future by providing my services.
I have taken my daughter to highly reputable tutor last year, She could not tell what is oxymoron in English ? She had to look it up.This is common right , everyone knows this word ,who teaches English. She has a waiting list. She has no clue how to do cube folding questions. From that day, I decided to help my daughter.

Your written English is far better than I'd manage in another language so credit to you.

But I agree with the majority, it's not good enough to tutor for an English paper. Perhaps maths or science.

Someone sent me private message from this thread. I am unable to access it for some reason.

You really aren't at a fluent level of English and that really is necessary for teaching 11+ English and verbal reasoning. It is far better than I could speak in another language! So it's not bad, just would be a bit like me trying to teach French when my French isn't at the standard needed.

You really do need a different plan.

You also can't have "planned all rhe lessons." Do you mean all 38 for the year? That isn't how teaching works.

Yes I meant to say curriculum and homework. I have worked really hard to create my own papers using different exam formats so that child is familiar with format in advance.

I am a native English speaker. This is how I would have written most of your post.

I don’t think that I am as bad as you guys are making out. I helped my daughter to achieve a high score in her tests so I don’t think I would damage anyone’s future if they used my services.

Last year I took my daughter to a reputable tutor . The tutor did not know the word oxymoron and had to look it up. I think every English teacher should know such a common term - especially one with a waiting list! That was the day I decided I could help my daughter myself.

It depends on your qualifications and experience from elsewhere. For a qualified teacher with a proven understanding of 11+, a discount shouldn't be necessary and might make people wonder why you are not asking market rate.

I would not trade my DS 11+ chances for 50% discount.

No. But you might well chance it if you couldn't afford it at all at 100%, and you wanted to give your child the best chance of a good secondary school in a competitive system where tutoring makes a difference while those involved try peddle the lie that tutoring is neither necessary nor at all beneficial and the 11+ tests simply measuring innate ability. Not everyone can buy their way into it at 'full price'. Or at all.

If you can’t spot the errors in your own writing you are not going to be able to see them in someone else’s work. You could well end up disadvantaging a bright child whose actual written English is far better than yours by not helping them to progress, or even worse confusing them

Exactly. Parents could quite easily end up paying you money only to have you confuse
their child and make them worse at composition that they were before they met you! 11+ tutoring-where literacy skills are involved-is not the job for you.

I have received your feedback.Thank you all. Have a wonderful weekend!

In a professional capacity I would never employ a tutor who wasn't a qualified teacher

I am a qualified teacher and work at a grammar school. I have a first in mathematics and have tutored my own children who have successfully achieved grammar places. People have asked me to tutor their children.
However, despite reading up absolutely everything I could about the single school my own children were applying for, they still came out of the test and told me there were sections with question types that we had not prepared for (we had bought three packs of three papers for each paper type, as recommended by the school).
My children were definitely at a big disadvantage to those who had “real” tutors. I’ll be honest, it made me a bit cross that you needed to pay to get the secret intel on what the exams really contained, and that the schools didn’t just release that information to everyone up front.
I’m sure if you spent a year working for a tutoring company, you would then have all that inside info.