How To Get the Most Out of Your Online Tutor

Why Online Tutoring Works

As a parent, it’s natural to wonder: “Is online tutoring really as effective as in-person teaching or tutoring? How can it be as good as what they get at school?”

Since COVID, online tutoring has opened up exciting new options for how students learn. With access to first-class teaching from the comfort of home, personalised support, and flexible scheduling, online tuition can make a huge difference—whether your child needs help catching up, preparing for exams, being homeschooled or simply building confidence in a subject. 

It’s like being in the classroom but not leaving your house! Many families now choose online tuition to access expert GCSE and A-Level online tutors without the stress of travel.

Individual Support vs the Classroom

Classrooms can be noisy, busy places. Someone’s tapping. Someone’s whispering. Someone’s trying to eat their rubber. Online tutoring removes much of that chaos. It creates a calm, focused environment where it’s easier to concentrate — often from the comfort of home.

In a classroom of 30, even the best teacher can’t hover over everyone like a helpful drone. Teachers really should be renamed ‘miracle workers’. They juggle children with different complex needs, various behavioural issues, and diverse learning speeds. That means limited time for individual attention.

But in an online session? It’s all about your child – the lesson moves at their pace, focuses on their strengths and gaps and gives them the chance to ask questions without fear or embarrassment…or distraction. Struggling with spelling? You stay on it. Zoomed through similes? Move on. Still unsure about fractions? We can go over it again. The pace is set by the learner, not the lesson plan.

In addition, the one-to-one nature of support enables proactive ways of learning like flipped learning not possible in a large classrooms settings with a mixture of abilities and skillsets.

Whether your child needs a GCSE Maths tutor, GCSE English tutor or even an A-Level Physics tutor, the flexibility of online tuition means lessons are built entirely around them.

The Modern Online Lesson

Let’s take a moment to appreciate the modern online teacher: part educator, part tech support, part magician. From interactive whiteboards to online quizzes that make grammar fun (yes, fun), lessons are no longer a sit, listen and don’t talk affair.

They’re full of videos, games, and the occasional moment where everyone accidentally mutes themselves or can’t find the share screen. Expect learning. Expect laughter. Expect the occasional “Sorry, you froze!”

Building Skills Beyond the Subject

Online tutoring doesn’t just teach English, Maths or Science — it builds digital confidence. Students learn how to use virtual tools (as do parents!) communicate clearly online and stay organised in the digital universe. In an increasingly tech-driven world, these are essential key skills.

How Tutors and Parents Work Together

As experienced online tutors, part of our responsibility is to give first-hand advice on how students can prepare for lessons, engage meaningfully with us, and take responsibility for their learning between sessions.

From setting clear goals to asking thoughtful questions and reviewing what’s been covered, we’ll teach them habits which will help them to get the most out of their tutoring experience. But it’s not just the students we support, parents are just as important! No school runs. No battling traffic. No waiting in car parks with lukewarm coffee.

Online tuition can integrate around family life — before dinner, after clubs, before dog walking and even during holidays.

10 Top Tips for Getting the Most Out of Tutoring Sessions

1. Set Up the Space

First and most importantly, set up a distraction-free learning space. As much as doing a tutoring session in a car with the dog next to you seems like a good idea when you are trying to fit 24 hours into 8, it will not enhance the tutoring experience for your child. They need to have a quiet, well-lit area where they can focus and where there are no distractions.

Remove phones, turn off the TV and extract loud siblings and pets! And yes — no one minds if your child wears slippers during the session.

2. Keep in Contact

Just as important are keeping the lines of communication open with your child’s tutor. Most tutors will update you after each session; set homework and suggest ways you can support learning between sessions. Any information you can give your child’s tutor, from curriculum maps that outline the term’s work at your child’s school to just an update on how they are finding the homework, is vitally important for us to plan your child’s lessons. 

