Top Tips On Finding The Perfect Tutor For Your Child, by Max Blanshard founder of TutorMapper.
We all want to do the best for our children, but it would seem that us Londoners are a little more pro-active than the rest of the country when it comes to our children’s education. Almost 44% of parents in London – that’s twice as many as elsewhere in the UK – are choosing to supplement their child’s schooling with additional tuition, and they are reaping the benefits.
London’s tutoring industry is clearly booming, but it is also, as private tutor Max Blanshard discovered to his astonishment, a totally unregulated industry. It was the alarming discovery that anyone could advertise their services as a tutor, with no prior checks neccessary, that stimulated Max to launch TutorMapper.
“I wanted to create a place parents could trust – where quality and convenience were guaranteed.”
But what should you look for when choosing a tutor for your child? Well, we’ve picked Max’s brains and he shares his top tips with us here.
- Safety first. If you’re going to place your child in the care of, let’s face it, a stranger for an hour or more each week, the very least you need to do is to make sure that they have an up-to-date DBS check (previously CRB). Don’t feel embarrassed to ask, a good tutor will be expecting it.
- Speak with any prospective tutor before committing yourself. Don’t be swayed by a CV that boasts a string of A* grades and a glittering few years at Oxbridge – qualifications are important, but they’re no guarantee they can teach.
- Location, location, location. Our research suggests that the main reason a tutor drops a client is due to a long commute. You’ll want to hang onto a tutor that your child is blossoming with, so if you can find a tutor that isn’t going to have to cancel because of strikes, delays and the vagaries of the British weather, then you’re already halfway to success. Having a tutor on your doorstep also means that you can easily sort out last minute sessions or reschedule around hastily arranged sports fixtures.
- Don’t rely on your children to let you know how they’re doing – we all know how that’ll end – instead, arrange feedback directly with the tutor. Establish this early on, and a good tutor will keep you in the loop.
At TutorMapper, we understand what an important decision choosing a tutor is, and that is why we take the process as seriously as you do. Every single one of our tutors has been DBS checked, interviewed by professional agencies and vetted for their suitability.
