Keystone can offer homeschooling support to children in Years 10 and 11 who are preparing for their GCSE and IGCSE exams. We have been partnered with Tutors & Exams since 2021, and have good relationships with a number of other exam centres in London and would be delighted to make these introductions for you.
When homeschooling students in the lead up to their GCSE exams, we recommend a more intense weekly timetable. This would typically include four hours of learning per week for each core subject and two to three hours for the other subjects. Independent work is also set, as well as regular assessments to ensure the student is on track.
Some students come to us mid-way through their GCSE studies and when this is the case we work to ensure a smooth handover from their previous learning centre. Our tutors will be briefed on the exam board and set texts to ensure no time is wasted in these key years and we can introduce tutors to the student's previous teachers to gain any background knowledge required. Our tutors are also very experienced with 16+ entry so can help prepare Year 10 and 11 students for this level of testing.
"In my experience, homeschooling has been an amazing tool to bridge the gap between any schooling issues and getting students back into school.
There are many reasons why a students education might be behind where it should be. Changing schools internationally can leave gaps that might get missed. Large chunks of school can be missed for health reasons. Homeschooling can offer a completely personalised path back into the system. Courses can be designed from scratch for every individual student to specifically deal with their unique problem areas. Working one-on-one with talented tutors can quickly rebuild any lost confidence and spark passion for subjects that students previously might have loathed!
Homeschooling also offers the freedom to explore subjects in a much more flexible way, spending time diving deep into interesting areas that otherwise might be skipped over."
Tom - Keystone Professional Tutor
We are delighted to have partnered with Tutors & Exams. Tutors & Exams provides examination and assessment facilities primarily aimed at private and home educated candidates. Tutors & Exams has nationwide coverage with centres located around the country. All are approved for examination delivery by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ).
| Standard £300 (exc. VAT) per year +Hourly Tutoring Costs* |
Premium £3,000 (exc. VAT) per year +Hourly Tutoring Costs* |
|
| A dedicated Homeschooling Manager | ✔ | ✔ |
| Weekly student wellbeing meetings | ✔ | ✔ |
| Half-termly tutor reports and progress checks | ✔ | ✔ |
| GCSE and A Level exam registration | ✖ | ✔ |
| Termly parents meetings | ✖ | ✔ |
| Study skills development sessions | ✖ | ✔ |
| Super-curricular development classes | ✖ | ✔ |
*We will work with you to devise a bespoke programme of hourly tutoring. Tutoring costs range from £82 - £162 per hour.
Your dedicated Homeschooling Manager, Poppy, will get to know your family and will be available via phone or email to help with timetabling, regular parent catch-ups and to answer any questions.
Each student has a weekly meeting with Poppy. This gives students a chance to feedback on how their week has gone, how they are finding their lessons and to raise any issues or queries.
Written reports are emailed out each half term. Each tutor writes one, detailing what has been covered that term, how your child is doing and how they have been assessed. These are very useful for parents and guardians and can also be sent to future schools that ask for school reports. Students will be assessed formally at the end of each term, as well as regular informal tests to track progress.
At the end of each term, we offer parents meetings – a chance for you to have a 15-minute conversation with each tutor, where they can recap the term's achievements and what has been covered. It is a good opportunity to get to know the tutors and to raise any questions. These are typically online unless lessons are taking place face-to-face
Up to six hours of study skills sessions are available each term to help with revision, timetabling and time management.
Example study skills:
Our super-curricular learning programmes seek to develop and extend a student’s love of learning. They encourage students to build on areas of interest as well as exploring entirely new areas of learning. Our Premium Package includes up to 24 hours of super-curricular sessions throughout the year.
They are a chance for your child to join a small group of similar aged students and each term the focus will be on a different topic (incorporating aspects of critical thinking, current affairs, politics or financial literacy). Outside of these sessions, children will be set reading and optional research to enhance their understanding and discussions in the sessions.
Example super-curricular topics:
The Power of Statistics: Inspired by "factfulness" by Hans Rosling. A course aimed at teaching students how to use statistics effectively to inform their views, and simultaneously how to spot the misuse of statistics that pervades modern society.
The Physics of Music (and The Music of Physics) - A course exploring the intimate connection between Physics and Music. Answering questions such as; why does an octave contain 8 notes? How does a synthesiser work? And why is an atom like a tiny guitar?
What makes relativity "special" - A crash course in the mind boggling world of special relativity. How your clock and ruler have been lying to you all along.
Financial Literacy - Financial matters have always played an important role in life, but technological change has increasingly been exposing young people to financial decisions earlier and in a way that is different to previous generations. It is therefore even more vital now that they are equipped and prepared for the financial realities after they leave school. This programme will explore how life will look after school and what that means for their finances. Students will develop their knowledge and skills on how to effectively manage their money, learn about saving, investing, borrowing and also how to protect themselves as consumers.
Introduction to Philosophy - exploring, investigating and discussing topics chosen by the students.
History's Pivotal Moments: Renaissance, Reformation & Revolution - exploring pivotal historical events to evaluate how far they transformed the world we live in. Students will deepen their historical knowledge and develop their analytical skills, working directly with historical primary sources. Students will also be encouraged to interrogate the arguments of historians, some of whom see history as a series of big events and others who emphasise slow but significant long-term change.
We can register your child for national exams including GCSEs, IGCSEs, IBs and A Levels.
Whether or not we are registering your child for their exams, if there are any issues either mental or physical, that may require special consideration, do alert your exam centre and Keystone Tutors as soon as possible. The exam centre can then apply to the exam board for special consideration on your behalf.
"My son’s journey has been amazing, and without your help and guidance I think we might have been struggling for much longer. He is ready for the next stage, both him and ourselves will always keep the fondest memories of you all."
Full Time Homeschooled Student"When Covid struck our daughter had just started at an independent school in the UK and joined online from our home in the US. Keystone helped support her, so much so that we decided to withdraw her from the school and enter Keystone's homeschooling programme for her GCSEs."
Mother of GCSE Homeschooler“Ed has been absolutely outstanding in his support for our son. When he was out of school due to illness 6 months prior to GCSEs they provided a full suite of extremely professional tutors enabling him to achieve excellent results across the board."
Full Time Homeschooled StudentBook an initial free consultation with our homeschooling team to hear how we can help.
