Why the Best Chemist Does Not Always Make the Best Tutor

Many tutors advertise primarily based on their academic qualifications. While strong subject knowledge is clearly important, is it really the best way to judge the quality of a tutor? I would argue that it is only part of the picture. In this post, I’m going to explore why the most effective tutor is not always the person with the strongest academic background, but often the person who best understands how students learn, struggle and improve.

A first from Oxford is an outstanding achievement. Anybody who graduates with such a degree has an excellent grasp of the subject. But the topics taught at A-level and those taught at university are different. The counter-argument to this is that to build the knowledge necessary to pass a degree you need a solid foundation in the relative basics. This is true, but no more so for the Oxbridge first than the former polytechnic lower second. Passing a degree from any university at any grade requires sufficient knowledge of the concepts taught at A-level. Even a second-year undergraduate will have enough subject-specific knowledge to be able to understand anything that the A-level syllabus contains.

Most people come to a tutor because they are facing a challenge. That challenge may be that they are not achieving the grades they require, or it may be that they are applying for a highly competitive university place like medicine. These challenges are rarely overcome by being given more subject knowledge. A good tutor will carry out the following steps.

• Assessment and diagnostics: What does the student know? What are the specific challenges which are holding them back?

• Tailored support: Giving the student what they need to overcome those challenges.

• Ongoing monitoring and feedback: What is working? Is the student making progress?

• Adapting and adjusting: Explaining something in a different way. Has solving one problem identified another.

None of these steps need the most academically qualified subject specialist. They need somebody competent and confident in the subject with the experience of knowing how marks are awarded in exams, where students repeatedly make the same mistakes year-on-year, how to adjust when something isn't working.

So next time you see somebody advertising on academic qualifications, ask yourself whether they are sufficiently experienced as an educator because the tutor is not going to be taking the exam. They need to give you the knowledge and skills to get through it yourself. If you want to discuss your specific needs, get in touch.