What Makes a Good Tutor? I Don’t Think It’s Qualifications Alone

When I started tutoring fourteen and a half years ago, I certainly didn’t imagine that one day I would be running a tutoring business with a team of tutors, developing a franchise and thinking quite so deeply about what makes somebody good at this job.

Over those years, I’ve worked with a lot of children, spoken to a lot of parents and worked alongside a lot of tutors.

And one thing I have become increasingly convinced of is this:

Knowing a subject doesn’t automatically make somebody a great tutor.

Of course, subject knowledge matters. If you are helping a child with algebra, you need to understand algebra. If you’re supporting a GCSE student with Macbeth, you need to know the text.

But tutoring is about what happens when that knowledge meets the individual child sitting in front of you.

And that requires something more.

Teaching the subject or tutoring the child?

One of the greatest privileges we have as tutors is the opportunity to work with children individually.

In a classroom, a teacher may have 30 children in front of them. They have a curriculum to follow, targets to meet and limited time in which to do it.

As tutors, we often have one.

So why would we recreate the classroom?

We have the opportunity to notice that the child is tired today. That they’ve completely lost confidence in fractions. That they'll happily talk for ten minutes about dinosaurs but shut down the moment a worksheet appears.

We can discover what makes them laugh, what interests them, what they avoid and what makes them feel successful.

And then we can use all of that to help them learn.

That is at the heart of The Clara James Approach.

We start with the child and then build the learning around them.

What happens when a child doesn’t understand?

I think this is one of the biggest differences between knowing how to do something yourself and knowing how to tutor it.

Imagine you’ve explained something to a child.

They don't understand.

So you explain it again.

They still don't understand.

You explain it for a third time.

Still nothing.

At that point, it can be very easy to think:

“But I've explained this three times!”

Perhaps you have.

But if you've essentially given the same explanation three times, saying it for a fourth probably isn't going to help.

This is where I think a good tutor changes the question.

Instead of:

“Why doesn't this child understand?”

try:

“Why isn't my explanation working for this child?”

Could you draw it?

Could you use counters?

Could you turn it into a game?

Could you relate it to football, baking, Minecraft, horses or whatever happens to interest that particular child?

Could you explain it using completely different language?

Sometimes the lesson needs to change, not the child.

The lesson plan isn't the most important person in the room

Planning matters.

I wouldn't advocate arriving at someone's home with absolutely no idea what you're going to do.

But there is also little point creating a beautifully planned hour and being so determined to deliver it that you fail to notice the child in front of you.

Children don't arrive at tutoring as blank slates.

They may have had an argument with a friend.

They may have had a difficult day at school.

They may be exhausted.

Something may have happened at home.

Or perhaps the thing they managed brilliantly last week simply feels impossible today.

A good tutor notices.

Sometimes you carry on with what you planned.

Sometimes you make it easier.

Sometimes you turn it into a game.

Sometimes you put it aside completely and do something else.

That's not a failed lesson.

Adapting the lesson to the child is part of the lesson.

Confidence matters too

Parents understandably come to us because they want their child to make academic progress.

We want that too.

But progress isn't always captured by a grade.

Sometimes progress is the child who previously said:

“I'm stupid at maths.”

beginning to say:

“I think I can do this.”

It can be attempting a question without immediately asking for help.

Putting their hand up at school for the first time.

Reading something aloud.

Writing three sentences when previously they wouldn't write one.

Or getting something wrong and discovering that nothing terrible happened.

Those moments matter.

Because a child who believes they are incapable can be very difficult to teach, however brilliant your resources are.

Sometimes our first job isn't teaching the next thing on the curriculum.

It's helping a child believe that trying is worthwhile.

Parents need to be seen too

Tutoring isn't simply a relationship between tutor and child.

There is a family around that child.

Parents may arrive worried, frustrated or unsure what to do next. Some have spent years trying to get support. Others simply know that their child is struggling and don't know why.

A good tutor listens.

We don't need to pretend we have every answer.

Sometimes the most useful thing we can say is:

“Tell me a little more.”

What has the parent noticed?

What has the child said at home?

What has already been tried?

What does the family hope tutoring will achieve?

A diagnosis, school report or test score can give us useful information, but it doesn't tell us everything about the person we're about to work with.

Two children with exactly the same diagnosis may need completely different support.

We work with the child and family in front of us.

So, do you need to be a teacher to become a tutor?

This is a question I am asked fairly regularly.

My answer is no – I don't believe being a qualified teacher is the only route to becoming an excellent tutor.

Equally, I don't believe simply being nice and good with children is enough.

Tutoring carries responsibility.

You need appropriate subject knowledge. You need to understand safeguarding. You need to recognise the limits of your own knowledge. You need to be willing to learn, take advice and develop your skills.

And, particularly if you are going to support children with SEND, you need to understand that being given a label doesn't give you an instruction manual for that child.

The qualification somebody holds is one piece of the picture.

I'm interested in the person holding it.

Are they curious?

Do they listen?

Can they build relationships?

Are they willing to say, “That didn't work. I'll try something else”?

Will they continue learning?

And, most importantly, do they genuinely believe that the child sitting in front of them deserves to be seen as an individual?

Can you learn to become a better tutor?

Absolutely.

I know far more about tutoring today than I did fourteen and a half years ago.

Some of that has come from training and reading.

A huge amount has come from children themselves.

I've tried things that worked brilliantly.

I've also tried things that fell completely flat.

I've made mistakes. I've changed resources. I've altered explanations. I've listened to parents. I've learnt more about SEND. I've watched other tutors. I've reflected on what worked and what didn't.

And I've kept tweaking.

Those fourteen and a half years of experience are now part of what I want to pass on to other people.

Not because I want to create an army of tutors who all teach exactly like me.

Quite the opposite.

Why this matters as Clara James grows

As we develop the Clara James Tutoring franchise, I don't want every franchisee to arrive with the same background.

Some may already be experienced tutors.

Some may have worked in education.

Some may come with business experience.

Others may be at the beginning of both journeys.

The Clara James Approach that we use with children should apply to the adults we work with too.

Different people. Different starting points. Different strengths. Different goals.

Our role is to recognise that and help each person develop the skills, confidence and business they need.

We can provide training, systems, resources, SEND-informed support and the experience we've accumulated over the years.

But ultimately, I don't want to create identical tutors.

I want to work with people who share a belief.

A belief that education should start with the person.

A belief that confidence matters.

A willingness to adapt when something isn't working.

And a belief that every child deserves the opportunity to feel capable.

Perhaps we're asking the wrong question

So perhaps instead of simply asking:

“What qualifications do I need to become a tutor?”

we should also be asking:

“What kind of person do I need to be to become a really good one?”

For me, it's someone willing to keep learning.

Someone curious enough to ask why something isn't working.

Someone humble enough to change their approach.

Someone who understands the privilege and responsibility that comes with supporting a child individually.

And, above all, someone willing to see the child before the subject.

That's the kind of tutor I want representing Clara James.

And it's the kind of person I'd love to meet as we build the next chapter of the business.

If you've been considering becoming a tutor or building your own tutoring business and The Clara James Approach sounds like the way you believe children should be supported too, please get in touch.

There doesn't need to be a hard sell or a decision waiting at the end of the conversation.

Let's have a chat, find out a little more about each other, and see where it leads:

[email protected]