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Who are we?

Nevil Chiles:

Nevil Chiles was born in Birmingham in 1970. He attended Haybridge High School in Hagley in the West Midlands, successfully completing 11 'O' Levels and 4 'A' Levels before leaving school in 1988.

After a year in Australia Nevil attended King's College, London where he read History, graduating in 1992. In the mid 1990s Nevil worked and travelled extensively throughout South East Asia and Australia before becoming involved in education. Nevil worked as a private GCSE tutor to an influential family in Manila in the Philippines before returning to London to take up a full time post in the GCSE Department at Collingham School, Kensington in 1997.

At Collingham Nevil taught History and English at both GCSE and A Level. In 2002 Nevil left Collingham to set up Kensington & Chelsea Tutors Limited.

Dr. Anna Clark:

Anna Clark was born in Stourbridge in 1972. After leaving Mander Portman Woodward (MPW) in Birmingham in 1991 with 4 'A' Levels she went on to the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine to study Medicine. She qualified as a doctor in 1999 and became a member of the Royal College of General Practitioners in 2001. Despite her involvement in Kensington & Chelsea Tutors she continues to work as a GP.

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March 2013

MORE PUPILS TAKE PRIVATE TUITION INITIATIVE

There's changes afoot in the realm of private tuition according to one London-based tutor agency!

Kensington & Chelsea Tutors (KC Tutors) and its online platform Webtutornet are seeing a gradual step change in the nature of its enquiries with an increasing number of pupils deciding to grasp the nettle and book private tuition themselves as opposed to their parents or guardians.

Nevil Chiles, who founded KC Tutors in 2002 and has over two decades of experience within education, commented: "Increasingly secondary school students are requesting the tuition themselves as the competition for university places becomes vastly more competitive. Their friends might be having tuition so they think they need to also, or they just want a head start.

"There's a definite trend in that direction and although it will still generally be the parents who fund any extra curricular tuition, whether face to face or online, it's obvious that pupils from 12 upwards are seizing the initiative and taking more control of their own education," added Nevil.

KC Tutors operates across London and the South East with thousands of pupils and tutors on their books whereas Webtutornet allows for a national and international online delivery of personalised, safe and secure webcam-based tutorials.

"There's clear evidence that the desire for private tuition has boomed in the last decade regardless of the economic backdrop. We've seen little in the way of the economic zeitgeist playing its part on demand and that reflects parents placing an increasing priority on their child's education and future.

"The point at which a parent, more often than not the mother, decides to choose private tuition for their child tends to vary from parent to parent. However, from experience, it is possible to observe some shared factors that seem to trigger the decision with the most common one being a last ditch panic during the exam period!

"Other parents take up tuition in the wake of an unfavourable parents evening after it has been pointed out to them that their child needs to "pull their socks up to achieve the grades".

"Another key factor is the influence of other parents who may have experienced the benefits of private tuition. This plays out amongst mothers and fathers in regards to 11+ and 13+.

"The competition is fierce, particularly for London schools, and we are frequently contacted by parents who have found out their friends' children are all having coaching so feel theirs should too if they are to gain an edge, and in turn, one of the much coveted places at their chosen school.

"Grades themselves are obviously the driving force whether the child is receiving continually low grades or has suffered a sudden drop in grades due to other circumstances in their personal life. Parents seem to want to actively prevent the situation from getting worse. Some see the tuition as a 'cure', rather than an aid, but either way, parents quite rightly expect great results from taking this step.

"Either way, although the precise reasons may vary, in general it would seem that parents choose private tuition either as a result of a bad report or grade, as a crutch during a difficult time in their child's life or as a vital study tool in the lead up to exams," concluded Nevil.

For more details visit www.kctutors.co.uk