Why the recent increase in private tuition?

Over the last decade, we have been seeing a steady increase in private tuition here in Britain, and it's a trend that won't be disappearing any time soon. The increase is global, with Japan leading the way in private tutoring. In South Korea and Turkey, spending on private tuition is almost equal to the amount spent on education in the public sector. What exactly does this phenomenon mean for UK students?

Demand

This increase in private tuition comes largely from the continuing demand for higher education and degrees. With increased competition for employment, students and families are looking to tutoring to help them remain competitive and get into sought-after schools and universities. This is especially true for middle class families looking to work in the service industry and needing degrees to make them eligible for jobs. Private tuition helps them to achieve their goals and creates further demand for private tuition as others strive to keep up or get ahead of the game.

At university level, students want more contact time from lecturers to help them make sense of their studies. But a recent report by the Higher Education Institution and consumer group Which? shows that many students are actually getting less lecture hours than they should be receiving from their higher education. The findings supplement a report by the Quality Assurance Agency, which found huge discrepancies in student study hours in UK institutions. As a result of this, students are using private tutoring to close the gap in achievement and give them more time with someone who can support their learning. And as British cities and universities become more multi-cultural, more students will need help outside the classroom to adjust to the British education system.

Confidence

Private tuition also gives students a sense of personal achievement. Students who receive private tutoring are building their own confidence to help them achieve academically, and finding education more engaging.  Tutoring allows them to work and learn at a comfortable pace. As teachers in schools are hard-pressed to find the time to work with individual students during lessons, for some children and young people, classrooms can be unproductive environments. These students may find the work hard to follow and may struggle to remain engaged, even when the quality of teaching is high. 

Private tutoring provides the support students need, which can lead to an improvement in their work, grades, behaviour and engagement in the classroom. Having a tutor to assess and support a student on a one-to-one basis can heighten intellectual curiosity and, for many students, a private mentor gives greater value to the information they are learning.

The growth in private tuition demonstrates a positive trend in how society values education and learning, and more families are looking for opportunities to make sure that their children get the attention they need.

If you would like your children to have that opportunity, please get in touch with us on 01858 462648 and talk to us about how we can help.

10 benefits of private tuition

There are many reasons for investing in private tuition. Here are 10 things you can expect to benefit from:

1. Much smaller student to teacher ratio
Because private tuition takes place in small groups or one-to-one, students are able to focus better and are taught in a way that specifically meets their own unique needs. Here at Inicio, students attend in groups of up to six children, but teaching is always one-to-one.

2. The right tutor
At school, you don't have a choice about your teachers, but we match the child and the tutor following our first meeting with the child. This means students have a mentor who teaches in the most effective manner for their learning styles.

3. Extra review
Often in school there is only a limited time to review a child's work and understanding. That may not always be enough. Having a private tutor gives students an extra chance to review the areas in which they may be struggling. 

4. Homework help
With a tutor, students enjoy having a guide who can make the topics that they're covering for homework less stressful, less of a chore and more of an effective learning experience.

5. Test practice
For students who struggle with studying for tests, private tuition helps them to develop better study skills and ultimately to perform better in exams.

6. Confidence
Because tutors develop a more personal relationship with their students, they are able to see and cultivate the potential within them. This is all too easy for teachers in school to miss, especially if a child is well-behaved or of average intelligence. This gives students increased confidence in their studies.

7. Saves parents and students time and effort
Parents with busy schedules don't always have time to help their children with school work. Having a private tutor takes the pressure off (although we would always encourage parents to spend time with their children wherever possible!). 

8. Stronger drive to perform to their very best
Because private tuition means the instructor is really focused on the success of the student, students are far more likely to have an increased drive to perform to the very best of their ability.

9. Safe environment for open discussion
Sometimes students may not be as willing to ask questions in a large class, but working with a private tutor gives them more confidence and the freedom to speak out.

10. Students get taught by innovative methods 
Because private tuition is one-to-one, tutors are willing to experiment with new teaching styles that work more effectively for the student.   

If you feel you or your child could benefit from a private tutor in Leicester then why not visit our learning centre in the centre of Market Harborough to see for yourself and to talk with our friendly staff about the options available. 

School readiness for 4 year olds

It’s a popular pastime among many mums to boast about the astonishing IQ of their offspring: they can count to 100, they can name every country on the map and they can even write their full name and address. It’s every parent’s right to be proud but, as a result, others may start to question whether they’ve done their own child a disservice by not having instilled such a vast amount of knowledge in their 4 year old. They may even feel that they’ve ‘wasted’ too much time on play, fun and games and neglected the academic needs of their little one.

