10 Benefits of Tutoring: Levelling Up This Academic Year

In today’s fast learning environment, it can sometimes feel like you’re always behind on schoolwork. This is caused by several factors including fragmented attention spans, lack of routine, and unidentified study goals.

Tutoring places you in a focused environment that will improve your skills and memory, and overall, will help you become a more efficient learner. Whether you’re seeking the benefits of tutoring or experiencing the benefits of peer tutoring, the results are transformative.  Let’s go over the 10 benefits of tutoring!

Benefit #1: Identify where you’re struggling

You’ve probably been asked whether you're more of a “Maths” or an “English” student. But, we say, why not be both? One benefit of tutoring is that it can help you identify weaknesses in subjects, modules, topics, or concepts so you can maximise your marks! A key benefit of tutoring is its personalised nature, ensuring you get the support needed to excel.

Art of Smart’s tutoring programs start with a diagnostic test so tutors can evaluate where the student is at and where to go from there.

Benefit #2: Challenge yourself on concepts you’re already good at

If you’re already achieving pretty high marks for a certain subject, you may wonder why you would need to get tutoring. Well, let us introduce you to a benefit of tutoring that many people underestimate.

Simply put, your tutor will introduce you to harder, more complex questions that are often the type that students find the most difficult on their final-year papers. These questions are characterised by simply being harder or are a mix of different topics.

One benefit of tutoring is that you can improve your ability to think outside the box which is crucial for those trickier questions. This advanced level of learning is a unique advantage of being a tutor or having one. 

Benefit #3: Personalised Support/Learning

Tutors can adapt to your learning needs and your learning preferences.

But, what’s a learning preference? You may be asking. Essentially, it is the way a student best learns. Here are 7 learning preferences your tutor can adapt to:

• Aural — They can incorporate more sounds, rhyme, or music into your study, or they can record your session so you can listen back
• Visual — Graphics are going to be your best friend, so your tutor could make your study more visually interesting.
• Verbal — A tutor would encourage you to explain concepts on your own.
• Physical — Tailoring lessons to include movement, hands-on tasks, and practical applications can be done by a tutor.
• Logical — A tutor can help clarify and simplify concepts that may seem too complicated.
• Social — If you like learning with a group, group tutoring sessions may be more effective.
• Solitary — Tutors can still complement students who like to learn independently; they can encourage self-reflection, and goal setting, and offer guidance and advanced study techniques.

The benefits of peer tutoring also shine here, as collaborative sessions allow students to learn from each other’s strengths. But, personalised support also means identifying your study goals, and then planning how to best work towards them with your tutor. At the start of your program, you can expect an analysis of where you’re currently sitting, and a realistic outcome granted you put in the effort.

Benefit #4: You’re made accountable for your study

Just like a sports coach, a tutor is to support you and regularly check and evaluate progress. Having to turn up to a sports or tutoring session and being expected to show your coach/tutor something ensures you’re moving towards the goal.

You also can’t mindlessly scroll on TikTok or “study” whilst the TV is on in front of your tutor  — it’s really for your own good, though! Showing up to weekly or bi-weekly tutoring sessions puts you into a routine. This structured environment fosters responsibility and discipline, showcasing yet another benefit of tutoring.

Benefit #5: Make Exam Prep A Breeze

We know that the final exam is one of the most anxiety-inducing times in high school. It can be so overwhelming that, at times, students don’t know where to begin their revision and exam preparation. 

This causes frustration, anger, self-pity, and that dreadful feeling of knowing you’ve been procrastinating — because the worst part is that some students are still less likely to take action when feeling this. But, one benefit of tutoring is that you can work with your tutor to build an exam revision schedule that works for you. This is one of the most practical advantages of tutoring, especially during critical academic periods. 

Benefit #6: Learn in an Environment That Suits You Best - 1 on 1 or Small Groups

All of us learn in different ways, and good tutoring support should cater to and help you in the best way possible.
We recommend 1 on 1 session if you are:

• A highly motivated student
• Struggling with a certain subject
• Unable to focus in group settings

But if learning in an environment where you can bounce around ideas appeals more to you — we recommend these for students who:

• Struggle with procrastination
• Have difficulty working at home
• Are unmotivated
• Need to be challenged and made more accountable

Peer tutoring offers a collaborative space, while individualised attention helps students who struggle with focus. This flexibility is a significant benefit of tutoring for students of all types.

Benefit #7: Less Stress

Managing stress is extremely important throughout the academic year and when exam season rolls around. So, why not receive help from a tutor who knows exactly what you’re going through? They may sound like real experts now, but they were once in your very shoes.

The tips, tricks, tactics, and techniques are everything they’ve learned in their time in high school — which they are imparting to you! By taking on this knowledge, you can lessen and better manage stress.

Benefit #8: Achieve Your Study Goals

Aiming to get a 90+ ATAR? Or are you simply hoping to redeem yourself after last term’s malfunction? Tutoring programs set you up to plan achievable study goals. From improving essay writing to mastering complex equations, the advantages of tutoring include better results and clearer objectives.

Throughout sessions with your tutor, you will work towards short-term and long-term goals.

Bloom’s two-sigma study found that the average student tutored one-to-one using mastery learning techniques, started to perform two standard deviations better than students purely educated in the classroom.

Art of Smart has supported over 11,000 students in improving their marks by an average of 20%. Exploring their resources and guidance could be a step toward achieving your study goals.

Benefit #9: Invaluable Resources

An underrated benefit of tutoring is the resources you’ll accumulate and have access to.

• Essay Drafting Resources
• Practice Questions
• Physical Books
• Mistake Books
• Online Resources
• Instant English Essay Feedback with Artie

A mistake book is where you log your mistakes in the process of working out a question. You will then evaluate them with your tutor to pinpoint exactly where you went wrong. Then your tutor will test you on similar questions to evaluate whether you’ve overcome the mistake. These resources, combined with the benefits of tutoring, give you an edge in your studies.

Benefit #10: Real-time, fast feedback

One of the greatest benefits of tutoring is immediate feedback on your work.  Seeking constant feedback for the regularly done practice papers and questions they do, is how students with 90+ ATARs achieve their mark.

Just like in the classroom, tutoring places you in an environment where you must actively listen and engage. But, your high school teachers won’t always have the time to go through all your essay drafts or practice answers. That’s where you can count on your tutor to help and give you feedback.

Whether you’re seeking academic improvement or considering the advantages of being a tutor, tutoring creates opportunities for growth, confidence, and success. By accelerating your feedback loop you will inevitably raise your lid — think of the "lid" as a metaphor for the highest mark you achieve during practice. This mark sets the limit or "lid" on the score you can realistically expect to achieve in the actual exam. 

Exam seasons can bring a lot of stress with them and it’s important to make sure you are taking care of your mental and physical well-being. So, take breaks, stay hydrated, and take advantage of student well-being services in between your study sessions! Good luck!