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MyTutor GCSE and A Level tutoring review thread: see what our MN testers think NOW CLOSED

51 replies

AnnMumsnet · 25/04/2017 12:03

We recently asked members of the MN panel to try the MyTutor online tutoring service - all testers had a child aged 13-18 who were preparing for GCSE or A Level exams - they were given credits for two free lessons.

Here’s what MyTutor have to say: "Our exceptional tutors deliver engaging, one-to-one lessons online, so you can support your child from the comfort of your own home. Join thousands of parents helping their children reach better tutors, improve their classroom confidence and get the grades they deserve".

More info here: www.mytutor.co.uk

Testers - please share the below

Age of child and stage of GCSE/ A Level courses
Which subject / area your child used MyTutor for
How did you find the process of choosing your tutor?
How was the tutor themselves?
What did your child say about the process and the tutoring?
Had you/ your child used any kind of tutor before and if so, how does this compare to previous experience?
Would you recommend MyTutor to other parents?
Would you use MyTutor again?
Any other comments?

All those selected who give the required feedback and review will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £100 John Lewis voucher.

thanks and good luck
MNHQ

MyTutor GCSE and A Level tutoring review thread: see what our MN testers think NOW CLOSED
OP posts:
Belo · 10/05/2017 14:06

We have been only able to managed to meet 1 tutor. The first tutor we hoped to meet got the date wrong, The 2nd tutor had an internet outage at the time of the meeting. Luckily, we really liked the 3rd so we've got a session with her tomorrow.

One problem though , we booked a session and it was paid for (debited from the £50 account balance). The tutor requested a time change which we accepted and another class was charged for. That's quite annoying. I'm really busy at work at the moment so that's just another stress of things I need to sort out...

Belo · 10/05/2017 14:25

Just to report back, I emailed my tutor about being charged twice and they got back to me within 15 minutes and refunded the over payment. I'm impressed with their responsiveness.

CormorantDevouringTime · 10/05/2017 20:04

Just a quick feedback - not a formal tester but using the free one lesson sample credit that we were given as a failed applicant for the test.

DD (year 10) is having a rough time at school at the moment so we picked a topic that she's really struggling with and she picked a tutor without even doing the 15 minute sample chat.

IT worked smoothly. From what I was overhearing the undergraduate seemed quite unpolished, and was thinking on her feet with ums and errs, but DD reacted brilliantly to this very natural approach and stayed more focussed and engaged than I hoped was possible - she was bouncing off the walls at the end of the session, delighted with how well it had gone and how much she felt she'd learned.

I take the points above about bright undergraduates not necessarily being qualified to teach exam technique and specific syllabuses (syllabi?) and that's not what I would use this for. When and if we use it again, it will be again for specific underlying topics that DD is having trouble with. Syllabuses come and syllabuses go, but the ablative will always be the ablative and GCSE-level chemistry equations are not a moving target.

towelpintpeanuts · 11/05/2017 12:37

Just to say: I have chased one of the two tutors we had decided we liked a few times now and she's not got back to me. I also emailed Mytutor to ask if we could have an extension (as I know you ideally wanted to have reviews in my mid May) and haven't heard back from them as yet: if you can give them a nudge that would be great. I've sent some emails to meet a couple of other tutors over the weekend, so hopefully we will hear back and can then make a decision and get a tutorial in next week/following week. The tutor we met last weekend did seem very sweet and the 15 mins session is a really good idea.

whirlywhale · 11/05/2017 15:15

Have only just started the trial, so will post again when dd's completed a tutoring session.

Age of child and stage of GCSE/ A Level courses
DD age 15 GCSE year 10

Which subject / area your child used MyTutor for
Haven't applied yet but science either chemistry or biology

How did you find the process of choosing your tutor?
Great, there are so many to choose from, but each has a lot of info so you can make an informed decision. I like how you can choose male or female also.

