Unprofessional and dissatisfactory!
I went for an 11 plus assessment for my DD and paid an upfront fee of £75 for an hour long assessment only to find out later that there were no available spaces to tutor her regularly. I was also told that a regular lesson had been cancelled and so I could be offered a space for assessment. If I was told that the tutor did not have any available spaces then I would not have taken my DD for this assessment. I was very surprised to see that the assessment paper was not typed and the tutor wrote the questions by hand in the book that my DD took with her. The assessment did not give any age standardised scores either and the classes are run back to back so when the assessment could not be finished in the 1 hour time slot then I was told to get the work completed at home and send a screenshot of the answers for marking. My overall experience was appalling and a total waste of time and money!
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Overall
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Communication
Response from Tutor
Responded
Dear Shewtha.
Thanks for taking the time write. I’ll address your comments below:
1) CLASS TIMES
Regular spaces were unavailable for May and June as it is peak of exam time. I did mention this and was happy to accommodate a regular slot after this time period. Most parents understand that this this is a busy time for existing students. You did not reply to my offer and instead chose to post this review.
It’s probably also worth recalling that from our initial ‘phone conversation there was a long gap before getting in touch for an assessment - by which time slots were also booked up.
2) ASSESSMENT FORMAT
Yes it’s right that I don’t have typed up assessment for the children. This is because I don’t believe that one size fits all. The child may or not be of the academic standard of their age and giving them an age-based paper to complete that they find too easy or too challenging IS a waste of time.
To maximise potential and output from the session the assessment is tailor made and individualised which takes far more effort and interaction with the student rather than downloading a standard assessment and charging parents for it.
3) ASSESSMENT COMPLETION
Your daughter did not complete the assessment in the timeframe planned. Rather than discounting it and to give her a fair chance, I gave the option to complete the last 3/4 grammar definitions (so nothing onerous) at home and send to me. Perhaps it would have been easier to simply say she did not complete it in time - rather than be proactive to still provide the opportunity to still display her skills - as well as mark it in my own time.
4) LESSON TIMES
Finally my lessons are run back to back and has been doing so for the last 10 years and I’m proud to say has been the conduit to help hundreds of children pass their 11+ exams, GCSEs and obtain admission to their desired school.
While my students have achieved outstanding results year in-year out, I believe the existing model is working at its prime.
On a closing note I believe I have been very professional in every aspect of our interactions as I do with all the parents I work with.
I am far from a ‘clock-watcher’ and I give countless hours of my time to parents and students outside of class time and I can confidently say that everyone one of them will vouch for me on that. It’s a shame that you were unable to reap the benefits that countless families were able to.
All that said, I wish your daughter all the very best for the exam preparations and I sincerely hope that you find a tutor can work with you.
With every best wish
Eva Thompson
