Top Tips for Tutors

Please use this page in addition to the Best Practice for Tutors blog, written by Nick Strugnell and available here.

Our Team have enjoyed the opportunity to observe tutors on recent courses and have noted down some of the best practice that they have observed. We wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for providing the high quality of tuition that we strive for and to share some of those best practices observed. We will continue to add to this course on course, so please do check back here for updates.

Best Practice from the Christmas & New Year Course 2024/25

Start the classes in the right way – introduce yourself, let the student(s) know who you are. Set the tone for a friendly learning environment – put the students at ease, willing to ask questions when they need to.
Regularly ask questions to highlight the areas that the student has and hasn’t understood and to ensure that they are engaged and focused. Work with the student when their understanding is not quite correct. Try to work at their pace also, check in with them, questions like ‘are you ready to move on?’ worked well here. Keep things steady and regularly check in with the student’s understanding.
Sometimes it can help to understand what other subjects the student is also studying – as there may be some relevant cross over that you can refer to.
Discuss what they need to do to get the marks. Think about if they were stuck in an exam situation and needed to say something, they might consider suitable phrasing such as ‘it is possible that’, to show the examiner that they are not over egging it. Advise them regarding mark allocations and response weighting, e.g. 1 paragraph not being enough for 8 marks. Ask them to think about who they are writing for; it is not just an examiner but an educated reader.
Provide positive feedback, when due, to reinforce the students’ knowledge and boost their confidence.
Use real life examples, as a way of developing a students understanding.
If you can, make use of the technology available to you, such as by using an interactive whiteboard, as well as having conversation with the student, some students may find this more engaging. If you are writing something, be sure to make sure that your writing is legible, especially if via online course delivery – can the student see what you have written, can they read it, is it best to type instead?

Best Practice from the Spring Half Term Revision Course 2025

We included this point in our Best Practice from the Christmas Course, but we note it again here – provide an initial introduction to the student(s) as to who you are, create a relaxed and engaging environment and set the tone for the lessons – these are student led, and students should feel comfortable to take the lead. Giving them an insight into your expertise may give them increased confidence in your ability to help them.
Asking follow-up questions for certain topics as a good way of continually testing the student’s knowledge, enabling the tutor to be responsive to the students learning and current understanding. Combined with using real-life examples as a good way to contextualise the topics and reinforce understanding.
When going through student work it can be useful to use multiple colours to highlight different areas.
Language tutors may wish to welcome their students into the class speaking and interacting in the specified language. This may subtly build confidence for the student to feel more natural in being able to converse in the language.
This course is ongoing, more to follow.

Top Tips for Tutors

Best Practice from the Christmas & New Year Course 2024/25

Best Practice from the Spring Half Term Revision Course 2025

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