Are tutoring centres worthwhile?

Tutoring centres will compromise of classes of anywhere up to 20 pupils. Classes will often take place either on weekends or after school and will typically last for 1 or 2 hours.

Tutoring delivered at a tutoring centre in not the same as tutoring delivered privately. It is not bespoke to each child and it is not 1-2-1. Essentially, all it is is extra school time.

Sometimes, tutoring centres will split pupils up into groups based on what topics they need to work on. They do this by using BOFA to distinguish between what their pupils can and can’t do. In this case, BOFA is used as a filter to find out problem topics and as a tool for improvement.

One benefit of sending your child to a tutoring centre is that they will be part of a wider community of children who are actively attending sessions to learn.

One thing to bear in mind when choosing a tutoring centre for your child is that they are not all the same. If they want you to make a financial commitment for a long period of time then the centre probably isn’t too good. Sometimes, a tutoring centre that works well for one child will be completely wrong for another.

There is no advantage of sending your child to a tutoring centre over sending them to a good primary school or helping them at home using BOFA to filter out topics they already understand.

How can you support your child's learning at home?

What resources should your child use to prepare for their 11+?