11th September 2015 1:00
By Blue Tutors
Private tutors often spends many hours with their students over the course of a year or more, shoring up their knowledge of their subjects and advising them on coursework and exam strategy. Something that tutors regularly find is that when they have been advising their students on academic matters for a significant amount of time, students often turn to them for advice on broader issues. Often students require the advice of their tutors in making life decisions such as what subject to study at university, where to apply and whether to take a gap year. Whilst these are all matters on which tutors are equipped to advise, tutors often walk a fine line between being an academic tutor and a life coach.
Up to a point, it is entirely reasonable for students to ask their tutors for advice with broader issues, especially as they relate to their next academic step. Tutors have often recently been through the process themselves, and may have much advice to offer based on their own experiences. Tutors can explain the costs of benefits of gap years, help students research universities and talk them through the application process. Sometimes helping students in this way becomes a natural part of their tuition in a particular subject, but other times tutors are brought in specifically to help with such matters.
When this happens, it often highlights the lack of information and advice that is otherwise available to students. Officially, schools are supposed to advise students on university applications and decisions such as whether to take a gap year, but often these services are either not available, or very poor. School advisors are unfortunately often unaware of crucial information regarding university applications, failing, for example, to point out that gap years are generally not encouraged by universities for Maths applicants, or that some subjects are considered more desirable choices than others for particular courses. Under these circumstances, tutors can be the best source of information and advice. However, they should not be considered a replacement for good student advice services.