How was the tutor themselves?
will feedback when we've chosen.

What did your child say about the process and the tutoring?
They're a bit reluctant as hates having to talk to strangers but I think they're looking forward to having the extra help as feel a bit let down by the teachers in school.

Had you/ your child used any kind of tutor before and if so, how does this compare to previous experience?
Never used a tutor before, have friends who have but not online. Prices are comparable and there is the ease of being able to set sessions up when you want them. (don't have to tidy the house either lol)

Would you recommend MyTutor to other parents?
Yes, so far the set up process and info are spot on, have recommended to my sister as my niece is doing her GCSE's now.

Would you use MyTutor again?
If my daughter gets a lot out of the sessions then yes I will. Have thought about it for next year and this is the ideal opportunity to trial it before she sits her GCSE's.

Any other comments?
Think that schools should promote them as is a good alternative to looking in the post office for details of a local tutor. Here you have the opportunity to have a tutor for multi subjects at a time which you wouldn't necessarily have with a local tutor.

Belo · 11/05/2017 18:59

Age of child and stage of GCSE/ A Level courses
Age 14 - Year 9. Preparing for end of year exams which will determine which GCSE set she goes into

Which subject / area your child used MyTutor for
Maths

How did you find the process of choosing your tutor?
I found this aspect quite frustrating. One night the website kept crashing, on another, I had created a short list but then couldn't find it. Some tutors didn't respond. Or did only to say they were not available. When we arranged some of the introductory meetings one got the date wrong and one didn't turn up due to her internet being down!

How was the tutor themselves?
The tutor we finally got to meet seems lovely. I chatted to her and so did my daughter. We both liked and the way she explained things.

What did your child say about the process and the tutoring?
She likes it and is already thinking of other subjects she needs help with! She's had some teething difficulties with using the site but is getting more confident.

Had you/ your child used any kind of tutor before and if so, how does this compare to previous experience?
We've never used another online tutor before. We've had the traditional type. My daughter prefers those. But, this is so much cheaper, and more convenient and has so much choice!

Would you recommend MyTutor to other parents?
Yes - good value and good choice of tutors and subjects.

Would you use MyTutor again?
Yes, we would. We're already thinking about other subjects.

Any other comments?
I find messages hard to read on my phone. I cannot seem to log onto the account on the phone so I can't see what the tutor has said to me. I need to go onto a computer to see a message. That's fine when I'm at work but a hassle at the weekend. A phone app would be really helpful.

CheeryCherry · 12/05/2017 09:33

Age of child and stage of GCSE/ A Level courses? - My daughter is 18 and has her final A level exams in June.

Which subject / area your child used MyTutor for? - She chose to revise her Philosophy A level with MyTutor.

How did you find the process of choosing your tutor? - We read through the profiles of each tutor and shortlisted the ones who had studied Philosophy at A level, then those who were still studying it at university. It was easy to scroll through the tutors, straightforward to select.

How was the tutor themselves? - My daughter had two free 15 minute chats with two tutors, they were both friendly and engaging, the one she chose was able to take my daughter's pace and level easily.

What did your child say about the process and the tutoring? - We had a little issue with our internet connection, but once up and running, she felt really good about getting that extra 1-1 help, having her own time and space to choose her topics, and able to ask endless questions. She has felt it is helping - we have even paid for more sessions with her tutor leading up to her exam dates.

Had you/ your child used any kind of tutor before and if so, how does this compare to previous experience? - Used tutoring for an 11+ exam, face to face which was ideal for a ten year old. This is much preferable for her A level as she can spread her work and notes around her room as she wishes, and lead the session herself with a knowledgeable tutor.

Would you recommend MyTutor to other parents? - Definitely yes!

Would you use MyTutor again? - We already are booked in for more sessions!

Any other comments?- This has opened up a new way into tackling revision angst, particularly for a subject with which we as parents are not able to offer much help. It has been a revelation, and has been so useful for my daughter - has helped her tackle tricky areas and has boosted her confidence. We would like to thank you for letting us trial MyTutor.

