Your Questions Answered, Online Tuition from the Experts

How Does It Work?

 

Online tuition works as simply as the tutoring that you are picturing in your head. Students are still able to form a relationship with their tutor and learn in their own time. Online tuition happens at home, meeting the tutor via a website like Sherpa with a selection of subject specialists, all ready to help you achieve your goals. 

 

Meeting your tutor online stops any geographical limitations that would usually apply and you are able to search the whole country for the expert that you need. You can message, transfer documents and homework just as you would with regular tutoring. When it comes to the actual introductions and lessons, these take place over a video chat or a video chat enabled whiteboard. Just like Sherpa’s one below.


What Equipment Do I Need?

 

School children learning from home have access to all the equipment that is needed for online tuition. Having had to complete their school classes online during lockdowns has meant that they are pro’s with any necessary equipment. 

 

All that is needed is a laptop/computer with a working camera and microphone and an internet connection, the experienced tutor will then guide you from here onwards. 

 

Now sit back, relax and join the 84% of students who believe online tuition is more or as effective as face to face learning.

 

How Often Should My Child Have Lessons?

 

Depending what age your child may be this could vary. Other factors also include whether they are doing their key stages or the build up to major public exams such as GCSEs and A-levels. 

 

Most students engage in 1-2 hours a week of online lessons, at regular intervals to complete all relevant homework and study tasks set by the tutor. These lessons are then usually increased to 2-3 hours a week in the build up to exam season. 

 

When first meeting a tutor, the students usually either come with topics and methods that they are struggling with or they will be assessed by the tutor to pinpoint difficulties that they may be having. The tutor can plan out lessons around those topics to make the best use of their time. Focusing on one topic per lesson and then setting tasks to be done later to hone skills. This method works as a supplement to the teaching that a child is receiving in school and finely irons out any issues that may be cropping up. 

 

Another popular method for online tuition is to follow up the topics covered in class that week and go into greater detail to gain a better understanding and working practice. In these cases it is beneficial for the child to gain a fresh perspective from a new teacher. 

 

When selecting an online tutor it is very important to ensure that the tutor is familiar with the UK exam curriculums and can work in harmony with their school teachers to avoid any conflicting views and misleading information. The safest way to ensure this is to go to a site which focuses on Qualified UK Teachers

 

What Results Can I Expect?

 

By its nature, Online tutoring is a 1-1 activity. This means the full focus of the tutor is on one student and the full attention of the student is on the tutor, rather than messing about with their friends. The online whiteboard used by Sherpa is also incredibly engaging due to its large open area to upload documents and scribble on past papers with your tutor. 

 

Scientific studies have also shown students that undergo online tuition to retain 25%-60% more material when compared to 8%-10% within a classroom environment.

Some online tutoring platforms have conducted research on work progress via online learning platforms. Using a standardised assessment test they found that children who received one-to-one online maths tuition achieved double their expected progress. This allowed them to complete a 28 week course in 14 weeks. 

 

What are the most Popular Subjects?

 

Online tutoring is most popular around exam year and level students, primarily GCSE and A-level. The subjects which are slightly more difficult to grasp are the ones which most people tend to receive online tuition in. For example Maths and the Sciences. 

 

Bramble, an online interactive whiteboard provider, did research into what their sessions were being used for and found that in Q1 and Q2 of 2020 38% of all lessons taught were Maths.

 

Where Should I Go/Who Are the Big Players?

 

There are a few big names out there, such as MyTutorSherpa and Tutorful. All offer a similar ‘student led’ process where the prospective student can filter and search through ranks of suitable tutors. However, each has their own niche. 

 

Mytutor, employs university students to teach subjects that they came across at school. Sherpa focuses on UK school teachers to become their tutors, familiar with curriculums and teaching methods to retain information. Tutorful is very diverse and also offers face-to-face in-person tuition.