Recently*, I started tutoring in a tuition centre alongside my private local and online students. What are the advantages and disadvantages of learning in a group in a tuition centre? Let's see...

First of all, in the centre where I work(ed), you can also book one-to-one sessions. That's a plus, but I guess most students use a tuition centre for the advantages of group tuition. If you want a one-to-one tutor, you can simply book them to come conveniently to your home (or in some cases, you go to some other place, either the tutor's home or a library, or elsewhere).

I'm not comparing online tuition in this article, so I'm not going to be talking about that here. I was discussing online vs face to face tuition in my previous article.

So, what are the advantages and disadvantages of group tutoring in a tuition centre?

Price: You should get an excellent tutor for a better price, as their time is also paid by other students in the group. This is definitely positive for your money management.

On the other side: As it's a group session, you can never have as much attention and focus from the tutor during the lesson (unless the group consists of students of similar age, level, and abilities – just like my online group courses), as they need to help all the students in the group. So that could be a potential negative point.

Multiple Tutors: Centres usually work with multiple tutors. So even when you have your designated one most of the time, in case your tutor is not available for some dates, the centre should easily cover them and provide another tutor for you. Therefore, you shouldn't need to rearrange or miss any lessons. That's positive, right?

Environment: Depending on the centre and the group, there could be problems with a noisy environment (when not having classrooms but working in an open space). On the other hand, someone may prefer a rather open space as that feels more friendly and is a nice change from the school environment. Would that be positive or negative for you?

Individual Needs vs. Distractions: Also, if there are students with different requirements in the group, then the tutor's focus on your work is even lower, as you can't work together as a group and discuss the topic together using a whiteboard. But depending on your needs, if you are quite independent and mostly need to work on your own with just checking and a little bit of explanation from the tutor, then coming to the centre will help you to focus and work on your maths, rather than working at home where there are so many distractions. And you still have a professional there you can ask for help. So depending on your preferences and what you expect from tuition in the centre, it could be both positive and negative.

As seen above, there are several advantages and disadvantages of different tuition options. It's mostly up to you to decide what's better for you. You can always try to see what suits you best.

Generally, tuition in a tuition centre should give you more security for less money in terms of having your maths tuition every time you need it, even when you need to swap some days.

Having a private tutor is definitely beneficial as they're there just for you and will give you more attention than being tutored in a group (again, unless the group consists of students of similar age, level, and abilities – just like my online group courses). But in terms of any sudden changes in allocated time, a single private tutor may not be able to cover your needs. In my case, even when I always try my best, I can't easily swap one student on another day, as I'm often already booked for other days. That's why I have "emergency days" free for such changes, and that's why I also provide online/distance tuition. But I know it might still not work for everyone. Or when I'm fully booked within classic hours such as weekday evenings (and you don't have time during the day), the only option, if you really want to be tutored by me and don't want to try distance tuition, is to come to visit me in Carshalton in the tuition centre on Saturdays*.

* Now, I know I said 'recently', but as time moved on, I moved (literally) too, so I'm no longer within reach of this particular tuition centre. Therefore, I am no longer tutoring there.

Tutoring in a tuition centre was an interesting experience, and it certainly gave me an insight into different ways in which tuition (especially group tuition) can be run (and how I want to run it myself).

Also, I now have other options for helping students outside of my regular schedule, even when I'm fully booked with my regular lessons. I run a Maths Club, and in my opinion (surely biased, I know, because I'm the founder, but bear with me), it has great features (independence and flexibility as well as my personal guidance, just to name a few).

I'll let you discover more about my Maths Club here, if you're curious to learn more.