I’m a tutor – these are the biggest mistakes worried parents make

An increasing number of pupils have not only returned to school this autumn, but to their regular tutoring sessions. According to the Sutton Trust’s Private Tutoring 2026 report, 29 per cent of secondary school students in England and Wales have received private tutoring at some point, up by 18 per cent from 20 years ago. The tutoring market is filled with academics, teachers and, in some cases, entirely unqualified chancers; with classes costing anywhere from £15 to over £100 an hour. To help you avoid the pitfalls that plenty of parents encounter when picking the right tutor for their child, Ed Barnett, a former teacher and tutor who now works for Owl Tutors, shares his advice. Don’t forget to do proper checks The tutoring sector is unregulated; anyone can set themselves up. You’re not legally required to have a DBS check, and you’re not required to have certain credentials. There is one company where you could go on and find an English tutor for a pound, because it’s some poor guy in Sri Lanka advertising language lessons. So due diligence is a good idea. It doesn’t necessarily mean you need to have a qualified teacher, but if you’re ill, you go to a doctor, not someone just with a biology degree. Don’t withhold information Some people jump into tutoring without a clear diagnostic assessment of the child’s needs, and they then also don’t ask the tutor to do one. Often, schools’ feedback boils down to “working towards target”, “working at the current target level” and “working above target”. But they won’t necessarily get specific feedback. As a tutor, it’s more cost-effective to have a really clear idea of where children are when sessions start. So give the tutor as much information in advance, such as examples of recent assessments or mocks, so that they can accumulate that data. Shorts Don’t ignore progress Tutors and agencies should be accountable, and there should be demonstrable progress. It’s very easy to leave tutoring ticking along, because everyone’s busy but it’s good to know: what are they doing in that session, why are they doing it, where are they going in the next session? What’s the target in six weeks, what’s the target in six months? Don’t underinvest Everyone’s strapped for cash and sometimes the cheapest solution is not the best solution. It might be worth getting a more expensive tutor that you need for fewer sessions than an ongoing low-cost tutor, which can end up becoming more expensive. Don’t push too much Too much of anything can be counterproductive. Sometimes there’s a temptation – if you know there is a deadline coming such as an entrance exam, you want to double up on everything, book a lesson every day. But kids will only learn if they’re enjoying their tuition sessions. If it becomes burdensome, then it can become counterproductive. We all remember being at school: if there’s a lesson you dread, you tend not to enjoy it as much and not to learn so efficiently with it. So it’s about keeping it enjoyable but challenging enough. There’s a thing called Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development and it is where, when kids feel supported enough and are challenged enough, they can fail and learn from that point and be OK. Overdoing it can make it feel like endurance and stop them from reaching that developmental stage. It’s about finding that sweet spot. For some kids it’s an hour a week, some it’s 45 minutes a week, and for some it is two hours a week. Don’t helicopter Parents have to be careful with helicoptering because kids are so good at picking up that vibe. If their brain states switch from “this is something I need to learn because it’s going to help me” to “I need to learn this, otherwise mum or dad’s going to be cross with me”, it sets up a roadblock. Education is better now than it was a generation ago; the league tables are pretty clear on that. There are newer ways of doing things and sometimes a parent just has to trust the process and let go. My son did his 11 plus last year, and I used to tutor him, but I got fired within 15 minutes, because while I’ve got infinite patience for everyone else’s children, with my own son, I’m not a particularly patient or understanding tutor. Letting him have one of our tutors do it meant he enjoyed his lesson and it created that space between family and academic life. Don’t rush your child We often speak to parents who are set on a particular school, or their kids are on a borderline grade for English or Maths. Some parents do look for tutors who will hothouse, especially when their expectation for their child is really high. That means some tutors will just drill the kids with exam paper after exam paper. But sometimes parents can lose sight of the fact that those entrance exams are supportive. They’re there to check if the kid can cope with the pace of the school in the next five years. Some kids who are hothoused for an uber-selective exam might just scrape it, but then they’re going to be in the bottom set until they do their GCSEs. Whereas if they went to another school that was a little bit broader in what it was looking for, like sports or creative elements as well as the academics, the kid could be in the top set and actually have a happier journey. It’s about taking the long view of education. Don’t expect miracles in a short time frame. If it’s a month before the GCSE exam, you’re going to get gains, but they might be marginal gains. If you can think about it, think about it as a medium- to longer-term thing, it’s much better for the kids that way.