How it works: FAQs and advice Enquire

Why use Torrington Tutors?

Torrington Tutors is a well-established agency providing a tutor introduction service throughout North London and surrounding areas.

Over many years we have introduced our approved tutors to thousands of families and young people from across North London. Our tutors have helped these students to overcome their educational challenges, and then go on to achieve their study goals and ambitions.

To ensure the highest standards of integrity and competence, all the tutors we introduce have been carefully chosen and checked for the appropriate level of qualifications and teaching experience for the subject/s they offer.

When booking through the Torrington Tutors Find a Tutor Enquiry Form you will have the reassurance of working with an agency committed to providing a high level of personal service.

Our approach to tutoring is always determined by an assessment of the student’s needs and establishing realistic targets for achievement. Our aim is to provide students with a tailored programme that is best suited to their individual requirements.

We provide help across the full spectrum of age and ability, from those facing challenges with their learning, to assisting gifted students seeking to extend their learning beyond the norm.

Our tutors will help students to obtain the right pace for their work, to ensure it is both achievable and at the same time sufficiently stretching to help them to achieve the result they desire.

There are some very important differences between Torrington Tutors and many of the other types of tuition agencies you will find on the web.

Many are simply self-listing websites, who do not select or recommend tutors on behalf of the client; in fact, most do not even vet tutors before listing them on their sites.

When you contact us, there will be a real person to deal with your enquiry, plus we offer a Free Client Help line: 020 8446 3963.

Who Torrington Tutors are

Torrington Tutors was established in 1998 by teacher Gail Clemens of the London Borough of Barnet. It began as helping hand for students across North London in their academic study; using local tutors with first hand knowledge of North London schools, educational facilities and exam boards.

Torrington Tutors is now managed by Simon Pollock. Simon had a long career as a senior leader in the education and training sector. During which time Simon was the principal of a number of different continuing education colleges across the Eastern Region.

Our tutors are chosen are chosen via a rigorous selection process, based on the level and depth of their subject knowledge, as well as their ability to teach and support students.

Before being selected by us, tutors undergo a thorough vetting process and must provide details of their experience, evidence of their qualifications, and copies of all other relevant documentation.

Tutors at Torrington are among the best in their profession. They are passionate about both their specialist subject/s and the best way to help their tutees get the results they desire.

They come from a wide range of professional backgrounds. Many of them are teachers and lecturers, currently working within schools, colleges or universities, and some are retired teachers and lecturers; whereas others are professional subject specialists, with experience often based in the research and development sectors of industry.

Above all, our tutors are committed professionals, who are accomplished in their individual fields of study.

Tutor Registration: We carefully select all our tutors based on the level of their subject knowledge, as well as their ability to teach and coach students.

Tutor  Vetting: All of our tutors undergo a thorough registration and approval process; which includes their needing to submit the following evidential documentation

• Tutor Registration Form: including details of two professional referees. This is a comprehensive document, which provides us with all the key information about the tutor and the tuition they offer.
• Photo Identity Document: i.e. a passport or driving licence photo identity, which is then checked against other data which we hold about the registrant.
• Qualification Certification: i.e. copies of the certificates (or evidential paperwork) for all qualifications listed on their tutor profile.
• Citizenship: any non-UK citizens need to provide a scan or photo-image of proof that they have the right-to-work in the UK.
• References: we take up two confidential written references, which are checked to ensure these are satisfactory.
• DBS Enhanced Disclosure check: where a tutor has one, they must submit evidence of their DBS (CRB) Enhanced Disclosure check, before this can be listed on their Tutor Profile.

Torrington Tutors is a ‘tutor introduction agency’ and as such we have been advised that we are not able to require tutors to undergo DBS checks. Once we have made the introduction, any arrangements for the provision of the tuition itself become a ‘private contractual’ matter between the client and the tutor.

How Can Torrington Tutors Help?

Having a tutor will enable students’ who are willing to work hard to significantly improve their academic achievements and enhance their enjoyment of learning.