ShangriLaLaLa · 12/05/2017 10:09

Age of child and stage of GCSE/ A Level courses
DD age 15 GCSE next year but sitting some early

Which subject / area your child used MyTutor for
Was interested for IT

How did you find the process of choosing your tutor?
Great support from MyTutor. Full explanatory email on registration and follow up call from a member of staff.

However - and this is very probably my fault and I do apologise - I hadn't appreciated that the tutors were university students. The changes to GCSEs are causing huge amounts of stress in my daughter's school and we were really looking for strategies to deal with change and comparisons between old exams and new ones, including to make the best of prior learning within the old system. For this, we both felt we really needed someone with more expertise in the exam process. I wasn't going to push DD to go ahead with the tutors listed as I didn't see any long term experience, other than sitting a very different set of exams themselves. It seems that those who used them for other purposes have had good outcomes, which is great - but not for us.

I would say that the number of IT specialists seemed small but this may just be this particular subject.

Had you/ your child used any kind of tutor before and if so, how does this compare to previous experience?

Yes, I was tutored in maths eons ago by a retired maths teacher and DD had a short tutoring course for her independent school examination. Both tutors were very formal and I think that suits us but probably wouldn't suit everyone and here the youth of the tutors could be a distinct advantage!

Thank you again MyTutor. Looks like you offer a good service, just not right for us on this occasion.

KJ123 · 12/05/2017 10:38

Age of child and stage of GCSE/ A Level courses. 15 yo daughter in Year 10
Which subject / area your child used MyTutor for. science - all 3
How did you find the process of choosing your tutor? It was relatively easy - seemed like lots of choice
How was the tutor themselves? Great so far! Very interactive in the first session & kept checking my daughter understood things.
What did your child say about the process and the tutoring? It was useful & she found it helpful. He made sure she really understood when she wasn't quite sure.
Had you/ your child used any kind of tutor before and if so, how does this compare to previous experience? no
Would you recommend MyTutor to other parents? yes
Would you use MyTutor again? Yes, I think so.
Any other comments?
Thanks for the opportunity Mumsnet! I have been impressed. The process has been pretty easy to use, with lots of initial phone calls from them to check we were ok/if we needed help/had questions etc - good customer service! We then had a problem connecting with our tutor for the first session, and again the help desk was really good - polite and helpful and sorted things out. My daughter seems to be 'getting' stuff that she didn't before. In a perfect world, with more proactivity and effort on her behalf (eg.using her revision guides, class notes etc) I feel she could figure out some of the stuff she struggles with herself, or with some extra help that's available at school, or even from me (sometimes!) - but as this is not happening yet, I am happy to use My Tutor - our tutor is an expert in Biology, can explain things quickly, and it's convenient not having to travel for tutoring, and I think the prices are reasonable. So thank you and no complaints - and I will suggest it to other parents.

towelpintpeanuts · 12/05/2017 12:18

Age of child and stage of GCSE/ A Level courses
13, so not started GCSEs yet

Which subject / area your child used MyTutor for
English: looking for confidence building/core skill building

How did you find the process of choosing your tutor?
We are still in that process and to be honest it's taking a while. I'd love to have seen more filter options: to filter by * rating; number of sessions delivered on the system; core vs secondary subject (I wanted someone who had continued with English if possible: more likely to be enthusiastic imo); and also on additional skills - ds has dyslexia so I ideally wanted a tutor who had some experience and or at least knew what that meant! obviously we were looking for a very common subject, but I found the list of possible tutors overwhelming. I did put out a tutor request explaining what I was looking for and liked that facility.

