FAQs
How much do you charge?
Our prices for one to one tuition start at £55 per hour. Workshops and intensive courses as well as our premium service are individually priced. Please visit Fees for more details.
Is there a registration fee?
Yes, you will be asked to pay a one-off registration fee of £60 at the outset of your relationship with Knowledge Seekers.
How do you recruit tutors?
We have a rigorous screening, interview and training process by which we select tutors to join our team. Less than 50% of all applicants reach the screening call stage, and only a further 50% are successful at the two stage panel interview. We are highly selective and test teaching skills, empathy and rapport-building skills, self-assessment /reflection skills and genuine commitment to tutoring at several stages of the process. We insist on a minimum of 1 academic year’s commitment to Knowledge Seekers and all our tutors are graduates who are Enhanced CRB checked and reference checked.
Are all your tutors qualified teachers?
No. We believe that every child is different, and that each child will respond to a unique approach, and a particular tutor. We encourage applications from a wide variety of individuals and a breadth of disciplines, including qualified teachers, teaching assistants, self-employed tutors, workshop leaders, and graduates with experience of working with children in more creative settings and on voluntary programmes. We have very popular and successful tutors from various backgrounds including psychologists, neuroscientists, musicians, artists and writers.
How do you ensure quality?
In addition to our fine-tuned recruitment process, carried out by our Director, an experienced tutor and coach, we invest in personalised ongoing support and training of our tutor team throughout their time with Knowledge Seekers. We require tutors to submit weekly feedback on each of their tutees’ progress, both to us and to parents at the end of each tutorial. We offer development opportunities to tutors who wish to become a premium tutor, or workshop leader, and we periodically require tutors to attend review meetings and carry out particular tasks for their own continuous professional development. Our commitment to ongoing learning and self-development is a core value of the company.
Our Director offers consultations to parents, and assessments of children, to enhance the tutor selection process where appropriate.
Can I meet a tutor or several tutors before I commit?
This is not how we work. We invest a large amount of time and energy in filtering out people who we do not feel reflect our ethos and commitment to children and their education. We also train every member of our tutoring team in the coaching and teaching techniques and skills that have made both our director and Tutor Development Manager highly sought after tutors in the last 5 years. As a result we are very confident that you will be working with an excellent tutor with the ability to make a big difference to your child. We even select based on interests and personality of the child where possible. Please visit Our Team for more detail on the training we are so proud of.
We will discuss over the telephone with you the tutor we recommend placing with your child, and they will allocate an extra 15-20 minutes on their first visit to sit down with you and discuss their plan and any other details before they begin the first tutorial with your child.
Can I speak to parents of current students to ask about their experience of Knowledge Seekers?
We can generally arrange for you to speak to another parent who is using our services and will set this up after seeking the necessary permissions. Please also visit Our Testimonials to read about what families are saying about us and our tutors.
What if my child does not like the tutor?
We understand that with very young children in particular, and in instances where a child is not enjoying their studies, first impressions and a strong rapport from the outset are even more critical. We bear this in mind in the selection process, taking care to listen to the qualities that you feel will work best with your child before choosing a tutor. We also encourage you to talk positively and openly to your child about having a tutor, and our Director is happy to offer advice on how to approach this subject in sensitive situations.
Where rapport and confidence are a concern, we suggest that you allow between 3-5 tutorials for your child to settle into the routine and get to know their tutor, before you make a judgement, however if the relationship has not gelled after this initial period, we will replace the tutor.
Where does the tuition take place?
All tutorials are delivered in the comfort and safety of your home. We recommend assigning an area for tutorials, in a room where there will be no distractions from siblings, pets or appliances, and where the tutor and tutee can create an optimal learning experience.
What materials and resources do you use to teach?
Our tuition and courses are highly tailored to each individual child’s needs. We use a wide variety of teaching resources, depending on the stage of the curriculum your child is at, their preferred learning styles, their areas for development, and their interests and creative strengths. We always aim to create a learning experience that is as rich as possible whilst ensuring that the content of each tutorial is relevant to the agreed goals for your child. Our Tutor Development Manager assists tutors daily with resources including regular assessments for different age groups, past examination papers, syllabi and mark schemes, samples of work and model answers and activity ideas for different types of learner.
