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HOW TO USE TUITION - for the student
Preliminary preparation prior to tuition.
Make sure you know what you have to know, get a syllabus or scheme of work from your teacher or from the Eamination Board. The internet is very useful here. Do a search on your level e.g. type Key Stage 3 or GCSE or GCE in the address box of your browser, that will bring up the necessary information about your exam. Details of your courses can be found on the websites of the various Examination Boards (look under ‘Specification’ for your subjects). If the tuition is for a school entrance exam ask the school for their exam specification or for past exam papers.
For GCSE and GCE examinations past papers are invaluable for seeing how questions are framed and the many ways in which your knowledge can be tested. Past papers are obtainable from the examination boards, AQA, EDEXCEL, OCR and WJEC. Their websites are listed here. Schools often have past papers on their own websites. Key Stage exam papers can be obtained on the internet too.
Your school has probably given you a textbook for your subject; it is helpful to have more than one textbook – try your local library or the school library. The different styles and emphases can help to clarify a difficult topic.
Tutoring sessions
Before your tuition session gather together your notes from the last tuition session, and any other relevant material including any work set at the last tuition session.
At the beginning of the tuition session bring any points which need clarification to the attention of your tutor.
During tuition you must ensure that you understand the points being brought forward by the tutor. Ask the tutor to explain further and ask again until you are sure you understand.
Immediately after tuition,while you still remember what was done, go over the notes you made during tuition. They can probably be clarified and/or expanded. Don’t just put them aside until the next session otherwise you will have wasted a valuable hour. If you have revised questions make sure you can now answer the questions without relying on the notes.
Before the next session decide what you want to discuss with the tutor, have examples of problems you want help with or read ahead to see what difficulties might be cleared up with your tutor. Don’t rely on your tutor deciding what should be done, you should be clear about what you need . Do any exercises your tutor has set and have them ready for marking or discussion.
Finally, be honest with your tutor – confess your frailties at the earliest opportunity, your tutor is there to help you not to criticise. Don’t let your tutor think you are making progress when, in fact, you are floundering. A poor exam grade is bad for both of you ! If you have difficulty organising your studies ask your tutor to suggest ways in which you can improve.
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