Let us know if your child is struggling at school, has upcoming tests or if you’ve noticed a drop in their confidence. Likewise, don’t worry about asking how your child is doing in their sessions. Tutors and parents working together as a team means your child gets consistent support. Similarly, if the goldfish has sadly passed away, let us know – then there’s a reason why Jimmy is unable to do his work and is sobbing into his keyboard.

3. Regularly Test Your Tech

Nothing kills the momentum in a tutoring session like a dodgy Wi-Fi signal or a laptop with 2% battery. Sometimes, tech issues do arise but please check the device, internet connection, camera, and sound ahead of time so the lesson starts smoothly (and know how to share screen!). You can do this before each lesson using the demo classroom and troubleshooting tools on Sherpa.

4. Keep it Routine

Treat your child’s tutoring session like any other important appointment. Help your child get into the swing of online sessions by sticking to a routine - try keeping to the same day and times for lessons if possible.

5. Ensure Students Take Ownership

Make sure your child takes responsibility for their tutoring sessions and any extra homework. They should review any notes or homework from the last lesson before the next session to be most effective. There are no “online detentions” for not doing it - but it’s good practice to, especially as it will underpin the next lesson.

Likewise, if they’ve struggled with their homework, compiling a list of the questions they struggled with and why they struggled with them is the best way to make the most of the time with their tutor. As tutor’s we mark homework and review it with your child, so to be ‘forewarned is to be forearmed’ if they’ve come unstuck on a questionor topic in the last week at school.

6. Join the Class Early

Make sure your child is logged in a couple of minutes early with everything they need — paper, pencils, books, a drink or whatever the tutor has asked for. Being rushed or flustered at the start can throw off the whole session.

7. Sit in on Ocassion

You might want to check on your individual tutor's preference here - but in general we welcome parents and guardians to pop in occasionally to see how things are going, especially with younger children. If you’re in the same room, that’s fine too, but please keep the role of observer so the tutor can work effectively.

Having you nearby also means you can help your child with any technical hiccups or step in if your child needs support. By all means ask your child what they learned after the session, hopefully they won’t stop talking about how wonderful it was and how exciting algebra is!

8. Set Goals With Your Tutor

As with classroom teaching, your child needs to have goals with online tutoring. Work with your child and their tutor to set short and long-term learning goals. Having clear targets keeps sessions focused and gives your child a sense of achievement. Rewards work well too! A little praise or reward can help keep motivation high and make additional learning a positive experience.

9. Help Them Reflect

If possible, sit with your child to reflect after each session and encourage them to review what they have learnt. This helps reinforce understanding and encourages active learning. A simple “What was the most useful part of your session today?” around the dinner table goes a long way. It’s important to keep this positive by taking a genuine interest and getting their opinion outside of what they tell their tutor.

10. Foster a Positive Attitude to Tutoring

Some often feel social pressure or shame around ‘needing tuition’ - even when it’s universally used by students, no matter their level of ability. A few kind words go a long way to combat this!

Before each session, encourage them by saying, “You’re going to do great today,” or “Remember how well you did last week!” A quick positive boost helps your child start the session feeling confident, supported, and ready to learn — and over time, it builds a genuine sense of pride and enjoyment in their progress.

Why Children Love Online Tutoring

Finally, many children come to quickly enjoy their online tutoring sessions – and not just because they can wear comfy socks! 

The one-to-one attention helps them feel seen and heard and the lessons are often more interactive and relaxed than they expect.

With the right online tuition and a supportive online tutor, many students move from general anxiety to genuine enjoyment of learning. This enjoyment is something children always possess the potential for, but often need the right environment and mentorship to help it grow.

Conclusion

Engaging activities, a friendly online tutor and the freedom of asking questions without worrying what their classmates might think or say, makes their learning journey something to look forward to rather than something they dread.

It’s amazing how a quiet boost in confidence can turn into a genuine love of learning – all from the comfort of home. Online lessons move at your child’s pace – fast or slow – no judgement, just progress.

And in case you were wondering…Yes, I do wear my slippers!