We've also found setting up the meet the tutor sessions hard: we set up two - one was lovely and had some good ideas - although ds felt quite 'put on the spot' - I think they are more used to organised GCSE students than slightly vague, nervous young ones! The other one didn't turn up; no message. I've chased her 3 times since, and heard nothing. I sent out invites to two more tutors yesterday am, but haven't heard back from either of them yet. I also emailed MyTutor to chase an extension on the deadline, and see if they could chase the tutor, but haven't heard from them either! I have had the welcome call - which a was lovely touch - and also a couple of follow-up emails to check how things were going. But on balance, if this was 'real life' I'd probably be giving up about now!

Had you/ your child used any kind of tutor before and if so, how does this compare to previous experience?
Yes: we've done face to face tutoring for both kids, and actually an online maths tutor which was great. They were all qualified teachers though, so rather different to this set up. I don't have any issue with online tutoring, and I think the idea of students could be interesting: enthusiastic, easy to relate to the teens; different perspective. All the tutoring we've done so far has been about confidence building and basic skills, so a student would be entirely appropriate there.

I'll answer the rest if we get a chance to interview a few more tutors and get things moving!

user1494609566 · 12/05/2017 18:27

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gazzalw · 13/05/2017 12:50

Marking place. DS has now booked in both his Maths GCSE revision lessons (just ahead of two of the exams) with MyTutor: one next weekend and one the last weekend of the half-term break. So we will be reporting back then - sorry it's taking so long. He was adamant that he didn't want to do them sooner (wants the tutor's help with the most difficult - 'extra for Level 9' - topics and thinks he'll forget how to do them if the tuition sessions are too far ahead of the exams).

MeDented · 13/05/2017 14:05

Hi just popping back with some more feedback. We eventually managed to get matched with a tutor. It was a little tricky because my daughter is sitting the Scottish Nat 5 exams and the system isn't well geared for this, as I. There are no filters for the Scottish exams.

I must say I was impressed with the proactive help from My Tutor when they realised we were having difficulties, somebody got in touch straight away to help us find what we were looking for.

My daughter booked a 'meet the tutor session' but had quite a few problems getting the app to work. I'm not sure if it was because she has a Mac rather than PC but the audio wouldn't work so the tutor couldn't hear her. (She manages to use FaceTime eat no problem on her Mac). Eventually we managed to get the app working on an iPad and they had a good chat. DD liked the tutor and felt she understood what she was looking for. They agreed a time for their first session, which was to be 12 noon today.

At this point it would be good to be able to indicate that you are matched to a tutor so you stop receiving messages from other tutors. My daughter found it a bit overwhelming and confusing to keep getting messages from other tutors.

Unfortunately the tutor wasn't ready for 12 noon although she did message h daughter to let her know she was still on her way home and would be 10 minutes late. Then they had a problem finding each other in the online lesson space. Tutor was messaging to say she was now ready and waiting in the lesson space but daughter couldn't see her. This went on for about 20 minutes they managed to get the session up and running. Daughter was getting very frustrated with the whole thing by then. It is a subject she struggles with and I really didn't think this was helpful for her, just added to her stress levels. Even once they could see each other the session kept freezing and they couldn't hear each other very well. They had to abandon the session in the end. I believe the tutor is going to get back in touch to re-schedule.

hmmwhatatodo · 14/05/2017 23:30

Age of child and stage of GCSE/ A Level courses

17 and in first year of Sixth Form.

Which subject / area your child used MyTutor for

Was hoping for Btec Business but no-one is tutoring this and we also wanted Geography for ALevels.

How did you find the process of choosing your tutor?

Easy enough though I would have preferred a few more filters, epsecially for prices. i assumed everyone would be the same price but there were big variations. My son wanted a male tutor so I messaged some, one was a trainee teacher so I really hoped to get him. He messaged back to say he would tutor but then we never heard from him again. We messaged other people but could never seem to pin them down then we eventually found someone who did a lesson. I didnt realise that all MyTutor tutees were students themselves. I would have preferred a qualified teacher in all honesty, and one that is up to date with the exam criteria. some of the tutors on MyTutor are charging more than a qualified tutor, I think because they are at Oxford/Cambridge. Studying in such a University doesn't make you a better tutor so no idea why they charge so much!

