GCSE Tutuoring

[mmzz]

DS is going into year 11, and a few of his classmates seem to be having tutors arranged for them. DS could maybe do with a bit of help in English.
However, its the new GCSEs, so could a tutor help? he is already doing ok at English, but he's not likely to get an 8 or a 9.

I think, more than anything he needs help with insights. e.g. if he was doing Death of a Salesman, he'd follow the story but not see how everything the man had invested the bulk of his life in was breaking down - relationships as well as possessions. DS would only read - with disinterest - that the washing machine was on the blink and that his sons had limited respect for their father.
That's the kind of thing DS struggles with - he can learn it as a fact but not feel the resulting despair.
Is that just an age thing or a confidence thing? And could a 1:1 tutor help so that Ds does not sit in class thinking "Huh, how should I know what the writer was thinking?"