How much do you spend on tuition?

[pocketpairs]

Most of the parents in DCs school have private tuition, either class based or 121, more so when they enter GCSE years. How much, if any, do you spend on tuition a month?

Modern foreign language. German in our case.

I got a tutor for 5 years for foster DC at a special school. He wasn't allowed to learn much at his school. No DC there were entered for GCSE exams. He had to sit them privately. He went to college and thrived. Now at Uni. We had 3 hours a week. 1 hour English, 1 hour Maths and 1 hour Science. We paid £45 ph.

£55 a week on maths tuition, online with a maths expert. She wants at least a grade 7 but is predicted a 6 and was only hitting 5. Only started at end of year 10. She’s clever and in the top set but had an ever changing run of maths teachers (including hit & miss supply) since the start of year 8.

£30 p/w for SEAG tuition (in NI) for the last 18m. Final test this Saturday - he should have his choice of good grammar schools, the tuition was mainly for developing good habits and revision technique.

This has to be one of the smuggest posts on this forum. How lovely for you that your child has no SEN, and presumably had a full cohort of teachers at a decent school.

And a quick look on tutor websites will show you that there are plenty of university level tutors available for hire.

I know several children who got all 8s and 9s at GCSE and had tutoring for the whole of Y10 and Y11 across all subjects, and are doing the same for A level.

OP, we tutored for a number of subjects.

Music - had a theory tutor once a week for 6 months, and DD had private instrument and composition lessons outside school. But that wasn't GCSE specific, the skills just happened to help. Theory tutor was £30/week.

Maths - £50/week from end of November to the last exam.

English - £35/week for 9 weeks

Geography - £25/week for 6 weeks.

DD is high IQ, extremely dyslexic and ADHD. Got all the grades she needed for what she wants to do in the future, and now very happy at music college.

Tutors in 8/11 GCSEs for my SN DS ... cheaper than private school but still horrific. In retrospect, there was more we/he could have done ourselves but was too terrified.

We paid £50 / hour for GCSE and are paying £85 / hour for A level. We had to do something as the school simply wasn’t providing adequate teaching in those subjects nor subject specialist teachers.
It made the difference between grade 4 English GCSE to a high grade 6 - they’d have been stuffed for university offers if we’d left them to fester in a class with an appalling teacher (no longer at the school fortunately for other pupils).

I pay £45 a week for an hour a week of dyslexia tutoring for my son in year 8. It is not based on anything in the curriculum but more generally spelling, writing essays, study skills etc.

We did the same for French for DD in Y11. Got her from a 3 to a 5 so worth it. She's not taking French at A level but she didn't want to fail it. This was her lowest grade and she didn't need tutoring for anything else but I think 121 for listening and speaking was great.

Damn..£85!!

I find the range of prices on here very interesting.

I charge more for GCSE and more again for A level. Not as much as some of the figures here tho! I think it also depends if the tutor comes to your house – that's extra time and petrol too – as opposed to over Zoom.

ETA: Meant to say, I am glad so many people have had (or rather their DC have had) positive outcomes.

Yep @pocketpairs, it’s a lot for 2 of them. But it’s still less than private school fees which we can’t afford for 2!

To add if you’re online with tutors and paying SE prices I kno a good Northern agency that tutors online for less!

I don’t feel tutoring is necessary as there are lots of videos on YouTube to help on areas your children are not sure of. What extra does tuition give? How do tutors actually help? My kids talk to their teachers in anything they don’t understand but mostly watch YouTube videos and they are doing well.

My DD found a tutor who could encourage her important. It wasn't just about imparting knowledge, it was giving confidence. Tutors can also decide what is most important to focus on.
There is a difference between tutoring to get 8s&9s and tutoring to get 4s.
There is a difference between tutoring to impart knowledge and for exam technique.
Some DC want to learn but need a hand hold
Tutoring DC with SEN is a skill.

DD had tuition for maths as her maths teacher in year 11 rushed through each topic and she needed extra time to grasp new concepts. It made a huge difference to her grade as she moved up from getting Bs to an A*. This was before the new number grading system.

We used Kip McGrath at £30 per session. It will cost more now.

I agree with @TeenToTwenties that a lot of it is about gaining confidence.

Also, DD did a lot of practice on past papers and this really helped with exam technique.

DD has learning difficulties. The aim was for her to avoid having to do retakes. She had an in person maths and English tutor for the full year leading up to GCSEs. £60ph for English and £70ph for maths weekly. She achieved a 4 in both which means no retakes, so to me it was money well spent.

I pay around £100 a week for tutors for my DC. DC1 (year 11) has tutoring in maths and physics and DC2 (year 10) has tutoring in maths and will probably have tutoring in English in year 11.

Both are academically able but I want them to reach their full potential.

Well done to your DD. That must have been a massive boost to her confidence.

I got a uni student who was studying math and an English tutor. I think in all £400 between them? In my sons case it was the only way he was going to pass, for my DD she just needed a bit of help with math and exam technique for English (she got 8/9s in most subjects). Probably didn’t need it in my DD’s case but it was more of a confidence thing. My son did not do A levels and my DD managed three A stars without extra tuition.

I've found that tutors can help with confidence and helping DCs focus on right areas. Additionally, just having 121 time in any MFL helps improve much better than any 5-min conversation with a teacher.

£156 for maths and £90 for music when worked out monthly but both are term time only at the moment.

I've never paid for tuition. Didn't even realise its a thing. I've never heard it mentioned in real life. DS has just done GCSE mocks and got all 8s and 9s so I guess he wouldn't need it anyway. My niece's best friend is struggling to get 3s so maybe I'll suggest it for her.

I've never paid for tuition. Didn't even realise its a thing. I've never heard it mentioned in real life.

@Qualityroses You haven't been on mumsnet for long then?

As far as I know none of DD's friends had any tuition, and we don't have the 11+ here, but I have always been aware that tuition was an option.

I don’t feel tutoring is necessary as there are lots of videos on YouTube to help on areas your children are not sure of.

@Cookiessss Doesn't it depend on the child?

What extra does tuition give?

Two way communication for a start. Being able to ask precise questions and have an expert guide you while you work and provide feedback is no replacement for YouTube. I'm surprised you have to ask.