How was the tutor themselves?

He was fine and they completed a geography lesson without any hiccups though when I messaged the tutor to say I hoped everything was ok and mentioned booking another lesson I didn't hear back from him again!

What did your child say about the process and the tutoring?

He wasnt overly keen on having online tutoring. We have had face to face tutors in the past and he much preferred that method though there is good availability of tutors online which is really helpful (as long as they actually respond and follow through).

Had you/ your child used any kind of tutor before and if so, how does this compare to previous experience?

As I mentioned above we have had tutors before and they were hit and miss. The process of finding a decent affordable tutor that will stay with you is incredibly difficult and we have had some real issues with them suddenly deciding they are busy/not replying to messages etc when exams are looming. I have only ever found one really good consistent tutor. I do think this is really good for people in rural locations who wont have easy access to a range of tutors.

Would you recommend MyTutor to other parents?

Yes, despite struggling to find someone I am sure it is possible!

Would you use MyTutor again?

Quite possibly

Any other comments?

I think this is a very clever idea but why don't you add teachers/people working in education to your database of tutors?

Maladicta · 16/05/2017 23:31

Dd has now had her second tutorial and we've just booked some more. From both our points of view, it's worked extremely well and will be an extremely useful tool to add to the revision plan!

Belo · 18/05/2017 14:47

Since giving my feedback last week we've paid for more lessons. One thing I really don't like and I would have added to the feedback if I knew this is the fact that you have to pay a fee to use your credit/debit card on top of the tutor's fees. As there is no other way to pay, I feel like this cost should have been factored into the fees. Also, it would be good if a discount was offered for paying for a certain amount of sessions in advance.

No complaints about the actual tutor though, she seems really good, and lovely too. We'll be givng her a five star review on the website!

MeDented · 20/05/2017 10:59

Final update and summary:
Age of child and stage of GCSE/ A Level courses. 16yrs, Scottish Nat 5s

Which subject / area your child used MyTutor for. Biology

How did you find the process of choosing your tutor? Tricky as the system doesn't have options for the Scottish exams but the help and support from My Tutor to navigate this was excellent

How was the tutor themselves? Lovely! A University student who was familiar with the Scottish exams, extremely well prepared for the sessions and struck up a friendly rapport with my daughter. Her teaching style was well suited to my daughter and she found the sessions very helpful

What did your child say about the process and the tutoring? A little frustrated with some technical issues in the first couple of sessions but other than that she really enjoyed them, found it comfortable to be sitting in her own environment and really liked her tutor.

Had you/ your child used any kind of tutor before and if so, how does this compare to previous experience? Yes daughter had a maths tutor, she didn't think she lost anything by this being online rather than in person and liked that the sessions were saved so she could refer back to them.. The My Tutor sessions are slightly cheaper than her face to face tutor (£20p/hr. Opposed to £25p/hr)

Would you recommend MyTutor to other parents? Yes

Would you use MyTutor again? We have paid for a further 3 sessions and would consider again in the future if my son needs a tutor

Any other comments? Thank you for letting us take part, biology exam is Tuesday so fingers crossed!

towelpintpeanuts · 21/05/2017 13:41

Updating after our first tutor session: will do again after our second one (next week)

(As a reminder we did English with 13 yr old ds

How did you find the process of choosing your tutor?
As above: this wasn't straightforward. I am conscious that we were looking for a tutor in the run up to the exams, but quite a few of the tutors we messaged didn't get back to us, or initially replied and then went quiet, or didn't turn up to apps made (only one, but one too many!) I'd also have liked much more in the way of filters: e.g. levels of experience, tutoring experience, particular areas of focus, price, experience with SEN etc.

