The first thing that is important when you want to find a good tutor is understanding what the student needs – whether that’s you or your child. That’s why when you come to us, we ask lots of questions and try to get to the bottom of your specific needs.
Does a tutor need to be a qualified teacher?
Some parents are surprised to find out not all of our tutors are teachers by profession. Many of our private tutors are teachers or teacher trained but lots of our 150 male and female tutors come from different backgrounds.
Each one goes through the same stringent application process and we review each application individually. What we have found is that non-teachers can also make superb tutors – some non-teachers have a greater practical/working knowledge of their subject [for example language tutors] and a great deal of passion for their subject.
All our tutors have at least a qualification in the level above that which they teach in (so if they are teaching GCSE Maths they’ll have at least A Level Maths).
A teacher is not always one the best placed to ‘teach’ the student to pass exams. Teachers often teach and cover a lot of information that’s not always needed for a test. It’s information that’s fantastic for subject knowledge but may not be exactly what the student needs to pass a particular test.
So that’s why when you make a tuition enquiry to 121 we’ll ask a lot of questions. We need to find out if you need help and support, then we’ll focus on a particular type of tutor. If you need specific help with exam technique then we’ll find just the right match. And sometimes it can take us more than one go to find just the right tutor – there are as many different styles of tutor as there are teachers!
But we do listen to our parents and anyone receiving private tuition from 121 – if a tutor isn’t meeting your needs or standards then we’ll rectify the problem.