Why use a qualified teacher as an English tutor?

Qualified English teachers will have experience in the classroom and, more often than not, experience marking and grading with exam boards. This makes their expertise invaluable. From as early as the 7+ examination there are key differences evident with what schools are looking for, and when you arrive at GCSE, A-Level or IB Diploma, these differences are magnified. It is important that the tutor you choose to guide your child through a key examination is aware of the different mark schemes and assessment objectives for that particular school or exam board. For example, the Kent 11+ is very different to the Essex 11+, and a tutor who offers non-specific provision is not going to help your child effectively. Qualified teachers will have access to exam board material which they have used in their schools and developed themselves to meet the specific needs of their pupils. There is also the issue, particularly with GCSE and A-Level English, of textual knowledge. A qualified English teacher will know Shakespeare plays inside out and understand the contextual intricacies of complex feminist literary theory; an unqualified tutor may attempt this, but without the awareness needed for the top grades. There are key differences between the syllabi of, for example, OCR and AQA, which, depending on the tutor’s knowledge, could mean the difference between hitting those top bands and missing them entirely. Our advice: qualified English teachers who are also tutors offer a wealth of knowledge and experience which really does matter.

What is the difference between having English tuition at home and online?

Online English tuition offers a world of opportunity and interaction which is particularly useful for today’s busy educational environment. Children do not, in general, have any issues focusing on a screen for an hour! They engage well with up to the minute technology, picking up ways of writing, sharing and collaborating quickly and easily. Google Docs remains the best collaborative tool for older pupils: you can see each other’s cursor and you can actually write something together, one sentence at a time, far more quickly than you can on paper. Documents are created and shared within seconds, and editing is instantaneous. Homework is never lost and it is easy to see when it was done and how long it took – unlike paper versions, which in my experience can be mislaid. For younger pupils, particularly those learning new terminology or practising those tricky grammatical questions that the 7+/8+/10+/11+ boards seem to love, Kahoot or Quizlet are fantastic ways to test them on their knowledge. Pupils can also make up their own quiz, getting inside the mind of the examiner and helping them to understand the mark scheme in a fun, interactive way. There are also great creative writing platforms such as Storybird, and qualified teachers will have their own favourite online tools and tricks which make the experience fun and exciting for every child.