13th September 2013 9:00
By Blue Tutors
September is the busiest time of year for tutors and agencies. Once students have received their GCSE and As results, many hire tutors to help with retakes in the coming year, or simply decide that they wish to hire a tutor to help with problem subjects as they progress through school. Concomitantly, undergraduate and graduate students who are progressing with their studies and require extra income often take-up tutoring at the start of the academic year, which means each year there is an influx of new tutors to choose from. One of the decisions parents must make is the level of educational experience they wish their tutor to have.
Many tuition agencies market themselves on the basis that their tutors are ‘experts’ in their fields, and PhD students are hot property in the tuition market. They have proven themselves in the academic world, and have excellent results from school to higher education. Many also have teaching experience helping undergraduates and masters students with their studies. For this reason, many parents request a tutor who is an expert in their field, as they feel that this will give their children the best start at a subject. However, is it really necessary to book a tutor who is an expert in their subject?
The simple answer is not always. Obviously if the student in question is an undergraduate needing help with a particular topic, they couldn’t do much better than a PhD student who specialises in that topic, has university teaching experience and understands how to work with students at this level. But does a GCSE student require a PhD candidate as a tutor? Probably not. Whilst a PhD candidate might be an excellent tutor at this level, the fact that their work is now so specialised might make it more difficult for them to teach at a lower level, and find a way of helping younger students to understand the topic. At this level, rather than looking for an ‘expert’, parents would be better off looking for a tutor who has experience teaching at this level, and has a good knowledge of a broader range of topics. This could well be provided by a PhD student, but parents should look with an open mind before making a decision.