Types of lesson
Three formats, and they are good at different things. This page says which is which, including the cases where the obvious choice is the wrong one.
One-to-one
1 student
USD 20-40 per lesson
The default, and what most students should have. Sixty minutes weekly with the same tutor, work set and marked in between.
Best for: a student with a specific gap.
Paired
2 students
USD 14-28 per student, per lesson
Two students at genuinely the same point in the same syllabus. Siblings, or friends in the same set with the same gap.
Best for: matched pairs, shared cost.
Small group
up to 6 students
USD 10-20 per student, per lesson
A closed group of up to six working through one syllabus together. Covers ground efficiently; does not diagnose individuals.
Best for: covering a syllabus at lower cost.
Ranges span every level, from IGCSE at the lower end to university at the upper. The full breakdown by level is on the pricing page.
One-to-one, and why it is the default
Most of what a tutor is actually paid for is watching. Not watching the finished answer: watching where the student hesitates, what they delete, what they reach for first, and which step they skip because they assume it is obvious. That information is what turns a general sense of “struggling with algebra” into a specific, fixable diagnosis.
You cannot do that for two people at once with any reliability, and you certainly cannot do it for six. One-to-one is the default because it is the only format where the diagnosis is dependable.
Paired lessons
These work, but the conditions are narrower than families hope. The two students need to be on the same syllabus, at a similar standard, and: this is the one that usually breaks: have the same gap. Two students who are both getting a grade 6 for entirely different reasons will pull the session in two directions, and both will get less than half a lesson.
Where it does fit, it is genuinely good: students explain things to each other, and being slightly behind the person next to you is a more effective motivator than anything a tutor can say. We will tell you honestly before you book whether we think a particular pair will work.
Small group classes
A closed group of up to six students, working through one syllabus together from start to finish. The group is fixed: the same six people each week, not a drop-in class, which is what makes it possible to build on the previous session rather than re-explaining for whoever is new.
It is half the one-to-one rate, and it buys something genuinely different. A group covers a syllabus efficiently: the tutor teaches once and six people hear it, which is the right shape when the problem is coverage. A student who has fallen behind after a move, or is taking a subject the school does not staff, is usually well served by it.
What it cannot do is diagnose. In a group the tutor cannot watch where each individual hesitates, and that watching is most of what one-to-one is for. If your child's problem is specific: an algebra gap from two years ago, an exam technique nobody has corrected: a group will not find it. We will tell you which of the two you are looking at before anything is booked, and it will not always be the cheaper one.
On frequency: twice a week is not twice as good as once a week for most students, because the limiting factor is usually the work done between sessions rather than the sessions themselves. The exception is the run-up to a paper, when there is no longer time for the work to spread out: we increase frequency then rather than selling a separate crash product.
What we do not offer
Groups larger than six, drop-in classes, and in-person lessons of any kind. The first two because a group only works while it is small and closed enough to build on the last session; the third because we teach online only, from outside the UAE.
Questions about lesson formats
Is one-to-one always better than a group?
Better at different things. One-to-one lets the tutor watch exactly where a student hesitates, which is where a diagnosis comes from. A group covers a syllabus efficiently and cannot do that. If the problem is a specific gap, pay for one-to-one; if the problem is coverage, a group is the better use of the money.
How big is a small group?
Up to six students, and it is closed rather than drop-in, the same group each week, working through one syllabus together. That is what lets the tutor build on the previous session instead of re-explaining for whoever turned up. We do not run groups larger than six.
Can we form a group with friends?
Yes, and it tends to work well when the students are on the same syllabus at a similar standard. Tell us when you get in touch who is in the group and we will say honestly whether the fit is close enough: a group where one student is a year ahead helps nobody.
Is a paired lesson just a group of two?
It is priced separately because it behaves differently. With two students a tutor can still watch both work, so a pair keeps much of what one-to-one is for at about thirty per cent less. Past two, that stops being possible and the format becomes about coverage instead.
How long should a lesson be?
Sixty minutes for most students. Ninety suits A Level and IB students working through practical or coursework material, where a shorter slot loses too much of its time to setting up. Below sixty minutes there is rarely room to mark last week and teach something new.
What do you need from me before the trial class?
The syllabus code if you know it, the student's year group, and the most recent school report or mock result if there is one. None of it is compulsory, we can work it out as we go, but having it to hand makes the free hour go considerably further.
How long are lessons and how often are they?
Sixty minutes is the default, once a week for ongoing support and twice a week in the eight weeks before a paper. Ninety minutes suits some A Level students working through Paper 4 practical material, where a shorter session gets eaten by setup.
Do you set work between lessons?
Yes, and it matters. A lesson that is not followed by independent practice mostly produces the feeling of progress rather than progress. The work set is short and specific (a past paper question, a traced algorithm, a spreadsheet task) and it is marked at the start of the next session.
How do you report back to parents?
A short written note after each lesson covering what was taught, what went well and what the student needs to do before next time. No dashboards, no automated score graphs: just a paragraph from the person who taught the lesson.
What if we need to cancel or reschedule?
Give us twenty-four hours and we will move the lesson at no cost. Inside twenty-four hours the slot is charged, because it was held and cannot be filled. Illness and genuine emergencies are treated as such.