31st July 2013 9:00
By Blue Tutors
As the boom in private tuition continues, private tuition agencies will tell you that their students’ backgrounds are now incredibly broad, ranging from lower income families to multimillionaires, and most in between. In London in particular, private tuition is particularly popular amongst families for whom English is not their first language. No matter what the background of the student, the most common experience of private tutors is that their students are pleasant enough to teach, and willing to learn from the tutor. However, the recent influx of incredibly wealthy clients to London has skewed the experience of the private tutor somewhat, making tutoring each week a bit more of a minefield.
The usual tuition experience from the perspective of the tutor is to be offered a cup of tea, have a quick progress report from parents and student, and then get down to the lesson. Students may come from wealthier or poorer backgrounds, but the general experience was more or less the same. Tutoring for the super rich is an entirely different story. First of all, you may not teach at the same venue from week to week. It can be strange to meet at the student’s parents’ house one week, and in the student’s private flat the next. Most families will offer a cup of tea to a tutor; the super rich often have staff who will interrupt the lesson to ask if anything is required, or bring un-requested treats. A student and I were once offered a glass of champagne during a tuition session, and I was faced with the task of politely explaining why it wasn’t appropriate to drink alcohol with a student during a tutoring session!
These students are often the toughest to teach, expecting excellent results with very little input (much like some of their parents). It can be a challenge just to get a student to focus on the work, as many use the session with the tutor as an opportunity to talk through problems or get advice about non-academic issues. Others can’t concentrate because they a tired, having free reign to party all weekend and stay out late. Some are under enormous pressure from their parents to perform well, and tutors have to double as counselors. Private tuition used to be most popular amongst the average middle classes, but the client base is expanding quickly as London demographics change.