How was the tutor themselves?
We did a free 15 mins with two tutors and liked both. They had very different suggestions for what to do next, which was great as it meant ds could choose which route he felt happiest with. I liked them both, thought they both had some nice ideas and approaches, and felt both of them could have helped him.

What did your child say about the process and the tutoring?
He was quietly positive, but couldn't tell me much about what was covered. There weren't any notes left after the tutorial which I was surprised about - I assumed there would be something, and as the tutorial is done on the headphones, I also couldn't listen in. My son is dyslexic, so listening, thinking and making notes next to the laptop isn't a realistic option. If we paid for tutorials, I'd want to think of a way to manage this to make the most of the experience.

Had you/ your child used any kind of tutor before and if so, how does this compare to previous experience?
As I said, we've done f2f tutoring for both children. I felt much more 'out of the process' as there was no catch up with parents after the tutorial. Whilst, I think that's probably appropriate in a service aimed more at older children, if I was paying for a long course of tutorials I'd want a bit more info/reassurance as the bill payer!

Would you recommend MyTutor to other parents?
I'd certainly suggest they look at it: and it's something I would bear in mind for revision when exams get nearer.

Would you use MyTutor again?
I'll see how the next tutorial goes, but I'd certainly consider it. I do think it's very cost effective, and if you are lucky and get a good tutor, having an aspirational student teaching you is a nice idea as opposed to a jaded adult tutor (not saying they are all like that, of course!). I would be very nervous that students wouldn't have a good enough grip on what is on different exam boards though, so that would be a point against.

Any other comments?

Thanks for giving us the opportunity to have a go.

ILoveMyCaravan · 21/05/2017 20:09

16 year old DS just about to sit his GCSEs. Only just manged to book appointments today, due to a house purchase falling through the day before completion and then having to organise a rental property. BT has also kindly messed up our order so we are still without a broadband connection in the rental property. Will hopefully be online by Tuesday and have booked the first session for the following evening. Not ideal circumstances to do the trial and have just chosen a tutor from the description online and are hoping for the best! Will report back once the first session is completed.

JennyWreny · 21/05/2017 20:43

Thank you so much to Mumsnet and MyTutor for choosing us to take part in this. It has been really interesting.

Age of child and stage of GCSE/ A Level courses
DD age 16 just taking her GCSEs now.

Which subject / area your child used MyTutor for
She had two tutorials one for Chemistry and the other for Maths.

How did you find the process of choosing your tutor?
We found the process pretty easy although there were loads of tutors to choose from. Being able to filter the tutors by two subject was handy, so we were able to find a tutor that could offer us Chemistry and Maths - rather than choosing two different tutors for this.

How was the tutor themselves?
The tutor (Rowan) was great, she really helped DD with a couple of topics that she was unsure about. Very efficient and when we had a problem with the speaker not working, we rescheduled the tutorial and the tutor dealt with the rebooking etc - really impressed.

What did your child say about the process and the tutoring?
She enjoyed it and thought it was useful. She did think that it was most useful because she had specific topics that she wanted to go over and that she thought it wouldn’t be as useful for general revision.

Had you/ your child used any kind of tutor before and if so, how does this compare to previous experience?
We had used a tutor with my other child before. I much prefer this method as so flexible not having to leave the house, so easy to fit in when we are busy.

Would you recommend MyTutor to other parents?
Yes, in fact, I already have.

Would you use MyTutor again?
Probably

Any other comments?
Really impressed with the website and the learning space. It’s great to be able to reply the tutorial if you want to. Also, I always felt that the MyTutor staff were available should I need help from them. The whole process of booking and taking the tutorials was easy to understand.

Thanks again.

gazzalw · 25/05/2017 19:03

Sixteen year old DS doing GCSEs this year.

DS chose to focus on Maths given how difficult it's become this year.

