Let’s say a student is headed for straight “B” grades for three “A” levels. What would it cost to raise their performance to straight “A” grades? I’d estimate, with our approach about £1,200. Worth it? I suppose it depends what they want to do with their life. For my part, I’d say “very probably, yes” given the store people put on people having attended top tier universities and the tendency to fast-track such people when they reach employment.
Alternatively, how much money is saved when people earn a scholarship to attend a school instead of just pay the fees like everyone else? Do you think that if your child could get their first language “O” level or perhaps even an “AS” level by the age of 11 or 12 that they might be perceived as rather bright and receive invitations to scholarships? We do. And it isn’t even hard to do.
What if your child leaves school feeling confident and capable instead of somewhat defeated? What if they want to be a doctor or a vet and they are competing with the best students in the UK for strictly limited places? The students I met who wanted to go into either of those two professions did not have it as a casual interest but rather an all-consuming passion and could not imagine what else would provide an equal sense of purpose. And they are competing with the best.
What if your child has what are known as “special needs” and are surrounded by people who with the best will in the world are trying to normalise failure and show them how to cope with defeat. In reality they are capable of triumph and the confidence that flows naturally from achievement and success. In my experience, if they are listening (most are) then their situation can usually be turned around with less than 8 hours of tutoring and a couple of months of application on their part.
Are tutoring fees expensive? I guess it depends on how effective the tutor is and what is done with the extra academic ability generated, with how desperate the need or the height of the ambition concerned. Tutoring is deployed a lot, ironically by parents whose children are already attending the best schools in the country.
I’ve always enjoyed helping people reach their true ability but I’ve also been pained by feeling that I was contributing further unfairness to an already unfair playing field. We are working on that.