Online tutor by age: what actually works for a 5 year old, a 7 year old, an 8 year old, a 10 year old and a 13 year old, and what to skip at each age

Parents search for an online tutor for a 5 year old, a 7 year old, an 8 year old, and what they find is a marketplace that will sell them the same hour at every age. The hour is not the same. What a 1-on-1 online class can do at 5 is small and specific; at 7 it is reading and number with a parent nearby; at 10 it is the full thing; at 13 it is exam technique and a tutor who can teach a year ahead. This post goes age by age: the class length that works, what to teach and what to skip, the parent's role, the screen question, and the signs it is working.

5 years old

What works: a 20-minute class, twice a week, with one goal: letter sounds and blending, counting and number bonds to 10, or talking about a picture book in English for a child whose home language is different. The tutor on camera, with a puppet, a song, a whiteboard the child can scribble on. The parent beside the child, holding the book, pointing at the screen, repeating the instruction.

What to skip: anything called "school readiness" in general, worksheets, sitting still, an hour. At 5 the school will teach the alphabet; what a parent can give is reading together every evening, which no tutor replaces.

The screen question: a 5-year-old attends to a face on a screen for about ten minutes at a time; the class is built around that with a change of activity every five.

Sign it is working: the child asks for the tutor by name and shows you the sound or the number afterwards.

7 years old

What works: a 30-minute class, two or three times a week. Reading on enlarged text with the tutor and child reading alternate lines; phonics and spelling in short daily lists; number work on the shared board with the child drawing the tens and ones; a game at the end. English for a 7-year-old in a Dutch, Italian or Hindi-medium school is one of the best uses of online tutoring there is, because the school does not have the hours and the child has the ear.

What to skip: handwriting and fine motor skills (in person), long explanations, homework beyond ten minutes.

The parent's role: nearby, not in the seat. The tutor runs the class; the parent hears it and does the ten minutes of reading practice on the other days.

Sign it is working: the child reads a sign, a menu or a packet out loud without being asked, and the school's reading level moves within a term.

8 years old

What works: 40 to 45 minutes, two blocks with a break, twice a week. This is the age of the first standardised tests in many systems (Year 3 NAPLAN, Grade 3 state tests, KS2 begins), and the first year where a gap in place value or subtraction shows. Maths on the shared board, reading comprehension with the child finding the evidence in the text, and the first proper homework in ten-minute pieces.

What to skip: test drills as the main diet (teach the strand; the test looks after itself), and any class where the child watches for more than five minutes at a stretch.

The parent's role: in earshot, checking the recap sheet, doing the ten minutes of tables on the other days. Most 8-year-olds no longer need a parent in the seat.

Sign it is working: homework in that subject takes less time than it did, and the child explains a method back to you from the recap sheet.

10 years old

What works: the full 55-minute class, two blocks, twice a week, homework between classes, the recording re-watched. At 10 online 1-on-1 is as effective as in person for maths, science and English, and the year matters: Year 5 NAPLAN, the run-up to KS2 SATs and the 11-plus, Grade 5 state tests, the Opportunity Class test in NSW, groep 7 and the doorstroomtoets year in the Netherlands. A tutor who teaches the school's next topic a week ahead turns the classroom into revision.

What to skip: cramming for a test the child is already on track for; group classes; a tutor who changes.

The parent's role: the recap sheet once a week and the teacher's report once a term. The child owns the class now.

Sign it is working: the child is ahead of the class on the current topic and says so, and the school marks move in the second term.

13 years old

What works: 55 to 60 minutes, once or twice a week, on the subject that decides the next step: Year 8 and 9 algebra, the sciences separating into physics, chemistry and biology, GCSE and IGCSE starting, Class 8 and 9 in India, the esame di terza media in Italy, the brugklas years in the Netherlands. Exam technique matters now: mark schemes, timed papers, the words examiners want. A 13-year-old also needs a tutor who can teach a year ahead when the child is bored, and who will say so.

What to skip: a parent in the room (the 13-year-old will not speak); a tutor who is not qualified in the subject (a general tutor cannot teach GCSE chemistry); and any plan that ignores the school's own order.

The parent's role: the term plan agreed at the start, the report at the end, and staying out of the class.

Sign it is working: the child does homework in that subject without being reminded, and asks the tutor questions the school did not answer.

The table

What we do

Our tutors teach from 5 to 18, and the class is built for the age, not sold by the hour: 20 minutes with a puppet at 5, 30 minutes of reading and number at 7, the full class from 10, exam technique from 13, in English, Hindi or Punjabi, on the child's own school curriculum. The free 30-minute class is built the same way, so you see what the child's age gets before you pay anything. Whether a tutor is the right tool at all is the subject of signs your child needs a tutor.

Questions parents ask

See how we teach this, 1-on-1 online →