There seemed to be an awesome amount of choice and quite difficult to determine who we thought would be good or not. Think it would work better if there was a standard charge for all tutors at a given academic level. Personally unless they're doing a PhD it would be difficult to determine whether an Oxbridge student was really worth the extra (personally I think not!).

DS did the choosing and went for a guy called Rohan with he seemed to bond well. Once he'd had a chat with him he wasn't really interested in exploring the possibility of going with someone else instead.

The two free lessons certainly helped him get to grips with one of his 'trickier' Maths subjects to master - circle theorem.

No he hasn't - he found it really useful although he still found his first Maths GCSE paper today really hard...

I would TBQH. Seems a lot more straightforward than trying to find one (and have issues about where to hold lessons etc...). I think teens are more likely to 'bond' with a tutor who's not a dissimilar age too.

Yes I think we probably will, although hopefully not for any GCSE resits.

All in all a seamless way to access tutoring services. We had no techy issues so it worked really well and fitted more easily into family life than having a real person turn up on our doorstep! And the prices (@£20 per hour) seemed relatively reasonable...

Thank you for giving us the chance to uptake the product trial - it couldn't have come at a better time for our DS.

ILoveMyCaravan · 28/05/2017 17:45

Age of child and stage of GCSE/ A Level courses
16 year old DS, taking GCSEs now.

Which subject / area your child used MyTutor for
Maths.

How did you find the process of choosing your tutor?
The process of choosing a tutor seemed fairly straightforward. My DS chose the tutor himself and seemed quite happy with his choice.

How was the tutor themselves?
The tutor seemed friendly and made some good suggestions about the next session.

What did your child say about the process and the tutoring?
He said it was OK but he still prefers to study on his own and felt that the online tutoring process didn't really help him personally. He is fortunate to be at a school (state) with some excellent teachers. Also he was home educated for several years before returning to school a couple of years ago and I think he still prefers self-directed learning.

Had you/ your child used any kind of tutor before and if so, how does this compare to previous experience?
We have not used personal tutors previously.

Would you recommend MyTutor to other parents?
I would recommend it, but it would have to be for the right 'type' of person who would be happy with this kind of 1-1 tutoring. It's not for everyone.

Would you use MyTutor again?
Possibly. Although my DS is reluctant to do a second tutor session as he feels he gets a lot more out of his own studying before an exam.

Any other comments?
I found the site to be fairly user-friendly and the staff have always been polite and friendly when making contact. I think it's a really good idea for some people. Personally I thought it was like being able to discuss the subject with a friend who had already completed and done well in the subject.

I did have some concerns however with the exams changing so much this year. I query whether or not the tutors would be up to speed on all the changes since the exams were different when they sat them a few years ago.

towelpintpeanuts · 30/05/2017 12:03

Final update, having done a second session (we might do a third, but not sure)

So: I'm still feeling it's hard to know what was covered in the tutorial, and how helpful it really was.

At the beginning of last weeks tutorial, ds remembered he was meant to have done some homework for it. He'd totally forgotten, and there hadn't been an email or anything to remind him. The tutor emailed over the stuff they had been working on after the session and in all honestly I wasn't blown away by it. The grammar wasn't great (capitals/full stops in the wrong places, some of the sentences don't make sense) . To be fair, she did also email his 'homework' but I'm in two minds whether to follow through and do another lesson or not.

I'm really glad we had the opportunity to try it out - and I might consider using it again for a more knowledge/information based subject, but I'm not totally sure it worked for what we are trying to do.

towelpintpeanuts · 30/05/2017 12:04

One other thing to add: a couple of the tutors we were interested in weren't available due to their own exam timetable. Understandable, but worth bearing in mind if you are looking for a revision tutor!

Srathore · 20/06/2017 09:24

It's worth looking at finding a volunteer tutor for your dc. I would recommend this highly as a lot of people do have the service available for experience purposes. I would recommend trying to go through a reputable site and get some recommendations from local services like citizens advise.