Its hard to see your child struggling with GCSE Maths and this problem needs to be solved asap - going into resits is a pain.

But what is the best way to find a GCSE maths tutor that will work well with your child and not make things worse?

Whilst there are lots of different places where you can find a maths tutor, there is only one foolproof way to make sure you pick the right one.

That one thing is to speak to them, a lot.

I’m not talking about doing a formal interview, that won’t give you insight into a tutor’s real personality and teaching methods.

I mean having a few informal, but meaningful, conversations - this could be on the phone, on a video call, or in person - where the tutor feels relaxed and talks enough to give you insight into their experiences as a tutor.

Here are some good conversation starters and what kind of answers you are looking for:

- “What kind of students do you usually work with?”

If they are a tutor who only works with high achieving students, I would question how much impact they have on the success of that student.

- “If a student is failing, how long does it usually take for you to get them to a stage where they are passing?”

A good, experienced gcse maths tutor would have lots of real examples to answer this question.

- “What process do you use to take a student from failing to passing” or “from level 6 to level 9?”

Again, an experienced tutor will be able to give you as much detail as you want here.

- “Have you ever had a student not progress the way you would have liked?”

I would say its common for a tutor - particularly if they have been teaching for several years - to have experienced a very small number of students where things didn’t work out. This doesn’t mean that tutor is a bad tutor.

I’ve had instances where the parents are too interfering and so the student doesn’t do the work I’ve set, I’ve had students who are in care and they aren’t in a good environment and so I’m unable to influence them positively by seeing them once or twice a week.

So the point of this question is more about honesty and to see how experienced the tutor really is.

There are several different ways you can find a GCSE maths tutor.

1: Word of mouth. It can be reassuring if someone close to you knows a tutor and this is usually a good place to start. Ask around your network or local community.

2: Online Directories. These can be a mixed bag and also the tutors fees can be more expensive as a lot of these directories take a percentage of the tutors fees for every lesson that they teach.

3: Your child’s teacher or school may know some good tutors that they can recommend.