The increase of students looking for tutors has increased significantly in the last decade; with thousands more school-goers in the UK searching for help outside of the classroom, to the point where The Information Daily estimates that “the number of private tutors now exceeds the number of school teachers”, emphasising the growing need for tutors.
There are many reasons lying behind this boom in private tutorial, including the ferocity of competition to get into universities and secure work placements, cultural traditions filtering through the population, and the need to stay on track and catch up with the syllabus.
With more and more students deciding to go onto university, places have become harder to secure, with required grades for entry into top universities moving from an A to an A*. This upscale has meant more time is needed to guarantee brilliant exam results and flawless pieces of coursework; and in a class of thirty or more, it’s unlikely that school teachers can dedicate enough to each pupil. This has then led to the higher demand in private tutoring: one on one sessions to help ensure that a student has the correct facilities and knowledge to secure their predicted grades.
Similarly, private tutors now take on many students to help with university admissions. This stretches far beyond advice on which university to apply for, to help with personal statements and interview preparation.
With a large syllabus to cover, school classes often lack the time to be able to help students catch up when struggling, or if they’ve missed vital lessons. Private tutors can ensure that any student can catch up on their work, and remain working at the same standard as the rest of the class. It can be daunting to be the only one in a room who doesn’t understand, leading to more tutors taking on struggling students, to help improve not only their grades, but their self-confidence too.
Likewise, with more foreign and international students joining the UK school system, tutors are being used to help catch up students unfamiliar with the syllabus. In honour of many cultural norms, international students from certain countries, such as China, South Korea and Japan, are used to a high level of private tutoring, and expect the same in the UK.
The influx of new technologies and file sharing services has meant online tutoring has burgeoned: pupils and tutors can have their own sessions without having to travel great distances and waste precious time in the evenings or weekends. This growing ease of being tutored has added to its popularity: more tutors with incredible backgrounds are available throughout the country, without being restrained by location.
The tutoring business has flourished in the UK, and is helping more and more students reach their full potential, secure the university they want to attend, and help attain the goals they’ve set for themselves.
Robert Grabiner – Founder of MyTutorWeb