More specifically, our tutors can help students to…

• learn how to access the best reading materials and other learning resources.
• develop a strong study work ethic and build their confidence as a learner.
• build their level of subject knowledge and understanding.
• work towards becoming a well-motivated self-reliant learner.
• support students to organise their own individual study plans.
• develop strong study skills and exam techniques.
• develop their essay and dissertation writing skills and techniques.
• get the best out of using past papers to prepare fully for their exams.
• choosing the right combination of subjects to obtain a university place.
• set a study pace designed to ensure they are stretched to achieve their best.
• provide support for Special Educational Needs e.g. dyslexia, dyscalculia or ADHD, or some of the other range of SEND conditions.
• achieve significant academic improvement to enable the student to show what they can achieve beyond then norm.

Subjects Offered

We cover most subjects across the primary, secondary, sixth form and further education phases, as well as providing tuition for adults and university students.

We  list most of the subjects offered for each learning phase under the following headings:

Primary (Key Stage 1 & 2) Find a Tutor Enquiry Form

Secondary (Key Stage 3 & 4 incl. GCSEs) Find a Tutor Enquiry Form

Sixth Form/FE (Key Stage 5 incl. A Levels) Find a Tutor Enquiry Form

Higher Education (Under & Post Graduate) Find a Tutor Enquiry Form

Learning for Leisure (Adult Education) Find a Tutor Enquiry Form

Special Educational Needs: In general terms, all of our tutors would be expected to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to their approach to tutoring, to do their best to accommodate students who have a special educational need/s, have a learning difficulty, and/or have a disability.

In addition, some of our tutors have experience (and often qualifications) in working specifically with students with special needs, learning difficulties and disability, details of which will normally be listed on the Tutor’s Profile.

For example, some of our tutors have had experience of working with students with Asperger’s syndrome, autism, dyscalculia, dyslexia and/or other types of learning difficulties.

Generally, such tutors are not formal ‘experts’ in these fields (which are very specialised) but rather will have had varying amounts of experience working with students who have these conditions. Such tutors may also have undertaken some special needs awareness training (but usually only at an entry level).

We do have several specialist tutors on our register of approved tutors, but they are often fully booked, so it can be hard to secure their services.

For students who have specific special needs, learning difficulties and/or a disability, or who are just struggling with some aspect of learning (perhaps because of an undiagnosed condition), to enable your tutor to be able to best support the student, we strongly recommend that we or the tutor are made aware of any such issues, usually at the point when you make your initial enquiry i.e. before the tuition starts.

For further information about Special Educational Needs/Learning Difficulties please visit our Special Education Needs page

Finding a Tutor

The quickest way is for you to fill out our Find a Tutor Enquiry Form (the more information you provide, the greater chance of our finding the right tutor match).

Once we have received your Find a Tutor Enquiry Form (provided you have given us adequate information) our system will automatically conduct a ‘Tutor Search’ to identify which tutor, most closely meets the tuition requirements and is best matched geographically.

Or, if you have more time, why not call our Tuition Enquiry Line 020 8446 3963 .

We will need to ask for some basic contact information for the student and for yourself (if you are enquiring on behalf of someone else). Plus, we will need to ask a range of other questions about the student and the sort of tuition support required.

Based on the information provided, we will build a requirement profile focusing specifically on the student’s tuition needs; which we will then use to match the enquiry to the best tutor, who has potential availability.

How long will it take to find a tutor: Once we have received your Find a Tutor Enquiry Form (provided you have given us adequate information) our system will automatically conduct a ‘Tutor Search’ to identify which tutor, most closely meets the tuition requirements and is best matched geographically.

If we manage to get a good tutor match, based on the student’s needs and the geography, we will contact you (usually via email) within 12 hours; to provide you with a copy of the Tutor’s Profile and to give you an indication of the cost of the tuition.

Once you have had a chance to consider the Tutor’s Profile, you will then need to contact us ASAP to let us know if you would like us to check the tutor’s availability.

If that tutor has potential availability, we will then get the tutor to contact you directly, to arrange either a telephone and/or a face to face discussion about the tuition requirements; and at the same time to agree, should you wish to proceed to that stage, where and when the tuition might take place.

