The London Tutoring Service ‘Shadow’:
Private tutoring services in London have long witnessed the quiet but loud shift in the education system, as more and more parents and students opt for personalised teaching and learning that focuses on curriculum content and builds the necessary self-esteem, confidence and life-skills building that today’s young people urgently demand from their schools but often don’t receive. Over the last thirteen years that Über Tutors has been running tailored and quality tutoring and coaching to students, we’ve seen this initially quiet shift to now becoming a full-blown exercise in having created a ‘shadow school system’.
Demand Sets the Service:
Demand speaks loudest in any business or service industry. We pay attention to what parents and students need, what challenges they have, and what barriers and gaps we can fill for them so they entrust us with the most important matter in their lives – their education and the impact it creates for a lifetime. So, as professional tutors, teaches and coaches, we also demand that the loud shift towards personalised learning and results no longer hides in the shadows..
The Suspicious School Teacher No Student Needs:
For a long time, parents and students have been ‘trained’ in mindset to hide the best support they receive in learning and education, whilst wearing a performative mask of meritocracy within a schooling system that emphasises student ‘independence’ whilst shaming them quietly about getting teaching support.
I recall once getting a shocking call from a private school GCSE English teacher from a reputable north London private school asking if we tutor one of his students and how we help him or if we do the work for him. Honestly, it was disgustingly unprofessional and narrow-minded to play ‘police’ with a very high-potential student who experienced a lot of anxiety in the classroom setting, and yet performed brilliantly when sitting with his kind, understanding, and highly confidence-building private tutor. I could tell when speaking to him, exactly why this particular student had developed so much fear and freeze-response towards the English subject. It had taken us 4 months to slowly melt the mental block this student had created and here was his actual school teacher, going out of his way to call us and investigate, because he clearly looked down on this student’s potential and abilities and was likely shocked that he had gone from getting Ds and Cs to As in absolutely brilliant essays and assignments he would write. Needless to say, that this kind of mistrust and behaviour has made parents in London and the UK incredibly tense about hiring private tutors, and having to hide the very best thing that happened for their student-child in the lurks of some kind of shadow.
Time to Face the Tutoring Truth:
It is truly time to radically shine the light on this dark nonsense between the school system and the private tutoring/mentoring sector. Mature and kind-minded teaching professionals demand collaboration – not competition! Private tutors have become a lifeline in the academic performance and confidence of young people for many years. They understand the school curriculum demands and needs just like school teachers, they teach and practice and probe the challenging and unlearned areas each student faces, and most importantly they coach and build confidence and self-belief, because the nature of personalised lessons allows this vital combination between structure and care. Ask any student you know to describe what a great teacher feels like and I guarantee you they will say a great teacher balances ‘kind and firm’ – this is what our interviews and data reflect for the last thirteen years at Uber Tutors! And we take what students want and need very serious.
Private Schools, We Love you, But You’re So Expensive!
Recently the government added a burdensome 20% VAT to private school fees, already notoriously known for being elite and expensive. This has turned many British and UK parents to alternatives. The alternative that is causing a big boom and flow in the tutoring sector. We’ve long advised parents that if they can easily afford sending their children to private schools, then why not, that is a power-based choice. However, we have long advised that parents strongly consider the option to send their kids to a decent-good state school or college and set aside what would be a fraction of private school costs to organise highly tailored and personalised teaching and coaching at a really reputable private tutoring service with in depth initial assessments, carefully tailored tutoring plan recommendations and tutor matching, and supervisory feedback and protocols.
Time to Cherish the Truth about Your Tutor Proudly:
It sounds like our advice has become a truth and reality – and we’d love it if we were proudly supported, so we no longer have to hide as some kind of less superior ‘shadow school’, when in fact we truly change young people’s lives for the better! I mean just check out our Google Reviews and testimonials on our website and read the in depth success stories that students and parents have shared. It’s really hard getting parents to leave us these wonderful reviews because of the taboo and ‘shadow’ on the private tutoring sector. it sometimes hilariously but sadly feels like we are some kind of secret ‘mistress’ in this powerful sector. We insist on transparently and proudly telling schools and education professionals how much your tutors and our services matter.
Thanks in advance!
With care,
The wonderfully kind and firm tutoring team at Über Tutors
