You’ve probably considered additional teaching support at some stage of your child’s academic life.
Perhaps they’ve always struggled with a particular subject, or they don’t feel confident preparing for their upcoming exams.
It’s true, we might be a little biased. But even putting our teaching hats aside, there are plenty of reasons why families across the UK turn to extra academic support every year.
With rising pressure around GCSEs, A-levels, competitive sixth-form places, and university entry, tutoring has become far more common than it used to be. The key question is whether it genuinely adds value for your child.
We’ll help you answer that question during the course of this article.
1. Individual attention that schools can’t always provide
Even in excellent UK schools, teachers can often juggle classes of 25–30 students. They work incredibly hard, but the curriculum moves fast, and there’s limited time for tailored explanations or individual support.
You can probably remember it yourself when you were in a classroom needing the teacher’s attention on a subject that you just couldn’t wrap your head around. For me, that was Algebra, I still remember looking at sin, cos, tan and feeling my brain spin!
However, having additional support offers something schools simply can’t: uninterrupted, personalised attention.
They can:
- Adapt explanations to suit your child’s learning style
- Identify and fix gaps from earlier year groups (common post-COVID)
- Build confidence without the pressure of peers
- Support subjects that traditionally cause stress, like maths, science, English, and languages
For students facing GCSE and A-level specifications, with dense content and demanding exams, this focused support can make a meaningful difference.
2. Targeted support for GCSEs and A-levels
In the UK, grades at 16 and 18 shape future choices. More of our children are choosing further education than ever, something you can see in the graph below in OFS’s data.
When you look at total student entrants, you can see the UK vastly outnumbers both EU and non-EU domiciled students. Our schools are competitive, and so grades have to be too.
GCSEs influence sixth-form or college pathways; A-levels affect university options, apprenticeships, and other work.
Experienced tutors know the demands of AQA, Edexcel, OCR, and other boards, providing:
- Techniques for analysing command words like evaluate, assess, and discuss
- Structured approaches to essays and extended responses
- Guidance on time management
- Clear strategies for tackling exam-style questions
Exam literacy is a skill in itself; your child might have the knowledge but not know how to apply it, and this can affect their overall performance.
3. Filling unseen gaps that hold students back
Many UK students struggle not because they lack ability, but because foundational knowledge slipped through the cracks. Sometimes it happened during lockdown; sometimes the curriculum just moved too fast.
The great thing about our teachers is that they have real-world experience in the classroom.
In fact, we use the terminology ‘teacher’ instead of ‘tutor’ because that’s exactly what our team is, experienced teachers who, for the majority, are teaching or have taught in a British secondary school.
Our teachers are familiar with the National Curriculum for:
- Mathematics
- Physics
- Chemistry
- Biology
- English Language and English Literature
This means they can quickly diagnose these gaps and rebuild understanding from the ground up, ensuring GCSE and A-level learning isn’t built on shaky foundations.
4. Boosting confidence and reducing stress
Exams in the UK can be intense. Students often feel pressure to perform, especially as they approach Years 10–13.
A good teacher provides a calm, judgement-free space to ask questions, practise difficult concepts, and experience small, steady wins.
We hear from parents that they notice a mindset shift too, things like:
- More confidence in class
- More willingness to tackle challenges
- Less fear of the subject
- A more positive attitude overall
Confidence may not appear on a report card, but it has a huge impact on grades.
5. The value depends on the quality
It’s important to bear in mind that not all tutoring is created equal. A teacher’s impact hinges on their experience, subject knowledge, and also their relationship with you and your child.
Ultimately, they need to build trust.
This often starts by communicating clearly with parents. And equally with the student, ensuring they know what to expect throughout the study sessions and providing a safe environment for them.
It’s important to establish goals and track progress, that way you can keep track of each session.
In fact, at Excel in Key Subjects, we even have a grade guarantee – this means if your child doesn’t achieve the grade we predict, we’ll refund the tuition fees. That’s how confident we are in delivering!
When can additional support make the biggest impact?
Tutoring or additional learning is valuable all year round, whether you want to use summer holidays to give your child a head-start on their learning before a new academic year or on the all-important build-up to exams.
But you might feel like it’s time to take the leap when:
- Reports or assessments flag areas of concern
- A student needs a certain grade for sixth-form or university entry
- A subject has become a source of stress or frustration
- A student is transitioning into the more demanding content of Year 12
So… is getting a tutor worth it?
For many families, absolutely. Not because tutoring is a magic fix, but because it provides something the modern education system often can’t: personalised teaching, structure, confidence, and support tailored exactly to your child’s needs.
And if tutoring helps your child feel more capable, more confident, and more prepared, then yes – it’s worth it (bias or not!).