Anyone Used An Atom Learning Tutor

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Atom Learning offer 1:1 tutoring. Has anyone used one and how do you find them compared to a standard tutor?

In particular do they have access to the childs test scores via the Atom platform so they can be more specific in their guidance?

They seem quite affordable compared to a standard tutor (30-40% less).

We did over Christmas and New Year to get us through a sticky knowledge gap before the Jan entrance test.

I spoke to them and based on my daughter's needs and character we used Anyesha Patel, she was great and got my daughter to where she needed to be.

They have access to the child's data and set follow-up work via the platform, you have a brief chat the at end of the lesson and written follow up too.

I think it depends on what your child responds better to, my child is happy with online learning some aren't. I think from memory you had to commit to 6 lessons at a time after a free session so you see how it goes.

Thank you! Do you mind me asking what hourly rate you paid? I contact Owl Tutors this morning where you post your job and tutors apply. I have had one applicant who wants £150/hour! 😳

We did it last yr - just 12 lessons it was £45 each but you needed to pay upfront in a block of lessons 12 lessons. We ended up with a young uni student (as we were so late to organise everything) but she gave my boy confidence ..... however she had never been a teacher or tutor previously 😬 my boy liked her though as she was young so maybe it worked out better than an old school teacher - who knows 🤪

Ours were £45 per lesson and we had a block of 6 which was sufficient for what was needed.

For comparison, Kip McGrath is £35 per lesson for 1hr and 20 mins.

So £150 is far too much per hour unless you are looking for something very specific.

Are you looking for 11+ entry into State grammar?

Thanks, not sure if Atom Learning tutor is right for us if they give us an inexperienced tutor. We're looking at the top private schools in London (St Pauls etc) however just to add that's because we have some good state options and I would rather send my son to a good state than a mediocre private school. We're currently at a state primary. I'm really looking for someone who will motivate him to want to do his best, not drill test techniques into him. He needs to want this himself or he'll just fall over later down the line if we push him too far.

I've got in touch with several online tutors and will post back when I know more as I'm sure others will also be looking for the same.

I just thought I would post an update on this. Atom Learning sent me a tutor profile which looked quite good. The tutor looked young in the profile although they also had experience of successfully getting children into three of the schools I am looking at. The cost was £46/lesson (down to £39 if you commit to 8 lessons per month).

I decided to try face to face as I think my sons weakest area is creative writing and that's really hard to teach online. I have a trial with a local company who provided a face to face tutor at our house for £60/hour. I found the tutoring company on Google but they have no Google reviews. If they are good I'll post the name here in a few weeks.

Hi curious if this worked out in the end? Wondering whether to go down this route
Thanks

I posted the original thread. Actually I only just signed up today and the first lesson is next week!

We've been using an in person tutor since 1st August however he is not skilled in the multiple choice questions - he only does creative writing. So we are going to try an Atom tutor to focus purely on the multiple choice test strategies.

They've increased their price recently and now it's £50/lesson with a minimum of 8 lessons. You can swap tutor but no refund.

I'll post back after 3 sessions on how it's going.

Thanks OP! Good luck!

Why are Atom Learning so blatant at advertising on Mumsnet?

I've just finished a set of lessons with an Atom Tutor who I hired specifically to help with the 11+ adaptive computer based exams as two of the schools we applied for used this type of test for the first round.

I was really happy. The tutor was engaging, well prepared, good at explaining and gave great exam techniques and she provided a very detailed report after the lesson which helped me on where to focus inbetween lessons. She had access to the Atom platform, set DS homework and then analysed his homework to focus on the weak points in the next lesson. She used PowerPoint to explain concepts during the lessons, not the Atom platform. Atom was only used for homework and for her to see where he needed improvement.

I'm not sure if an Atom tutor could replace a "normal" tutor who focuses on the written papers - it's not a question I asked them but I can see it would be hard as the Atom tutor I used was clearly very well trained in how to use the Atom platform and used this as a platform for all homework and tracked DS progress.

It was well worth the £50/lesson I paid. Only downside it you have to book a minimum of 8 sessions. I ran out 3 weeks before the last exam and didn't continue as I only need 3 lessons not 8 but have found a local university student to replace the Atom tutor.

my daughter did a few sessions with an atom tutor last year. I would say that it doesn’t substitute for a more experienced in-person tutor but was quite helpful for techniques for nvr and vr, specifically on atom learning. If you have a year to prepare I would recommend the 8 sessions, but no more than that.

I have been using Atom for more than a year now. Initial few months were good but after that I didn't feel we were getting the best value. Tutor I was allocated dropped out, I was then sent few tutor profiles to chose from and when I went back to confirm a tutor, I did not hear from them. It has been since September I have not had any lessons for my daughter but they still deduct the fees which is over £100 monthly. I was not given the option to sign up for few lessons and was given the option to sign up for 3 years if I want to benefit with the discounted hourly rate which was something like £35 ph. When I realised, I am not getting the best and asked to cancel, they said I will be charged cancellation fees. So for anyone who is considering signing up for the 3 year contract, think twice!!

We had an odd experience. The Atom sales person was good and spent time to ask what we wanted, and sent us someone who looked good on paper (an experienced tutor). Then we had a trial session.... The tutor seemed to struggle to understand the material herself, missed twice the fact that my son had misunderstood something (I thought it was a technique and that she would circle back once he'd explained his thinking, but she just moved on). Then at the end of the call she said she couldn't help my son as he needed someone who could spend more time with him. It was very odd! My son is a fairly quick learner too and enjoys it, so presumably not an unusually tough case. Anyway, I was quite relieved that I wouldn't have to tell her we didn't want to continue. Atom didn't follow up to ask why we had stopped after the trial lesson. My most charitable explanation is that maybe the tutor had a migraine or some personal distraction, or was used to teaching some other material and was winging it. All very strange.

Glad you managed to come out. In my case, our tutor was initially ok. It was after the trial period ended and a month into year 7, she struggled I felt. Atom platform only covers up to year 6. So anything beyond this, tutors has to make their own materials, and I assume this is why our tutor just dropped out with no explanation. I am trying hard now to come out of this and stop them from deducting my fees and to credit over £400 credit we have on our account, and not getting anywhere still.

Have you contacted them to formally cancel? That can't be right they are still charging you but don't have a tutor assigned to you.

Also an Atom Tutor won't have the right experience to tutor your Year 7 child. It's a different level. You're better off finding a tutor on one of the websites (tutorhunt?) and probably cheaper too.