How many hours of teaching time do kids get for one A level?

[Malinia]

My daughter cannot attend college due to a health condition and I'm trying to get the local authority to fund her doing an A level privately but I need to know how many hours of teaching time one A Level needs.

The tutor I'm talking to said 12 hours but that sounds too much given that most kids do 3-4 A levels and aren't at school/college for 36-48 hours a week.

We are specifically looking at art if that makes a difference. Can anyone tell me what their child's timetable looks like? Ideally for a private school but any school or college would be helpful.

I taught in FE until June 26 (at the time Ofsted outstanding - so good results). 4.5 hours per A level. However the Art department was always open to students to use in their non-contact time which would make a big difference.

We have 5.5 taught hours per subject each week. Of course, there is an expectation of guided preparation, independent consolidation or other homework in addition to the contact time.

Edited to correct!

12 hours a week is what your daughter should put in - 3 A-Levels take up full time study so 36 hours a week. In a normal school this would be usually 5 hours of lesson time (15hours of tutor contact time is normal at A-Level if doing 3 subjects) and 7 hours spent in solo study. For a child getting 1:1 tuition 2 hours a week of tutorials would be sufficient to cover the same material that takes 5 hours in a classroom context because the teacher won't be dividing their attention.

The really important thing when pursuing this is to make sure that the 1:1 tutor has actual qualified teacher status. We tried to do this and the first person we appointed didn't work out as they were just someone who had a degree in the subject and their tutorial experience was limited to being able to help someone who was being taught at school if they needed extra support to understand and process the lessons - they weren't actually capable of teaching from scratch.

At my daughter’s sixth form it was 5 taught hours a week per subject and they were expected to do another 5 hours of independent study for each subject.

I completed A level French last year on one 2.5 hour weekly class.

My 17yo is also unable to attend school/college and gets funding for 5 hours per A level per week (x3). It was an absolute nightmare getting the LA to agree to it, so best of luck!

Thank you yes she's currently a teacher at a local private college, but will have capacity for private students next year.

Well done!!

Yes all this.

12 hours tutoring is wild! I tutor (not art tho) and would be happy with two hours a week 1-1 (remember it is 1-1 which makes a big difference.

But I would expect at least five hours a week of extra study. I guess with art that would be more. And yes a teacher who knows the spec is key.

My daughter gets 4.5 (9 hrs per two weeks) taught hours per A level subject.

A different perspective. Most on EOTAS/EOTIS have between 4 and 7 hours of tuition per A level. Although I know some with more and a couple with fewer hours. Personally, I wouldn’t be accepting 2 hours and if it went to SENDIST, the judge is unlikely to look favourably on an LA who were trying to get away with only providing 2hrs per subject. Some will also have a TA/LSA/mentor for study support outside of tuition hours.

A level should have 4.5 hours a week, and students should be doing the same independent learning/reading/revision - so 9 hours per subject. 27 hours per week expected of them for 3 A levels.

If she's doing one A level then 5 hours tutor time would be sufficient.

Thanks for all the help, much appreciated. I did think 12 hours of teaching time sounded a lot.