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Secondary education

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Original poster

Is it worth getting a maths GCSE tutor?

36 replies

MathsScience · 08/05/2018 23:08

Hi,

DS is coming to the end of Y10 and struggling with maths. Always been somewhat above average, but his grades are going down and he is getting quite frustrated.

Is it worth getting a GCSE maths tutor?
Any tips please on what to look for, I'm clueless?
Should we start looking now?

Thanks.

OP posts:
MarchingFrogs · 08/05/2018 23:35

It would seem unlikely that his maths teacher hasn't noticed that your DS is struggling, but in any case, his first port of call should be his teacher. Does the school run lunchtime / after school 'clinics' for maths that your DS could access?

Original poster
MathsScience · 08/05/2018 23:44

Thanks, I'll speak to my son about your suggestion, though I have a feeling he won't want me to approach the school. When falling grades were mentioned at parents evening to the Maths teacher, she suggested my son study online, do examples on Kerboodle, etc. He did do it one weekend, but hasn't sustained it.

OP posts:
Original poster
MathsScience · 08/05/2018 23:46

I should add he doesn't 'rate' his Maths teacher as good.

OP posts:
booellesmum · 08/05/2018 23:46

My DD had a maths tutor in year 11.
The main reason was that she just didn't click with the teacher who ran the lunch time maths catch up group and she had no confidence.
I think the order to go in would be firstly to speak to the teacher and identify weak areas. See if there are any groups he can go to at school, or would an A Level maths student tutor him (would look good on their personal statement).
Look at revision guides and on- line maths help. You-tube has lots of great videos as well.
If he is still struggling then invest in a tutor.

hmcAsWas · 08/05/2018 23:47

If your ds is struggling - then yes.

noblegiraffe · 08/05/2018 23:48

There are very few students who wouldn’t benefit from 1-1 maths tuition. It can be pretty expensive though, so you might want to explore other options first, like a PP mentioned seeing if there is a school drop-in clinic. The school may have access to resources like mymaths or hegartymaths or your DS could work through the free videos and resources on corbettmaths.com. If he makes concerted effort to improve his maths using these resources, then he should be able to make progress.

If you decide he does want a tutor, then they’ll all be booked up at the moment with Y11 but come mid-June will be taking bookings again so soon will be a good time to look.

hmcAsWas · 08/05/2018 23:49

"I should add he doesn't 'rate' his Maths teacher as good."

Well there you are then.... Maths teacher doesn't cut it

Original poster
MathsScience · 08/05/2018 23:52

all helpful, thanks.

yes hmc I can feel DS's frustration.

If it were any other subject, I'd just probably shrug my shoulders and say he had to crack on regardless - you get good teachers and bad teachers and thats just life. But, he's just had an end of year exam where he said he couldn't understand any of it Hmm. I think I might have to go to the school on this first, if result is poor.

OP posts:
Petitepamplemousse · 08/05/2018 23:53

Depends on your finances. A tutor is rarely a BAD idea.

noblegiraffe · 08/05/2018 23:57

But, he's just had an end of year exam where he said he couldn't understand any of it

The new GCSE is bloody difficult and in order to prepare for it, lots of schools are giving their Y10s bloody difficult tests. It’s possible that everyone found the test hard and he actually did ok relative to his peers while getting what looks objectively like a not very good percentage. You only needed 50% last year to get a 7 (A) for example.

Or it’s possible that he didn’t revise properly? Has he been putting the work in?

Just make sure you’re clear of the situation before you go in of the mood that the teacher is to blame.

snowbear66 · 09/05/2018 00:17

An online tutor can be a bit cheaper than a conventional tutor- last year we got one who helped my son a lot, the tutor was a Uni maths student.
It works very well if your son is motivated enough to bring to them the areas of work that he doesn't understand and the tutor will troubleshoot it, though there is no structured course offered.

LiveLifeWithPassion · 09/05/2018 00:24

If he didn’t understand any of it and is struggling with the teacher then I’d go with a tutor. They can explain the concepts and provide practice questions which would make a huge difference.
They could work alongside with what topic is being taught at the school.

LeeLooDallasMultiPass · 09/05/2018 06:51

she suggested my son study online, do examples on Kerboodle, etc. He did do it one weekend, but hasn't sustained it.

This is also where you need to crack down as a parent. Ds1 does maths revision stuff every day. He is year 10 but predicted 7+ (more likely 8-9) he does Mathsbot as recommended by @noblegiraffe for year 11 revision. It allows him to identify any weakness and work on that. He has a revision guide book to help him - purchased through school. Obviously the difference is he loves maths but they have to put the effort in to get the grades.

The way to improve maths is to actually do it. As a child I hated maths but I realise it is because I didn't understand it. Now, it is easier for me because there are videos on YouTube explaining how to do it.

A tutor would be great but your son will also need to put the extra work in that comes with having a tutor.

ScrubTheDecks · 09/05/2018 07:31

I think there is s big difference between those who ‘get’ maths and those who don’t. I don’t, and I needed someone patient who could facilitate me to understand it step by step.

