Tutor agencies, which one?

[Akiko]

I have been looking to find a 11+ tutor for my y4 Dd and it appears that I am late as the ones that have been recomended by word of mouth are fully booked for years in advance.
I am now looking at the option of finding a tutor throught an agency and spent all day reading and researching the list of agents in the Good Schools Guide and on the internet.
To make the choice easier, the GSGuide compares the service some agents provide to a lunch in Dorchester and others to a Marks&Spencer or an Asda meal.
The prices these tutors charge start from £25 and goes up to £40, £45 for an hour.
The "Asda" tutors are not been checked by the agency, they just list their services on the website. And then there are the "Dorchester" tutors that have all the relevant qualifications, track record, experience and references checked.The agents also assess, tailor your child's needs and monitor the progress.
Some of you may have used agents and may be able to give me advise. How far have you gone in order to help prepare your child for those exams?
Is it madness to spend £45 ph on a tutor?

Granted. Just wanted to say how much I enjoy your posts xxx

Thank you.

It's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it...

Granted, this talk page was set up to ask people their opinions about tutor agencies, which is just what I was doing.

I will make no apologies for that.

I'm going to ignore your personal attacks. They are so boring. Although, regarding the Guardian, I don't think it would do you any harm to read a quality newspaper from time to time.

Also, just to qualify www.southerntutors.co.uk is a website address, not an email address. Do you know the difference?

Bondgirl, stop digging, put that spade down before its too.late

Digging for what? Buried treasure, for sure there isn't any here.

Cat, I really have no idea what you are talking about.

Lilith451 and Akiko, I've just used an online tutoring agency for my DS (GCSE level) - I don't know how to direct you to my other post about it, but it's titled 'can anyone recommend an online tutoring agency' and there are more details there! It was www.tutorme.co.uk and he had his first session today -v impressive, great tutor, from our own home, didn't have to have anyone in or take him anywhere, and best of all we keep the lesson to replay for revision - I would def recommend! Otherwise try the tutor pages I've heard they are very good for finding someone near you (it's a website I think)

Granted, I read this whole thread and like caffeine addict I really enjoyed your posts. Southern Tutors (who I have also never heard of) and 'BondGirl' how did you get in here?! I suggest putting a few flyers in newsagents would be a better use of your time! Or why not ask your celebrity clients to recommend you to their A list friends to give you a bit of free PR? I agree completely that there's nothing a child needs for the 11+ that a parent can't provide and my eldest and I sat for hours going through Bond papers. But with my youngest daughter motivation was a big factor and there were tears, tantrums etc, so I brought in the experts just for an easy life. Got a tutor from Hippocrene Tutors on the recommendation of a friend (I think they're quite a small bunch based in London) and she was fantastic but expensive (although credit to them, when we were having a rocky patch our tutor kindly gave a discount but I'm still talking £££s). My tip would be: ASK FOR HOMEWORK. (I think Hippocrene actually have a load of past papers for the 11+ on their site). If the tutor gets on well enough with your child they'll get down to it, and it means you don't need the tutor for as long. For my youngest it was definitely best that the work came from anyone but me. But all just depends on the child....

Oh dear, if BondGirl does have a financial interest in Southern Tutors, she hasn't done the company any favours here.

SouthernTutors ... I do hope you don't tell your pupils that two doctors are GP's.

If you are in London, Greater London Tutors have supplied a tutor to help my DS with maths higher tier GCSE and I can highly recommend - the tutor they sent is unflappable, really well qualified and has boosted DS's confidence. Tutor is also flexible about times, and is available by email to help when maths homework gets tough.

Has anyone had any experiences with BlackStone Tutors?

Looking for a GCSE Maths tutor in the London area and a friend of mine recommended them especially for GCSE and above but was wodnering if anyone else had any experiences. Thanks!

I'm a private tutor and used to be with a London agency who RINSED their clients. Astronomical sign up fees and hourly rates, of which us tutors would receive a fraction. I would be phoned if I was even vaguely connected to the subject area just because I am a PhD student so it looked really impressive.

May I recommend the online tutor databases? You can correspond directly with the tutor, decide if you are going to get on with that person; you can also find someone very local. You only pay between £10-£15 to buy the tutor's details, then you can meet them and see their paperwork yourself. Don't trust an agency! Using this method of personal selection, at most you lose £15 if you decide that you don't like the tutor. The whole point of having a tutor is that is returns control to the parent - you don't get to select the teachers at the school, so don't suffer the same problem by using an agency.

Having said that, I get asked by parents to tutor 8 year olds, just because I'm a PhD student - I tell them they would be better off with a primary ed specialist! Don't think 8 year olds are that keen on debating 18th C history, politics and literature...

In response to 'rd1709' and 'Ehhm'....i've used BlackStone Tutors as well as online self-search tutoring sites (uktutors etc.), and was generally far more impressed with BlackStone.

Firstly, they have no registration fee, so compared to the online website, I was £20 better off. Secondly, and most importantly the quality of tutor was significantly better; they sent an Imperial College grad. to teach my eldest GCSE Biology, and so far so good......he now wants to continue Biology for A-Level.

Of course, you do pay a little bit extra, but we're hoping this will pay off in the long run!

I have tutored both DC myself. If you have time and invest a little bit of time on your hands to research the syllabus you really don't need one and could save yourself a small fortune. We have put the money we saved towards a week in the sun in the half term after the test...