One Tutor, One Child, One Plan

We do not run group classes at Tutormint. Every lesson is one tutor with one child. That is not because group tutoring is automatically bad, or because every child needs private tuition. Group teaching can be a sensible choice for some families. It can also cost less per child. The point is that the cheaper seat is not the same thing as the same amount of teaching attention. We decided that if we are going to offer tutoring, we want the tutor's attention to belong to one child for the lesson.

The real difference is attention

The simplest way to compare one-to-one and group tutoring is to look at what happens to attention. In a one-to-one lesson, the tutor can listen to one child's explanation, see where the reasoning breaks down, and respond to that specific problem. In a group, the tutor has several children to teach at once. Even when the group is small, attention has to be shared.

That sounds obvious, but it matters more than the label on the lesson. A child can sit in a group and appear to be keeping up while still carrying a gap from an earlier topic. They may understand the example on the screen but not be able to explain why the answer works. They may need another explanation just as the rest of the group is ready to move on.

With one-to-one tutoring, that gap can become the lesson's problem. The tutor does not need to balance it against four or eight other children's needs. The lesson can pause, change direction, revisit a foundation or move forwards.

A group has an average. Your child does not

A group needs some common ground. If several children are being taught together, the tutor has to choose what to explain, what to practise and when to move on. That is useful when the children are working towards a similar point at a similar pace. It becomes harder when their needs start to separate.

Imagine a child who is comfortable with the current topic but has one missing piece from an earlier year. They may not need a full lesson on the current topic. They may need ten minutes spent repairing the earlier gap before the new material makes sense. In a group, that is difficult to prioritise if the other children are ready to continue.

The reverse is also true. A child who has already understood the material may need a harder question or the next step. Holding them at the group's pace can make tutoring less useful for them too.

What happens when a child is behind or ahead

This is where the difference becomes practical. A child who is behind does not necessarily need more content. They may need the right content in the right order. If fractions are causing trouble, for example, the useful next step may be to go back and establish the part that is missing rather than simply covering the next worksheet.

A group tutor can certainly notice that a child is struggling. The constraint is what happens next. The tutor still has other children to teach. The group still has a lesson to complete. The child may have to wait for the topic to come around again or work alongside material that is not quite at their level.

The same issue appears at the other end. A child who is ahead may need more challenge, a different type of question or preparation for the next stage. In a one-to-one lesson, there is no requirement to keep that child at a shared pace.

At Tutormint, every student gets a planned lesson built around their current level and next goal, active teaching rather than answer-checking or supervised homework, and tutor notes on what was covered and what needs attention next. We also send regular written progress updates to parents. You can see more about the approach on our how it works page.

Yes, one-to-one costs more per hour

This is the objection we think is worth answering directly. One-to-one tutoring costs more per hour than buying a place in a group. A group spreads the tutor's time across several children. One-to-one does not. If your only measure is the price of a seat, group tutoring can look better value.

We do not try to disguise that difference. Our lessons start at £15 for 11+ and KS3, £20 for GCSE and £25 for A-Level. There is no sign-up fee, no joining fee, no packages to buy upfront, and no price rise during exam season. A 12-week term of weekly 1-hour lessons costs £180 for 11+, £180 for KS3, £240 for GCSE and £300 for A-Level.

Those figures are the full picture for our tutoring offer rather than a promise that one-to-one is the cheapest way to get extra teaching. For the current lesson pricing, see our pricing page.

The question we ask is different: what are you paying for? With Tutormint, you are paying for a tutor whose attention is not shared with other children in the session. You are paying for a lesson that can change when your child's needs change. You are paying for notes, written progress updates and direct communication with the tutor between sessions if something needs adjusting.

That does not make one-to-one the right choice for every family. If keeping the hourly cost as low as possible is the main priority, a group may be a better fit. We would rather say that plainly than sell a parent a format that does not match what they are looking for.

The evidence supports individual attention, with limits

There is also evidence behind the basic idea, although it is important not to overstate it. The Education Endowment Foundation Teaching and Learning Toolkit reports +6 months additional progress in primary and +4 months in secondary for one-to-one tuition. It also reports +6 months in literacy and +2 months in maths for one-to-one tuition. For small group tuition, it reports +4 months additional progress.

These figures are not a guarantee for an individual child, and they are not a reason to pretend that every group lesson is ineffective. They are useful context for the choice parents are making. One-to-one tuition has evidence behind it as an approach. Small-group tuition also has evidence behind it. The formats are not identical, and neither guarantees a particular result for a particular child.

Why we chose not to sell the cheaper format

Tutormint is online only, teaching students across the UK. We teach Maths, English and Science at 11+, KS3, GCSE and A-Level. We could have built a group model around those subjects and levels. Instead, we chose a simpler promise: one tutor, one child, one plan.

That choice affects everything else. Every tutor is interviewed, experienced and holds an enhanced DBS check. Students are matched to a tutor by subject, level, exam board and personality. If the match is not right, we change the tutor free of charge. We do not need to force a child into a particular group because the group already exists.

It also means we do not rely on shared attention or pre-recorded content for the core teaching. There are no group sessions and no pre-recorded content the child watches alone. The tutor is there to teach that child.

We explain more about who we are and why we built Tutormint on our about us page. The short version is that the company was founded by a tutor with more than 10 years of teaching experience, in homes, academies and online.

A useful test before you spend the money

Before choosing a tutoring format, ask what your child actually needs from the extra hour. If they mainly need exposure to a topic, a group may be enough. If they need someone to work out exactly where they are getting stuck, explain it differently, change the plan and keep track of what needs attention next, one-to-one has a clear advantage.

There is no need to decide on the basis of a sales pitch. Our free demo class is completely free, lasts 40 minutes, requires no payment details and comes with no obligation. It is a genuine lesson plus a short assessment of the child's level, not a sales call. Afterwards, the parent receives the tutor's honest feedback, including strengths, gaps found and a recommended plan covering subject focus, lesson frequency and what the first month would cover.

If the tutor is not the right fit, we match a different tutor and the second demo is also free. That matters because one-to-one only works as well as the relationship between tutor and child. The format gives the tutor room to focus. The match still has to be right.

One child is not a small group

We are not arguing that every child needs private tutoring. We are making a narrower point. If you decide to spend money on tutoring, the number of children sharing the tutor changes what that hour can do. A group can be cheaper because the tutor's time is shared. One-to-one costs more because it is not.

We chose one-to-one because we want a child's lesson to be allowed to follow the child. Behind or ahead. Confident in one topic and uncertain in another. Preparing for an exam or repairing an older gap. The plan should be able to change when the child changes.

That is the trade we are comfortable making. We would rather offer fewer formats and be clear about what we provide than offer a cheaper group option that does not match the reason many parents come to us in the first place.