I would get a tutor. Or some friends are getting good results from an A Level student going over their school work at a slower pace with them to give confidence. (A level student £10 -£15 per hour).

fessmess · 09/05/2018 07:39

I paid out about £300 for maths tutoring for my dd in yr 11. She got an E. End of the day she couldn't be arsed so for us a waste of cash.

Faez · 09/05/2018 08:01

I had terrible maths teachers all through school, my mum paid for a tutor but I felt so pressured to "get it" that nothing really sank in. I was getting Es in mocks weeks before the exams so bought a couple of revision books. I was able to work at my own pace and if I couldn't quite understand the concept from one book the other would explain it in a slightly different way. I ended up getting a B which was all I could achieve for the paper I was entered for and was happy with that.

Faez · 09/05/2018 08:02

Oh and I realised that it wasn't half as difficult as I'd been made to believe all through school! I wasn't just "bad" at maths.

MillicentF · 09/05/2018 10:44

It’s not up to him whether you talk to the school or not. And kids are not always the best judge of their teachers. Go and talk to the maths teacher, then decide what to do next.

wigglybeezer · 09/05/2018 10:52

What I did was pay a friend's son who was doing Advanced Higher Maths ( like A2 maths) to sit and work through past papers with DS2 ( who was below average at Maths). It meant I could afford a lot more sessions, I think I paid him £10 an hour but I offered a performance related bonus if DS2 got a B, which he did, what a happy day that was. Even if you don't completely fully understand the concepts, if your exam technique is good you will pass.

Original poster
MathsScience · 09/05/2018 12:07

Thanks very much for all your ideas.

I would not go into the school in a blame mood, so good reminder and anyway at the end of the day I don't know if she is a good teacher or not (though my son is quite astute - if only he was as astute with his work!). But I could perhaps say I was concerned about his falling maths grades and ask if there was any extra support available. Last time, online exercises were recommended, but I'm not sure if thats helpful for understanding for everyone - I'll run that by my son again. For me, maths is one of those subjects that might more benefit from understanding in person - 1:1 tuition. The cheaper student tutor sounds a good idea. I agree with whoever said that most of the students found it hard - my son did say that. Anyway lots of options to think about from replies, thanks again. Phew! I'll be glad when this is over. And, in the bigger picture, maybe its not worth getting too worked up about. My parents barely knew what GCSE subjects I was doing, or what degree for that matter. Its just I can see him getting de-motivated which is not great.

OP posts:
sashh · 09/05/2018 13:25

Maths is a bit like a sport, you need to do a bit everyday and you need to keep doing the basics as well as the more complex bits.

There is nothing worse than a students saying, "we did this in year 8/9" yes you may well have but you need to refresh it so you can understand the next bit.

I'm not saying he is saying that but he should be doing at least 15mins a day maths revision.

I'm the old O Level generation, by this time we had finished all the teaching and we were going through past papers. You were allowed your text book but the idea was you did a past paper over a couple of maths lessons.

If there was something you didn't understand then you had your notes and text book, if that wasn't enough then you also had the teacher.

I now it is difficult to get past papers but there are some and there are the older ones.

A past paper each week outside school with his books if he needs them and then looking at the marking and report afterwards would break down to 15mins a day.

TeenTimesTwo · 09/05/2018 14:30

I would be wary of using a student to tutor maths for someone who finds it hard.
It is very easy to be great at maths but hopeless at explaining it.

A couple of things you could do:
a) wait to see how well he actually did on his end of year exam
b) get hold of his marked paper and go through it. Has he gone wrong due to silly mistakes, not understanding topics, or not being able to see what the question is about?
At least then if you contact a tutor you know what help you are asking for.

Plumsmith · 09/05/2018 20:23

If your son isn’t understanding maths of course he is going to blame his teacher, or not ‘rate’ her very much. If he is unable to focus on independent study a couple of times a week as the teacher has already suggested I doubt that he would focus with a tutor around. I have tutored in the past and most teenagers don’t want to know and don’t put in enough effort for it to be economical for their parents. I also teach year 10 maths and have plenty of students who will say they don’t ‘get’ it but at the end of the day they didn’t complete the homework, or copy the notes, or do more than the bare minimum in class. GCSEs are very tough you need to get him to understand that he won’t succeed unless he works for it. Let him be independent and go for it himself if he wants to succeed.

With my disinterested students in all years (mainly 9, 10 & 11) I chat to them about what they want to do when they leave school. Usually this requires a good grade in maths and then they can see they cannot get there without the focus.

Also if he is getting poor grades on mocks remember he still has a full year of new content to learn.

Gibble1 · 09/05/2018 23:19

My DD agreed to get a maths tutor when she had an exam and got 4/80 and couldn’t get help from her too set teacher. She has come on leaps and bounds and may even achieve the 6 she is predicted. It has cost us £28 an hour each week. I would happily pay it all over again.

CalF123 · 09/05/2018 23:43

It's absolutely worth it IMO. Sometimes it isn't so much about lack of ability with maths, but lack of confidence in their ability. Tutors can really help with this IME.