31st December 2009 9:00
By Blue Tutors
There is a perception that private tuition is reserved for relatively wealthy people, such as those who can afford to send their son or daughter to a top public school. Also, some people assume that tuition is only requested by struggling students who need to help to reach the level of their peers. The truth is, that while some students certainly do fall into these categories, it’s very difficult to pigeonhole someone who has a tutor.
When a new tutor is applying to be a Blue Tutor, they sometimes baulk at the question of whether they had a tutor them self when at school, particularly if they attended a state school. However, private tuition among state school students is very prominent, and if you’re reading this thinking that none of your state school friends have a tutor then it’s possible that they just haven’t mentioned it to you (which isn’t uncommon).
Why is tuition so widespread in the UK? Well a major factor is that the price is no longer prohibitive and paying £20-£30 a week for a real benefit to their child’s education is seen as a very good deal by most parents. With more and more students attending university, and often leaving with £10k of debt, spending £500 on tuition in year to potentially improve a student’s university destination simply makes sense.
If you’re thinking of becoming a tutor, and suspect that all of your students will be in massive houses, and already receive the best education that money can buy, then you should think again. Tutoring for Blue Tutors will mean that you get to teach a diverse range of students, and you’ll see that it actually all comes down to who needs tuition, rather than their background.