Online One-to-One Lessons

What an online lesson actually looks like

One pupil, one tutor, and a shared whiteboard that both of you can write on. That is the whole setup. There is no class to keep pace with and no mute-button etiquette to learn. Your child talks through the question in front of them while the tutor watches the working appear on screen, line by line, and stops them the moment a sign flips or a bracket goes missing.

The rhythm is the same as a lesson at a kitchen table in Shawlands or Milngavie. A short burst of explanation, then the pupil does the work while the tutor watches and corrects in the moment. For maths, that often means a phone propped on a stack of books, pointed at the exercise book, so we see handwriting rather than a typed answer that hides the method. For English, it is a document on screen with comments appearing in the margin as your child writes. For science, it is a diagram drawn live and labelled together, then redrawn from memory a week later.

Lessons are one to one throughout. Nothing is recorded. No session is stored, shared or passed to anyone else, and there is no archive of past lessons sitting on a server after the call ends. What parents get instead is a written progress report at agreed points in the year, plus a copy of the personal learning plan before lessons begin.

We teach pupils aged 7 to 18, so the screen looks very different depending on the year group. A Year 3 pupil might spend twenty minutes on number bonds with a big friendly whiteboard and a tutor who counts aloud with them. A Year 11 pupil might spend the whole hour on a past paper, mark scheme open, arguing about where the method marks went.

Who online lessons suit, and who they do not

Online works best for families who are a long way from a good subject match. If you are out past Ayrshire or up beyond Stirling, the choice of local tutors for A-level chemistry or 11+ verbal reasoning can be thin. Moving lessons online opens up the whole teaching team, not just the three people within a twenty-minute drive.

It also suits the weeks when the school run eats the day. The 4pm dash along Great Western Road in the rain is not the ideal run-up to a maths lesson, and a pupil who arrives flustered takes fifteen minutes to settle. Logging on from the back bedroom removes that entirely. Pupils who find a new house or a new adult a bit much often relax faster in their own space, and quiet children who would never put a hand up in a room will happily say "I don't get it" to a screen.

It is a weaker fit in some cases, and we will say so on the phone rather than sell you a block of lessons. Handwriting and fine-motor work is genuinely easier in person, where a tutor can see the pencil grip and the paper angle. Very young or very distractible pupils often need an adult in the room to keep them on task, at least for the first few sessions. And if your broadband drops every ten minutes, an honest conversation about that is worth more than persevering.

How the process runs, from first call to first report

1. A conversation before anything is booked

We ask about the year group, the subject, the exam board where relevant, and what the school has said. A recent report or a marked test is useful at this stage. So is a plain description of what you are seeing at home, such as a child who can do the sums in their head but freezes on paper.

2. The initial assessment

This is a short online session, not a test to pass or fail. We look at where the gaps actually are, which is often earlier than the homework suggests. A Year 9 pupil struggling with algebra is frequently shaky on fractions from Year 6, and teaching the algebra without the fractions wastes everybody's evenings.

3. The learning plan reaches you before the first lesson

You get a written plan setting out the targets, the order we will teach them in, and roughly how long each stage should take. It comes to you before teaching starts, so you can read it, disagree with it, or add something the school has mentioned. Our lead tutor reviews every plan before it goes out and again at each review point.

4. Matching the tutor

All our tutors are qualified teachers and DBS-checked. Beyond that we match on subject, age group and temperament. A brisk tutor who pushes is right for one pupil and wrong for another, and we would rather move a match early than let it limp along.

5. The weekly slot

Most families keep the same day and time each week, which matters more than people expect. The lesson becomes part of the routine rather than something negotiated every Sunday evening. Slots are confirmed when you book, including what happens in the school holidays and around exam season.

6. Progress reports and a proper review

Progress reports for parents go out at the points agreed in the plan. They set out what has been covered, what has stuck, what has not, and what changes next. If a target has been met, we say so and move on. If it has not, we say that too and explain why.

What to have ready on the day

Very little, but the little things matter:

• A laptop, tablet or phone with a working camera and microphone, plus a charger nearby.
• A quiet room and, ideally, a door that closes.
• Paper and a pen. We want to see the working, not just the answer.
• The pupil's school exercise book or textbook, so we teach the method their teacher uses.
• For GCSE and A-level, the exam board specification and any past papers the school has issued.
• A phone on a stand or a pile of books, as a second camera aimed at the page, for maths and science.

Parents do not need to sit in. Some do for the first session with a younger child, then drift out once the routine holds. If you would rather stay and listen, that is fine too.

What shapes the timetable and the fee

Fees are quoted on request once we know the subject, the level and how often you want lessons, because a weekly GCSE physics session and a fortnightly Year 5 reading session are not the same job. Availability is confirmed when you book. We do not publish a rate card that pretends every family needs the same thing.

Several things move the number. A-level and 11+ preparation carry more planning between sessions than primary numeracy. Exam season tightens the diary, especially from January through to the May papers, so earlier enquiries get the better choice of after-school slots. Weekly lessons cost less per session than occasional ones in most arrangements, simply because momentum does more of the work. And a pupil who needs an assessment first will have that quoted separately and clearly before anything is agreed.

Questions parents ask before moving online

Does online work for a seven-year-old?

Yes, with shorter bursts and a parent nearby for the first couple of sessions. Younger pupils do better with a tutor who uses the whiteboard constantly rather than talking at them, and ours do.

Can we use a phone instead of a laptop?

For a quick session, yes. For regular lessons a laptop or tablet gives a bigger writing surface, and a phone works well as the second camera pointed at the page.

Are lessons recorded?

No. Nothing is recorded, stored or shared, and we do not ask permission to keep sessions because we do not keep them.

Can we mix online lessons with home visits?

Yes. Some families do most weeks online and switch to home lessons when a pupil needs a run at something difficult, or the other way round during a busy term.

What if the connection drops mid-lesson?

It happens. We keep the session open, carry on when you are back, and make sure the missed ground is covered. Ask us when booking if you want the detail on how that is handled.