5 Reasons Why Traditional Tutoring Needs Improvement

“By focusing on flexible schedules, modern techniques, and manageable workloads that don’t impede on your child’s mental wellbeing, you can turn the tutoring experience from a nightmare into a dream.”

When it comes to boosting a child’s SATs or GCSE grades, many parents turn to traditional tutoring as the knight in shining armour. But before you thrust your beloved offspring into the arms of the nearest tutor, beware! Traditional tutoring, while often helpful, comes with many pitfalls. Here are 5 reasons why traditional tutoring sucks and why modern alternatives might just be the better route - not only because they could save you some money, but also because it could help your child achieve better grades without sacrificing their mental wellbeing.

Reason 1. The Generational Clash

Picture this: Your teenager, who thrives on sarcasm and memes, is paired with a tutor who follows the same chalk-and-talk approach to teaching that’s been with us since the days of Queen Victoria. It’s a recipe for disaster. You only need to look at the number of students preferring to be homeschooled in the UK to understand that they are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with ‘modern’ schooling. Children are learning using in more exciting ways and so they might start seeing the tutor as nothing more than an extension of the thing they’re trying to avoid.

Reason 2. The Rigid Routine

Traditional tutoring often follows a strict schedule, which can turn learning into a tedious chore. Imagine a student already exhausted from a day of school, now trudging to another hour of structured study. It’s like making a marathon runner do a sprint right after crossing the finish line. Cue the eye rolls and dramatic sighs. Tutors will typically need their students to join them at certain times convenient to their own schedules, which is understandable, of course, but just adds to the rigidity. Both young and older children want flexibility with their learning.

Reason 3. That Pesky Forgetting Curve

You will pay good money for a tutor to teach your child 1-hour per week, but did you know that your child will forget half of what they’ve just been taught in the first hour alone? By the end of the day they’ll have forgotten 70% of that information and by the next tutoring session a week later, only a measly 10% of the knowledge is retained. This is one of the big factors to why traditional tutoring sucks - it simply does not make economic sense. Sure, your child might improve their grades somewhat, but science shows us that there are better ways to improve knowledge retention that don’t take up anywhere near as much time. Learn more about the Forgetting Curve here.

Reason 4. The Cost Conundrum

We’ve touched on how traditional tutoring doesn’t offer value-for-money but it’s a tougher pill to swallow when you realise how expensive tutoring is becoming. According to recent poll, the average spend for a tutor in the UK is £50 each week. You can probably find someone for £30 but chances are they’re not a qualified educator with zero classroom experience. If you’re wanting a top performing tutor then you expect to pay upwards of £70. But often, parents find themselves shelling out big bucks for minimal improvements. It’s like buying an expensive treadmill that ends up as a clothes hanger—just a tad disappointing.

Reason 5. The Homework Overload

Ever seen a student who’s had too much homework? It’s not pretty. Traditional tutoring can sometimes add to this burden, leaving students overwhelmed and overstressed. Remember, a stressed student is about as effective as a chocolate teapot when it comes to learning. Young people are experiencing a never before seen mental health crisis and the old-fashioned approach to learning they have to endure day-in-day-out, whilst not the only factor, certainly contributes to this deterioration.

Traditional tutoring has its share of pitfalls that modern alternatives often alleviate. By focusing on flexible schedules, science-backed techniques and manageable workloads that don’t impede on your child’s mental wellbeing, you can turn the modern learning experience from a costly nightmare into an affordable dream. Tutoring will always have its place for some people, but if we want to give more students the opportunity to reach their full potential by accessing extra-curricular learning, then we need to embrace the modern era we live in and seek the powerful alternatives that exist. If not for the sake of the children, then at least for the sake of our bank balances.