It is often said that human beings are social animals. This does not apply only to communication but also to learning. Collaborative learning is always better than individual learning, at least in an educational environment. This is because of our varying interests. One child might love a subject that another might struggle to understand!
Reports from the Europa Statistics mention that almost 10% of children leave education at a lower secondary level either due to lack of clarity or a disinterest. This can adversely affect their future and their potential as well. That is why many services offer tutoring in UK to counter this problem of early leaving.
The UK Tutors Association predict around 10,000 tutors working full-time. With the pandemic in place, the demand for private tutors has in the UK has increased, adding to the tutoring industry. The market value of this industry is estimated to be around $130 billion. The tutoring market in the United Kingdom is projected to grow further with a growth rate of 8.6% and reach $200 billion by 2026!
What is tutoring?
Tutoring is a popular form of collaborative learning where a tutor teaches the client something they wish to improve. Tutoring as Lev Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory inspired a concept. Essentially, in a tutoring system, a more-experienced person teaches a less-experienced person. So unlike classroom collaboration, where same-level individuals learn together, a better-known individual assists the client.
Many institutions have a tutoring system that aims to assist the child in learning better and cultivate an interest to study more. These systems are made available from as early as middle school and typically go up till graduate-level education. Many British and Irish secondary schools call the professionals in this system as form tutors.
Typically, tutoring does not involve a well-scheduled test system like schools and colleges. Instead, they consist of tailored programmes that primarily assess what the child needs assistance with. Broadly, tutoring aims to simplify content that the student finds difficult to understand.
Private vs Group tutoring
The two popular types of tutoring are private and group tutoring. Private tutoring consists of one-on-one classes where the entire focus of the tutor is placed on one student’s needs. Group tutoring, on the other hand, has a classroom environment. It consists of lesser students than in a classroom.
Both methods have their pros and cons. Group tutoring is for children who are academically proficient and can easily pick up concepts. However, since group learning has a fixed pace of teaching, it might be unable to accommodate learners of all speeds. Private tutoring is for individuals with different learning styles and rates. However, the interaction element is missing in private tutoring.
As of 2021, private tutoring in UK has increased in demand, especially in London. Around one-third of middle schoolers engage in one-on-one tutoring sessions–that is about 40% of British secondary students! This unprecedented demand is due to the lockdown where children are primarily involved in online sessions.
How does tutoring work?
Typically, tutoring sessions are after-school. The timing is based on one reason: children are much more receptive and can make associations easily if it’s right after school. The type of tutoring service depends on assessing what the child needs.
Not all children need assistance to learn better. This is why most tutoring services perform a skill and gap assessment before assigning a tutor. Some students might have different goals like scoring all or scoring 10% higher than last time. Other students might already be good at a particular subject but might lack confidence. The fact that tutoring lessons are tailored makes it easier for the learner to achieve their goals efficiently. Based on the skillset, learning speed and objectives, the test difficulties will also vary.