Kip McGrath

[Yorkshiregirl88]

Hi, looking for some feedback on Kip McGrath for maths tutoring. My son has just finished year 8 and has fallen behind. How do they compare to Kumon?
Thx

DS1 had Maths tutoring from Kip McGrath during late primary and then again in Year 8. It worked really well for him and pre-GCSEs was a real turning point in his education.

As his confidence grew he began to love Maths. He achieved the highest grade at A level Further Maths at his grammar school and is now studying Chemical Engineering at an RG university.

Unfortunately, the local Kip McGrath centre has now closed but we would definitely consider KM for our other DCs.

Good luck.

No experience of using them but 2 former colleagues of mine (qualified, experienced and excellent maths teachers) really disliked the KM experience: the way it was set up, the fact that the company didn't seem to have strict requirements in terms of tutors' qualifications, and the lack of control they would have over their own work. Some of that might not impact too much on tutees, but I would think that inconsistency in ensuring tutors are adequately qualified and experienced would be a concern. Having said that, they definitely did have some experienced staff and therefore you may well find someone good through them, so long as you ask the right questions about the tutor your child will be assigned. 1 of these teachers did become a full-time tutor btw, but did it independently.

My only knowledge of Kumon is from a very nice, but not especially bright, lady I met on a bookkeeping course a few years ago. She'd set up (bought the local Kumon franchise) and was centre manager and only full-time tutor, despite telling me she had no teaching qualifications. Not sure about a degree. Think her professional experience was in marketing. She was delivering maths and English sessions to KS2 pupils in small groups, and said that it was all so structured in terms of following the worksheets that Kumon provide, that lack of qualifications or teaching experience weren't an issue. I would look into the Kumon method if you are considering this, as from what little I know it is a very specific way of working with lots of rote learning and lots and lots of worksheets. This may actually work to an extent for some children, but it is very different to what I think of as individualised tuition.