10th April 2015 6:00
By Blue Tutors
More and more parents are choosing to hire private tutors for their children, with over a third of school pupils in London having received private tuition at some point in their school careers. Tutors are also becoming more popular amongst university students, who sometimes opt to hire tutors on a short term basis to help fill in the gaps in their understanding. As private tuition becomes mainstream, fewer people question whether private tuition is right for them, assuming that it is necessarily a good thing to arrange extra help for their children or themselves if they are university students. The reality is that as tutoring becomes normalised parents and students are less likely to take the necessary time to decide whether private tuition is the right course of action.
The benefits of private tuition are multiple, and can help in a number of different circumstances. Where students are struggling with a certain subject it is often beneficial to hire a tutor on a weekly basis to ensure that the student catches up in that subject, and gains in confidence. Indeed, confidence building is one of the best things private tuition can offer for students. Other parents often choose to hire tutors on a more intensive basis before critical exams. Again, this can help students focus, and tutors can teach them valuable revision and exam techniques. But with the ubiquity of private tuition, parents do not often stop to consider whether private tuition is the best option.
The question every parent should ask themselves is what they want to get out of the tuition. What are their goals? Are they reasonable, and will a tutor help them reach them? The reality is that whilst many students benefit tremendously from private tuition, in some cases it can be unnecessary or even detrimental. Some students who are doing well on their own may feel undue pressure if their workloads are dramatically increased by a heavy private tuition schedule. Other students may be too young to benefit from tuition, and risk being subject to stress in addition to the educational deficits that can be caused by being made to study at too high a level. When thinking about hiring tutors, parents should think through the benefits rather than assuming that it is the best course of action.