Reception

The truth is, ask any reception teacher and they will tell you, it doesn’t really matter. It doesn’t matter if they haven’t learnt how to hold a pencil. It’s not important if their alphabet’s hazy (or non-existent). It isn’t even a problem if they can’t count to 10 yet.

What the teacher would really love to see is a child that’s able to listen, be patient and ask for help if necessary. A child that can play with others, share, take turns and understand that others have feelings too. These children are usually happier in the classroom and easier to teach. Simple things like going to the toilet without any help, peeling their own banana at lunchtime and speaking clearly will do lots for your child’s confidence and will be a great help to their teacher too.

Now I’m not saying that you shouldn’t sing a rainbow, try to teach them to count or work on the alphabet together, not at all. What I’m saying is that it shouldn’t worry you if it hasn’t sunk in. If you engage with your child they will have social skills. If you read to your child, they will have an attention span of some kind and will be ready to listen at school. If you sing educational songs with them daily, they will learn without even trying.

Confidence

As a matter that is close to my heart at the moment (my tiny nephew has just turned 4 and marched off with his lunchbox just a few weeks ago), transition from pre-school to reception can be very daunting for the adults involved. By arming your child with confidence and the ability to listen, you are doing far more to prepare them for ‘big school’ than by teaching them a few bits of knowledge – this can be left to the lovely, smiley teacher who is going to appreciate your little listener and be very grateful that you’ve prepared them so well. Don’t feel guilty… they’re ready for this new adventure (even if you’re not!)

Why do students find Maths such a difficult subject?

Talk to students, and you'll probably find that Maths is among the most unpopular subjects. It's boring, it's difficult, it lacks the excitement of what they really want to be doing.

The funny thing is though, that Maths is actually a fascinating subject, as well as one of the most useful for career success. Fields such as engineering and computer science really demand a good knowledge of Maths to succeed. And maths tuition, if geared towards the student's interests, can often light up the their abilities, even if they're not finding that interest in their school work.

Difficult

The problem for many people may be that Maths is seen as difficult, because a grounding in the basics is essential before you get to the more interesting stuff. Think of it as being a bit like a Beatles song. Take it apart, and it's very complicated: melodies are overlaid on one another, chords shift into different keys, scales from foreign cultures suddenly enter into the structure of the song. But when you hear it, you don't think of the underlying structure of the song, you just think it's a great tune!

Just as we might not realise that some of our favorite things are built on complicated structures, students may not realise that their interests might be related to subjects they would otherwise find prohibitively difficult.

Problem-solving

This is why a maths tutor with reluctant learners can really help their students understand the subject by igniting a passion in it. Relating a student's interests to the task at hand is just one way to create positive reinforcement in their learning. Perhaps their favourite song or favourite painting is built on mathematical principles. Maybe they're football fans, and don't realise that problem-solving skills are essential to a team's success. Whatever the method, by showing students how the most interesting parts of their worlds are structured on Maths, we can teach them that if they put in the work, they'll find more enjoyment than they knew existed.

The results day fallout

Many of us know at least one young adult that suffered the dreaded A-level results day last week or, if not, someone that will have a similar ordeal with today’s GCSE results.

As we all remember vividly, it’s a day that can go either way. After weeks and weeks of putting it to the back of your mind, that August date creeps ever nearer and occupies more and more of your thoughts.

The fact is, they’re not just exam results. They are the difference between packing for university in a few weeks’ time and having to rethink your whole career plan, the difference between joining your friends in the sixth-form and being the one left behind to resit Year 11.

Life-changing

That’s huge. That’s life-changing.

Despite the fact that these results are important, we have to keep in mind that they were written months ago and that there is absolutely nothing at all that can alter them now; no amount of hoping, wishing or praying will change the result inside that envelope.

What we do know is that, if a student is worried about their exam results, they care very much and, if they care, they probably studied well and revised as much as they possibly could last spring.

If all this is true, then they should be proud of themselves, whatever the envelope holds and they should know that ‘success’ in life doesn’t always rely on an exam result.

Success

There are many roads to success and, if they’re determined and hardworking, that little piece of paper won’t prevent them from achieving their goals. If they didn’t stand in the way of Albert Einstein, Vincent Van Gough or Bill Gates, exam results shouldn’t be a hindrance for anyone.

So – for you students out there – whether your grades fall short of your expectations or exceed them, an exam result doesn’t determine your fate – you do...now go get ‘em!

Education column by Sarah Ludden-Roughley

Sarah is the owner and mentor of Harborough firm Inicio, based at Bennett’s Place Courtyard in Market Harborough, LE16 7NL. It offers exclusive private tuition in a bespoke study environment offering tailored one-to-one learning.

For more details, see its website at harboroughtutors.co.uk, email info@HarboroughTutors.co.uk or phone 01858 462648.

Follow Inicio on Twitter, @Iniciotutors