Most often, it takes between a couple of days and a week to get a tuition arrangement fully set-up (although at particular times of the year this can take a while longer).

What if there is no tutor match? If we can’t match your enquiry to a suitable tutor who has availability, we will let you know (usually via email) and at the same time we will try to offer you some other possible options e.g. we might suggest:

• Waiting until one of our tutors has availability (which can sometimes occur).
• If you have requested tuition at your home, but we do not have a tutor able to travel to you, we might suggest you should consider travelling to them.
• If you are willing to travel, but we still have not managed to find you a tutor, then we will let you know if we have a tutor who lives further afield who might be able to help.
• Consider having Skype tuition (if available for your subject).

We do have another North London tutor introduction agency we work closely with, so if we can’t help, we will check to see if they might have a tutor with availability to help.

Finally, if we cannot help you, we will do our best to suggest another approach which might help e.g. perhaps embarking on an open learning course or some other self-study approach.

Why do you ask for the school attended? There are three main reasons why it is very helpful for us to know which school or college the student is attending:

• Firstly this can avoid the potential embarrassment (and breach of privacy) of our matching a student to a teacher from the school where the student attends, who might be offering private tuition (in their spare time).
• Secondly discovering this information can open options for location and time of the tuition sessions e.g. if we cannot find a tutor close to your home, it might be possible to find a tutor who lives near to the student’s school or college.
• Thirdly knowing the school/college concerned, sometimes means the tutor will have a better understanding of certain factors, which may be beneficial to the student e.g. knowing that school’s approach to teaching that particular subject, or perhaps the tutor might have an understanding about a possible upcoming change to the curriculum or exam board at that school.

Does the school need to know? No, however, we usually advise parents, if they are planning to use private tuition, to make their son/daughter’s school aware of their plans. We would always encourage parents to have a chat to the school about any concerns or worries they might have about their son’s or daughter’s progress in learning.

In fact, this can sometimes be a very useful way to start a discussion with the school about your concerns and may lead to the school agreeing to put in some additional support to help address any difficulties.

Some schools positively encourage the use of private tutoring and often welcome a dialogue between the school and the tutor.

This type of dialogue can be highly beneficial for the student, as it can allow the tutor to gain a greater understanding of how the student performs in the relevant subject, as well as offering the tutor a good insight as to the school’s approach to teaching that subject.

However, you don’t have to inform the school… it’s completely up to you!

Neither we nor your tutor would have contact with the school about any tuition arrangements, unless we have been asked to arrange for the tuition to be at the school (which is occasionally the case) or if you have asked the tutor to speak to the school.

Fees and Payments

Tuition fees Our tutors are all freelance practitioners and as such they can decide (in discussion with the client) what level of tuition fee they will charge per-hour and for this reason the level of fees charged can vary between different tutors.

The actual per-hour tuition fee rate will be confirmed, once we know which tutor we will be introducing.

However, to give you an indication as to the likely cost, we have set out  the level of fees most often charged per-hour for each level of tuition (including our Client Agency Fee); these rates typically are as follows:

• Primary (KS 1 & KS2) between £30.00 and £35.00 per-hour.
• Secondary and GCSE between £35.00 and £45.00 per-hour.
• Sixth Form/A Level between £40.00 and £45.00 per-hour.
• Under & Post Graduate level between £50.00 and £65.00 per-hour.

N.B. Subjects like Physics and some levels of Maths often command a higher fee level.

N.B. Please keep in mind that the above rates are only indicative and, depending on which tutor you chose to engage, the rate you pay may vary from these amounts.

Travel costs If the tutor can offer tuition at the student’s home (some will, and others won’t), then they may ask for a contribution towards their travel costs.

Although, this is something that the tutor will need to discuss and agree with the client in detail, as it might be that the student is able to travel to the tutor’s home.

Payment timing We ask that you pay the tutor at the end of each lesson, or promptly if another method of payment is agreed with the tutor.

Payment method Payments are usually made by cash or cheque (made payable to the Tutor) but this is something for you to agree with your tutor.

Outstanding payments Please don’t allow outstanding payments to accumulate, as this causes much embarrassment all round.

