Does my child need one-to-one or group lessons?

You've decided to employ a tutor to prepare your child for the eleven plus exam; the tutor offers both one-to-one and group lessons. Confronted with this choice, you ask yourself "Does my child need one-to-one or group lessons? Which will be best for my child and give them the greatest chance to succeed?"

The answer, as is the answer to most things in life, is "It depends."

To begin with, the most important point to make is that any tutor who is a good tutor will help your child to excel no matter if your child is in a one-to-one lesson or a group lesson.

The next most important point is that, as one-to-one lessons tend to be more expensive than group lessons, that does not necessarily mean that one-to-one lessons are more "valuable" that group lessons. This is not the case; it simply means that group lessons are more economical for the tutor than one-to-one lessons therefore, in those same economical terms, one-to-ones are more expensive so as to compensate the additional time and effort the tutor has to put into it.

So, accepting this, the most pertinent question a parent should ask is, "Which type of lesson is better for my child?"

For a child that is highly competitive, she may thrive better in a group lesson where she can assess her own performance against the performances of her peers, and use her competitive nature to bring herself to par with her peers then surpass them.

For a child that is sociable, she may simply enjoy being in an environment with other children: the familiarity of seeing the same faces at each lesson may help to make the journey towards the exam feel like a shared experience and an opportunity to learn with children of similar abilities.

Conversely, another child will benefit from one-to-one learning, in which he receives a bespoke education, where the educational materials and lessons are planned exactly to his specific development. He may not particularly care for competition, or may not need to learn in an environment that includes other children.

He may find one-to-one lessons more conducive to studying and really appreciate receiving the his tutor's undivided attention.

If you are torn between enrolling your child in a group lesson or investing in a one-to-one lesson, a good tutor should be willing to speak to you and your child before you sign up so that all three parties can evaluate what learning method will best suit your child.

For this reason, here at 11plusprepschool.co.uk we actively encourage parents to get in touch with us to discuss their child's needs before they sign up for any course.

If you are uncertain which type of learning environment is best for your child, please contact us by email or call us on 07736 252 419. We're always happy to hear from you.