Private tutoring agency, Tutors International, reacted to recent attempts to create a ‘tutor-proof’ exam by claiming that no test can be resistant to the skills that a good private tutor provides to students.
Tutors International, one of the world’s leading tuition agencies, who provide full-time private tutors to UHNWIs, says that contrary to repeated attempts to develop an 11-Plus exam to foil the practice of coaching by private tutors, it is not possible to ‘’tutor-proof” an exam.
Adam Caller, senior partner at Tutors International, commented, “I’m yet to learn of any test for which coaching and familiarity will not improve scores.”
Mr Caller, who is one of just two UK members of the prestigious IECA (Independent Educational Consultants Association), founded the elite private tutoring agency in 1999 to provide long- and short-term tuition for students of all ages, as after-school support or full-time home tutoring.
They tutor in all subjects and towards any exam, including GCSEs and A-Levels, SAT and ACT, the IB, and many others. “The tests that are least compatible with coaching are IQ tests, where the test is attempting to examine innate competence in basic reasoning. But people can improve their scores even in IQ and EQ tests with practice and coaching,” comments Mr Caller.
He continues, “If private tuition gives pupils an edge over their peers to secure good jobs and university places, then parents will always want to go down the private tutoring route, if they can afford to.
“Good private tuition is not cheating – it is focused on equipping students with the capacity to learn, reason, link events, research and solve problems for themselves. These are the skills that lead to good exam grades, and ultimately, success in further education and later life.”
Mr Caller believes that the previous attempts of UK schools to tutor-proof their 11+ exam amount to creating an IQ test that will affect their entry to secondary schools.
“If exams like the 11-plus are trying to establish a child’s ‘innate’ competency in different areas, then it becomes more like an IQ test. There are many different areas that make up a comprehensive assessment of someone’s innate, ie, almost tutor-proof, intelligence, and these tests don’t allow for conditions such as dyscalculia or dyspraxia. And I say ‘almost’ because I have yet to come across any exam or test, even an IQ test, where scores cannot be improved through practice and coaching.”