Shared Tuition If you are looking to arrange tuition for a small group (i.e. usually between two and three students), then please ask for our advice about which tutors can offer small group tuition.

Costs of Shared Tuition In terms of the cost for up to three students sharing lessons, (although this may vary between tutors) usually the first student is charged at the full amount, and those sharing pay half that amount.

The total ‘group fee’ is then divided equally among the students so that each one benefits from the discount.

However, once the ‘group fee’ amount has been agreed with the tutor, this arrangement becomes fixed, and the lead client/student making the booking will be responsible for collecting the payments from each student, and then making sure the tutor is paid the full ‘group fee’ for each session regardless of how many of the group attend any particular session.

Venues and Times

Tuition TimesTuition is mostly offered after school, or in the evenings and/or at the weekend, or during the school holidays.

Tuition venue options Many of our tutors are able to travel to the student’s home, whereas other tutors only offer tuition at their own home.

Depending on the tutor to be engaged, and the distances involved; tuition can often be provided at the following venue options:

• Student’s home
• Tutor’s home*
• Public venue (e.g. a local library)
• Online tuition (e.g. via Skype)

*Students/clients who can travel to the tutor’s home, will have a wider range of tutors potentially available to them. This is because some tutors only offer tuition at their own home.

Types of tuition We do not impose a minimum session requirement, but it is useful to characterise tutoring in terms of short or long-term goals.

Home-schooling For Home schooled students, many of our tutors can provide tuition during the normal school day.

Short term tuition Most often short-term tuition is taken up prior to an exam, where our tutors can offer a programme of intensive revision and preparation.

Long-term tuition This is where it is recognised that a student is facing a challenge in certain areas and requires ongoing input from a personal tutor to support their education in school.

Small group tuition Rather than one-to-one tuition, our tutors can also work with small groups. This approach can be both a valuable way to create a focused and stimulating educational environment, and a way to share the costs of the tuition. If you are interested in taking this approach, then we are very happy to discuss this with you (please see our note on Costs of Shared Tuition under the Fees and Payments section).

Remote tuition support – using telephone, email and online apps Our tutors can provide an element of study support via telephone, email, and in some cases online (e.g. Skype or Facetime video link), to supplement the tuition sessions.

Tuition - How to Succeed

This guidance will help you engage with your tutor and extract the most benefit from the tutoring process.

Your tutor will prepare carefully for every lesson, however there are also a few things, as highlighted below, that the client/student can do to make the most of having a tutor.

Everyone’s needs are different, so make sure the tutor knows your aims of the tutoring i.e. general support, exam revision, past paper practice or preparation for entrance exams etc.

If you would like the tutor to set homework please discuss this with them.

Keep the tutor updated. Any information from the student’s school/college is always useful for the tutor, these might include the following:

• Current school/college reports
• IEPs (Individual Education Plans)
• Student learning goals, targets and any termly forecasts
• Information about any Special Educational Needs.
• Do keep the tutor informed of any changes i.e. feedback from the student’s school/college.

If the needs of the student have changed or if the focus of the tutoring needs to change then please let the tutor know as soon as possible.

Create a calm and quiet place for study; somewhere that the tutor and the student will not be disturbed and away from distractions (e.g. televisions, computer games, etc.).

Ideally if they can sit upright at a table this is very advantageous.

Keep the door to the study room/area open at all times.

Ensure that the student has had a snack and drink before the lesson and has been to the toilet!

We advise to make a note of your tutor’s telephone number in case you have to contact him/her directly.

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities For students who have specific Special Educational Needs or perhaps undiagnosed learning difficulties, or are just struggling with some aspect of learning, we strongly recommend you make the tutor aware of any such issues prior to the tuition starting.

For further information about Special Educational Needs/Learning Difficulties Please visit our Special Education Needs page for more information and advice for students, parents and guardians.

Monitoring and evaluation  We strongly recommend that students and/or their parents have a conversation with the tutor at the end of each session, to let the tutor know how you feel the tuition is going.

Do let the tutor know if the right ground is being covered and/or if the style and tutoring techniques they are using are or are not working well for the student.