Do I need to provide any materials?
We may from time to time ask you to purchase work books that are for your child’s use exclusively, and your tutor may ask you to purchase stationery for your child to aid their organisation, learning or revision.
What courses do you offer?
Please visit Intensive Courses and Workshops for more details.
How do I make a payment?
You can book blocks of tuition in multiples of 10, depending on how many hours a week of tuition you would like. The minimum commitment is to a block of 10 hours of tuition, payable in advance by direct bank transfer.
It is your responsibility to make timely repayments when your current block is about to expire. Please visit Fees for more detail.
Am I tied into a contract?
We ask for a month’s notice in writing of the intention to stop tuition. This allows the tutor to bring the tuition to a satisfactory close, ensuring that your child is not in the middle of a learning cycle, and that the relationship can be completed powerfully for everyone.
Generally we establish at the outset of tuition how long you would like your child to be supported for, and an estimated end date, whether that be the end of an academic year or at the completion of certain examinations. In our experience this is often reviewed and extended due to the success of the match and the benefits of tuition.
Do you advise on which schools I should enter my child for?
We know what a personal decision this is and believe that there is no substitute for taking your child to visit each school for an open day or individual tour, where you will be able to speak to the teachers, hear the head teacher speak, see the facilities and get a feel for the school. Our Director, following an academic and developmental consultation with your child, will be happy to offer feedback and discuss school options with you in more detail.
What does a consultation involve?
We offer two types of consultation, academic or developmental, or a combination of both. Please visit Consultations for more information.
Which areas of London do you cover?
Our tutors travel comprehensively within zones 1 and 2, and sometimes further afield, although travel costs may apply. Please contact us to establish whether we cover your area.
Why don’t your tutors’ profiles appear on your website?
We are not an employment agency, or an internet matching service using post code selectors or impersonal algorhythms. We have a small team of committed tutors who trust our very specific and bespoke selection process. We take many variables into consideration and specialise in making the right placement for your child, based on our professional, hands on educational experience as well as our knowledge of each tutor’s strengths. You pay us to provide you with a highly personal service and therefore we believe that we are in the best position to choose the right tutor for your child.
What are your success rates for entrance exam tuition?
Our Director has specialised in entrance exam tuition over the last 5 years, with 100% success rate of tutees gaining entry to one or more of the top schools of their choice, with a number being awarded scholarships. To discuss individual tutors’ experience, please contact us.
Do you offer small group tuition?
In cases where the children are in the same year and at a similar academic level, we will consider small groups as an effective way to tutor. In addition you may want to consider relevant Workshops for your child and their friends. If you are looking for a homeschooling tutor to work with a group of children, please contact us to discuss your needs in more detail.
Do you liaise with my child’s school teachers?
If you would like us or your tutor to speak directly to your child’s teacher, this can be arranged with the necessary introductions. It is important to be specific about how you feel this will benefit your child and we may ask you to pass on a form to the school to answer certain questions about your child’s progress. In many instances, sharing information with your tutor like your child’s latest school report or any educational psychologist or learning support reports, and feedback from teachers through parent’s evenings and meetings, including areas for development that have been highlighted, will be sufficient.
Can you explain some of the academic stages of the UK education system?
Early Years Foundation Stage is the term used to denote the Nursery and reception years, at ages 3 and 4 respectively.
KS1 means Key Stage 1; Years one and two when your child is aged 5 and 6 respectively.
KS2 means Key Stage 2; Years three, four, five and six when your child is aged 7, 8, 9 and 10 respectively.
KS3 means Key Stage 3; Years seven, eight and nine when your child is aged 11, 12 and 13 respectively.
KS4 means Key Stage 4; Years ten and eleven when your child is aged 14 and 15. These are the years in which GCSEs are taken.
Sixth Form denotes the period that your young adult is in Years twelve, thirteen or fourteen when they are aged 16, 17 or 18. This is when they usually study for A-levels or the International Baccalaureate. It is also known as Key Stage 5.
