Prepare for a first tutoring session by sharing the specific learning job and a small work sample, confirming practical and safety arrangements, and agreeing that the session should include real teaching plus an independent learner attempt. It is a starting-point and fit check, not a promise to solve the whole problem.

Parent/carer checklist

  • Confirm date, duration, format, location/platform, fee and cancellation terms.
  • Share subject, school stage, awarding organisation/tier where relevant.
  • Send only necessary work through the agreed secure route.
  • State the concern, what school/learner observes and what has been tried.
  • Disclose relevant access/support information the tutor needs, with appropriate consent.
  • Confirm who communicates with the learner and how.
  • Review safeguarding, recording/data, complaints and concern-reporting arrangements.
  • Agree when you will join/leave an online or in-person session.

For England, use current DfE guidance for parents using tuition and out-of-school settings. Other UK nations use different disclosure and policy systems.

Learner checklist

  • Choose one task that shows the difficulty.
  • Bring your own attempt, including mistakes.
  • Write what you think the task asks.
  • Note one explanation that has or has not helped.
  • Prepare one question for the tutor.
  • Know how to pause, say you are confused or report a concern.
  • Check materials, device/input tools and access.

Do not rehearse a “perfect” answer. The tutor needs useful evidence.

What a tutor should prepare

Ask the tutor to be ready to:

  • restate the agreed job and limits;
  • ask the learner to think aloud on a bounded task;
  • distinguish missing knowledge, method, interpretation and practical blockers;
  • teach one manageable point;
  • reduce support and use a fresh check;
  • summarise evidence without overclaiming;
  • propose a next task and review plan.

The DfE tutoring review's findings come from school programmes, but its emphasis on curriculum alignment, prior knowledge, consistent tutors and pupil/parent feedback supplies sensible questions.

A flexible first-session agenda

PartPurpose
Welcome and boundariesLearner knows the plan, communication and how to raise a concern
Goal and work sampleTutor understands the current job and course
Bounded baselineLearner attempts and explains without premature help
Teach and practiseTutor adapts explanation and fades prompts
Fresh checkLearner tries a comparable step independently
CloseEvidence, next action, practice and review are clear

Do not require exact minute allocations; age, task and format differ.

Debrief separately with the learner

Ask:

  • What did you work on?
  • Which explanation helped or did not?
  • What could you do by the end without help?
  • Did you feel able to ask questions and make mistakes?
  • Did anything feel uncomfortable or unclear?
  • Would you try another session with this person, and why?

Compare the result with the online tutor scorecard, then complete the reviewable tutoring goal before an open-ended block.

Use how to know if tutoring is working at the agreed review date.

Prepare one useful evidence pack

Share only necessary information through the agreed secure route:

  1. course, stage, board/tier where relevant;
  2. one recent authentic attempt;
  3. teacher feedback or mark scheme linked to that task;
  4. learner's account of the first difficult step;
  5. support or access information needed for the session;
  6. the question the family wants the first session to answer.

Do not send a large archive and expect the tutor to diagnose it instantly.

Define the first-session question

Examples:

  • Can the tutor identify and teach the prerequisite blocking these algebra questions?
  • Does the learner understand the essay feedback well enough to use it on a fresh plan?
  • Is online working visible and comfortable enough for the learner and tutor?
  • Can the learner explain what help is useful and safely raise a concern?

The first session can produce a provisional answer and next step. It cannot prove long-term progress.

Worked first-session evidence

Starting task: learner attempts two questions without help and explains thinking.

Observation: both begin correctly; a negative value triggers an incorrect sign change.

Teaching: tutor compares two substitutions and asks the learner to verbalise the sign decision.

Fresh check: learner solves a comparable item independently, then needs a general prompt on a mixed item.

Close: record the sign error, what changed, prompt level and a later mixed check. Do not report “topic mastered”.

Parent and learner debrief

Ask the learner first:

What did you work on?
What could you do at the end without help?
Which explanation helped?
Did you feel able to ask questions or stop?
What remains unclear?
Would you continue with this tutor, and why?

Then compare with the tutor's evidence. If accounts differ, investigate rather than choosing the more confident adult account automatically.

First-session red flags

Pause or stop when there is:

  • a safeguarding or boundary concern;
  • pressure for private communication outside agreed channels;
  • unexplained recording or data use;
  • a guarantee about grades or outcomes;
  • dismissal of the learner's current course or school evidence;
  • a full answer supplied without learner thinking;
  • unwillingness to state terms, scope or review;
  • a claim to diagnose needs outside professional remit.

Copyable preparation sheet

Course and current task:
Authentic work sample:
Learner's first difficult step:
Teacher feedback/source:
Access/safeguarding arrangements:
Question for session one:
What real teaching should be observed:
Fresh check:
Learner debrief:
Next action/review:

Sources

  1. Department for Education — Using tuition and out-of-school settings (2026-07-23)
  2. Department for Education — Independent review of tutoring, phase 2 (2026-07-23)

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