Who’s who?

My approach is defined so let’s discuss and compare with what else in the Market. The competition is obviously well established and provides value. I have experience as a student, and an instructor of one. One that sprung up all over town recently, one that you can go while you do your groceries, one from Australia and a generic private tutor.

The private tutoring industry is huge and in demand, with so many big hitters. They all have their characteristics. Parents have the option of big global businesses or local private tutors. What do I have up my sleeve?

Ding ding ding…

In the Light Blue Corner, “K” is an approach from the Far East, which I am familiar with. It encourages a structured approach with worksheets and has a programme for Mathematics, English and other local languages dependent on the region. The worksheets are a key part of the process and are designed in a way for supervised learning where the examples on the worksheet effectively teach the student how to progress. The programme is highly structured and relies on the students’ and parents’ discipline (Parents need to do the marking, which provides the key performance indicators (KPIs)).

In the Purple Corner, “M” is a relatively recent addition. I have seen their Education centres sprouting up all over the town, hence it is popular. They focus on Maths and English. “M” presented a more balanced approach than just worksheets “K” or screen time “E”. Unlike “K”, “M” is more consistent with the National Curriculum and exams.

In the Green Corner, “E” is an education centre commonly found in an “Orange” supermarket. (only UK readers will understand this) So parents can drop off and go grocery shopping. The material is virtual, so I expect lots of screen time. Again, the subjects English and Maths appear to be recurring themes.

In the Yellow Corner, “KM” is also a long-established Tuition service, specialising in Maths and English. They have their own KPI and measures to demonstrate progress. There is face to face in person or online teaching, computer based learning,

In a random Corner is a private tutor, “P”, which can be online tuition or part of a group of tutors. Each tutor is likely to have a university degree in whichever subject. Therefore, different tutors can cover any subject and can be individually tailored to the student.

Ready to rumble, discussion points

There are 5 rounds, 1. Grade improvement, 2. Tailored to individuals, 3. Enjoyment, 4. Scaleability/Tutor time (affordability) and 5. bonus round.

Round 1 – Grade improvement “K” has the advantage of following its own programme, so the student will be 2 or 3 years ahead of National Curriculum level. This shows the benefit of having its own programme. If a student spend regular time each day (e.g. 30 mins) studying, and have weekly tuition then their grades are likely going to improve. Grade improvement is one of the prime reasons for extra tuition. My approach is based on any aspirations and interests. Maths grade improvement could be difficult to guarantee. The probability of grade improvement in the Sciences and English could be on par with “P”. Grade improvement is subject dependent, nonetheless probably the most important criterion for Parents. My opinion is that if one studies harder (ie. more time, more determination) then grades will improve. Therefore high efficiency study and effectiveness can be achieved with or without paid services. (How to convert extra study time into grade improvements?)

Round 2 – Tailored to individuals, “K” can only tailor the starting point and rate of completion to the individual. Tailor to individuals requires more human interactions which “M”, “KM”, and “P” can provide. “M” and “KM” are huge organisations so their flexibility will be limited. “P” can tailor to individuals with the cost of time. My approach is 100% tailored to the individual student, the starting point is their interests and aspirations to their learning resources, (time available to study, routine, budget, etc).

Round 3 – Enjoyment, this depends on the individual. My assumption is that if one does what one likes, it would be enjoyable. My approach adds context to what they learn when I try to find the subject matter expert (SME) to provide additional insights. Computer based learning can be enjoyable, when learning games are fun. “K” is a little bit old fashioned and repetitive. “E” is very virtual, and “M” is a hybrid between “K” and “M”. “KM” and “P” will depend on the teachers or tutors available to make their curriculum subject enjoyable.

Round 4 – Scaleability is difficult when a lot of individual tailoring is required and is inversely related to Tutor time. “K”, “M”, “E”, and “KM” are all large businesses. They showed that worksheets and online learning resources are key to a scalable business, which takes away actual tutor time. The child can just work on their own. “P” can be scalable when many tutors are working together but the price of private tuition will increase. I have templates for book review, and writing to cover English. My templates are versatile to cover any aspirations and topics.

Round 5 – Timeless content. My unique selling point is that I want the work that my students produce to stand the test of time. What makes content last the test of time? My opinion is that content is from the individual’s thoughts and interests at that particular time. What are their (then) aspirations, write about it, research about it. I use the fundamental subjects from the curriculum to build towards that aspiration. Write about the steps that you are taking towards your aspiration, or just keep exploring to find that aspiration. My focus is on the process and getting a system of study that works well for the individual. I am curious about their journey to become mastery of their arts / subjects..

No “K” student would say I was proud to do this worksheet or “M” student who would remember what they did 1 year or 5 years ago. My approach is not limited by a programme like “K” is or the online based “E” or the National Curriculum “M”, “KM”. “P” could provide similar inspiration depending on the individual.

In summary

My approach focuses on the longer term results (outcome of an interview) with the assumptions 1. fundamental subjects are the building blocks to their aspirations and 2. by studying more efficiently school grades will be better. The study should become more enjoyable with more context and relevance to personal aspirations. The biggest differentiator is that the student is creating content that is personal (use of alias recommended), and supports their quest to achieving their goals.

The benchmark showed that I need more versatile templates to manage tutor interaction time to make my approach viable. The root cause of the poor grades will be important as grade improvement is one of the key values. I need to derive KPIs to ensure progress.

I think King’s Scholarship needs “P” because subjects are broad and not limited to English and Maths.

*I think I will be happy with this content and it is a collection of my current thoughts (2024) and a baseline on how I would like to guide my children, which is more or less “Let them do what they want and let them do that well”.