If you have any issues or would like to discuss the students tutoring in more detail, please feel free to contact us for support.

Or via our Tuition Enquiry Line 020 8446 3963.

We will always treat your feedback with the upmost confidentiality.

Student not getting on with the tutor Most of the tutor introductions we make end up working very well for both the student and tutor involved.

Give it time We always suggest allowing the student/tutor relationship time to settle down and to build towards a clear understanding, of what the student’s needs are, and how these will hopefully dovetail with the way the tutor operates.

Talk to the tutor We strongly recommend that students and/or their parents’ have a conversation with the tutor at the end of each session, to let the tutor know how you feel the tuition is going.

Do let the Tutor know if the right ground is being covered and/or if the style and tutoring techniques they are using are, or are not, working well for the student.

Having this sort of dialogue, will give the tutor time to make the necessary adjustments to hopefully address any issues of concern.

The tutor’s role It’s worth remembering that while one would always expect the tutor to be friendly in manner, the tutor is not there to be the student’s friend, but rather to aid the student’s progression towards their study aims.

If in doubt, ask the question Is this arrangement contributing towards getting the student closer to their ultimate study goal?

If you think that the answer to this question is NO, then it will most likely be time to consider trying to see if an alternative tutor would be a more suitable match to the student’s needs.

Getting the chemistry right Due to the intimate nature of one-to-one tuition, successfully matching the tutor that will be able to meet the student’s needs, can sometimes be a matter of getting the chemistry right.

So due to these sorts of factors, we very occasionally, find that things do not work out to the student’s satisfaction.

If at any point you feel the above is the case, then please let us know as soon as possible, so that we can see what other arrangements we might be able to put in place.

Cancellation If for any reason, you want to cancel the tuition arrangements you have in place, then you can do so either by contacting your tutor directly or by asking us to do this on your behalf.

Cancellation period In normal circumstances cancellation should be given with a week’s notice.

Please note: if notice of less than 48 hours is given, then the tutor may, at their discretion, charge a cancellation fee equivalent to the cost of the planned lesson.

Torrington Tutors welcomes feedback at any stage.

Or via our Tuition Enquiry Line 020 8446 3963.

We will always treat your feedback with the upmost confidentiality.

Ongoing Support

Once a tutor introduction has been made, provided both parties are happy to proceed, it’s then over to the client and the tutor to manage all agreed arrangements (see our terms of business) and then tuition can either start straightaway, or at another time as agreed between the parties.

However, we are always here to offer our clients ongoing support and advice; so, if you have any queries, or if we can be of any further assistance, please contact us via our Tuition Enquiry Line 020 8446 3963.

It is very helpful, if you can notify us, when the tuition has come to an end (or is temporally suspended).

Please do let us have any confidential feedback, regarding the tuition provided by the tutor, and/or about the service you have received from Torrington Tutors.

Our terms of business: Torrington Tutors is a ‘tutor introduction’ agency, that is, our service is about introducing you to tutor/s from our approved list (i.e. we are not providing you with the tuition itself).

Therefore, once we have made the introduction, any arrangements for the provision of the tuition itself become a ‘private contractual’ matter between the client and the tutor, who will be contracting directly with you as the client as a freelance tutor.

As a tutor introduction agency, we will make every effort to provide the best possible service to our clients. However, Torrington Tutors cannot accept responsibility for the actions or omissions of the tutor/s we have introduced or for any loss, expense or damage incurred because of the tutor’s actions.

Feedback Welcome

Your feedback is always very welcome as it helps us, and your tutor, to make sure you get the tuition you need.

So, we encourage students and/or clients to provide us with feedback either about the tuition provided by the tutor and/or about the service you have received from Torrington Tutors.

Additionally, we encourage students and/or clients to provide their tutor with regular feedback as to how they feel the tuition is going.

To this end, we strongly recommend that students and/or their parents have a conversation with the tutor at the end of each session, to let the tutor know how you feel the tuition is going.

Do let the tutor know if the right ground is being covered and/or if the style and tutoring techniques they are using are or are not working well for the student.

