How do you find a good tutor?

[tutorhelpp]

Feeling a bit overwhelmed looking on websites. My son has agreed to some tutoring in year 11 from September. He needs help with chemistry, he’s triple science higher but struggling, only got a 4 on this paper so needs some support to bump up that grade (predicted 6), and his maths is more to push him.

He’s always been naturally good at maths, has an aspirational target of 7 but has been told if he really pulled his finger out he could get to 8 (but only getting 6s in mocks currently). As he’s interested in engineering I really want to do all we can to push him in maths to keep options open, especially the potential to do A Level.

Anyway sorry that was just some context. I just don’t know how you go about picking. Do you try locally? Do you use the websites? How do you differentiate between all the strong looking candidates? Do you rate online or in person (DS says he’s prefer online). Help!

Tutorperch have filter by Qualified Teacher (as well as the standard filters and DBS) and they actually declare how they check the documents and its not self declared like some websites allow (I was really quite shocked when I was looking that some are like that!).
They seem to have replaced First Tutors (imported the reviews and transferred the tutors over etc...) who used to be the go-to for commission free platform for 20 years before they closed. These smaller directories in general are great because they seem to have the same tutors but don't have increased prices or fees to pay to cover ad budgets.
Not used an agency matching service before but if you don't want to chose a tutor then i've heard good things about Keystone in London but I'd want to choose someone not have one selected for me.

Hi @Deneke - I tutor exactly this. Sat these papers myself recently (A* A-Level Bio & Chem, 9s across GCSE Maths and the sciences), so I know where the marks slip. References whenever useful - message me anytime.

Hi - we've used sherpa for GCSE maths tuition with good results - you can select a qualified teacher and the tutor we used was also an examiner on their site you can see - 43% are teachers and 16% are examiners - sherpa-online.com

My son had two tutors for maths the first was a qt who couldn’t have been less interested. Then second was a 21 yr old uni student who was amazing and did maths and physics. He got my son from averaging a 4 in maths in yr 10 to an 8 in gcse. I found him on my tutor and loads of my friends used him as well. It’s really luck of draw but don’t dismiss uni students.

QTS is a valuable indicator of teacher training, but it doesn’t automatically determine tutoring quality. Great tutors come from a range of backgrounds - experienced teachers, subject specialists, examiners, graduates, and professional tutors. Uni students often offer the best rates as they have less experience tutoring and are going from their recent experience doing the qualifications themselves. The most important factors are subject knowledge, ability to explain clearly, experience supporting students, and feedback from families. Reviews and proven impact often give the best insight into how effective a tutor is, so you are bets to look in a place/directory where you can read tutors track history of reviews.

If he's currently getting a 4 and his maths is reasonably strong, one possibility (although obviously it's impossible to know without seeing his work) is that he's struggling with chemical bonding. It's introduced right at the beginning of the GCSE course, and I find it's one of the topics that many students don't fully grasp first time around because you can't see it happening.
In my experience, once that foundation is secure, a lot of the rest of Chemistry starts to make much more sense because so many later topics build on those ideas.
If he's revising independently, I'd definitely recommend lots of exam questions rather than just reading notes. Looking carefully at the mark schemes and the examiner's reports can be incredibly helpful because they show not only the correct answers, but also the mistakes students commonly make.
If you do decide to look for a tutor, I'd try to find someone with experience of teaching your son's exam board, and don't be afraid to ask about their experience, teaching style and how they help students who are stuck. A good tutor should be happy to have that conversation before you commit.

Have you tried the parents WhatsApp group, or I know my DD wouldn’t have liked that, if you know anyone whose kids have been through GCSEs and maybe one of them or a friend had one and they could pass on a number?

My daughter had the most amazing English tutor who was just a student herself (but one who achieved 9s and A * at A-levels in English Lit reading the same texts as my daughter's school. The fact she wasn't a qualified teacher was absolutely immaterial to me. She was absolutely brilliant and helped my daughter achieve 9/8 in Lang/Lit (from previously predicted 4-5s). Why do tutors need to be qualified teachers?