When the tuition comes to an end, we will usually contact you via email to ask you for feedback and that is a good opportunity for you to let us know about how you feel the tuition went and what you think about the service we provide.

Feedback can be provided at any stage by telephoning us on 020 8446 3963

We will always treat your feedback with the upmost confidentiality.

Tuition Cancellation

One of the most flexible aspects of having this sort of tuition is, if at any stage the tuition is no longer necessary, perhaps because the issues have now been addressed, then you can simply stop having the tuition by giving the tutor due notice.

So, if for any reason, you want to cancel the tuition arrangements you have in place, then you can do so, either by contacting your tutor directly, or by asking us to do this on your behalf.

Cancellation period In normal circumstances, cancellation should be given with a week’s (7 days) notice.

Please note If notice of less than 48 hours is given, then the tutor may at their discretion charge a cancellation fee equivalent to the cost of the planned lesson.

Torrington Tutors welcomes confidential feedback at any stage,Or via our Tuition Enquiry Line 020 8446 3963.

Safeguarding

At Torrington Tutors we take safeguarding very seriously. The safety of students is our uppermost priority; which is why we look to ensure that our tutors operate in such a way as to best protect the interest of all those involved in the tuition process.

We require all our tutors to undergo thorough vetting before registration; which includes their needing to submit key evidential documentations – see Tutor Vetting (under the Who We Are section of this page).

Safeguarding is a complex issue and as such tutors, students and their parents need to be ever vigilant to safeguard the best interests of all parties.

Despite the complexities involved, there are some simple precautions that can be taken, which can help to reduce the risk of any inappropriate behaviour and/or misunderstandings occurring.

We recommend that all parties adhere to the following Best Practice Guidelines:

Always working in an open environment and avoiding private or unobserved situations e.g. keeping open the door of the room/area where the tuition is taking place.

Where a student is under 18, all communications and discussions about the tuition arrangements should be conducted via the student’s parent or guardian and not directly with the student.

When positioning the tuition room study table and seats, this should be done in such a way as to ensure that the tutor maintains a safe and professionally appropriate distance from the student (usually the table and seats are best arranged at right angles).

Where a student is under 18, there must always be another adult present* during the tuition session (this is usually a parent or guardian butcould be another responsible adult).
* by ‘present’ we mean, within sight or within hearing distance of the tuition room/area, ideally in an adjoining room.

Anyone who has concerns about possible inappropriate behaviour by any party and/or about the welfare of a student should report their concerns to Torrington Tutors Nominated Child Protection Officer.

Anyone who has an urgent and serious concern about the welfare of a child, young or vulnerable adult, but are unable to contact the Nominated Child Protection Officer, should report their concerns  to Social Services, the Police, or call the NSPCC 24-hour Helpline on 0808 800 5000, or Child-Line on 08001111.

Information Privacy

We collect your data to enable us to match the tuition requirements to a suitable tutor and then to manage the arrangements to make the tutor introduction. We need the enquirer to provide key information, both about the enquirer/client/parent as well as needing information about the student wanting the tuition.

Your data privacy We will treat all personal data with the upmost care. We will not share your data with anyone else or use it for any other purpose, other than that for which is was supplied i.e. making tutor introductions.

We will never share your information with any third party When organising and using the data we collect, we comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

You will not receive marketing communications from us (or anyone else) unless you have explicitly requested to do so.

How we collect your data? We normally do this in conversation with you. Occasionally we may also do this in several other ways – including when you share your information with us via make an online enquiry.

We treat your data with the utmost care and take appropriate steps to protect it. When organising and using the data we collect, we comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), under which you have the following rights:

1. The right to be informed about how we use your data.

1. The right of access to your data.

1. The right to rectification of any errors in your data we might hold.

1. The right to have your data erased.

1. The right to ask us to restrict processing of your data.

1. The right to data portability of any data we hold about you.

1. The right to object to the way we might look to use data we hold about you.

Rights in relation to use of your data in automated decision making/profiling.

If you’d like to find out more, please read: Torrington Tutors-Data Privacy Policy.

Any other questions

Question Unanswered?

If you have not been able to find an answer to your question, please call 020 8446 3963 .