Our employed tutors
What makes our tutors unique?
Keystone tutors are selected for their academic excellence through a rigorous recruitment process and supported by ongoing professional training. Your client manager will match your child with a tutor not only for subject expertise but for personality fit, building rapport as well as results.
Our approach to a
tutoring placement
Our Employed Tutors
We have built our reputation on professionalism, combining exceptional tutors with a highly personalised approach. Unlike most tutoring agencies, we employ over 60 full-time, professional tutors. These tutors have outstanding academic credentials and are not only subject experts but often become formative figures in a child’s life.
Our Track Record
We have a wealth of experience in assisting students with preparation for competitive London day schools and top UK boarding schools including St. Paul’s Boys School, St Paul’s Girls School, Westminster, King’s Wimbledon College School, Eton, Harrow, Winchester, Wycombe Abbey and many others.
We have also successfully supported students with entrance into many of the top British universities, including University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, University College London (UCL), London School of Economics (LSE), University of Edinburgh, Kings College London (KCL), University of Bristol and many others.
Finding The Right Tutor
Every family at Keystone Tutors is matched with a tutor by one of our client managers. They'll talk through your child's needs, goals and personality before recommending the tutor who is the best fit
Detailed Feedback
After the first lesson, one of our client managers will contact you to find out how the lesson went. Our client managers are always available at the end of the phone and they are frequently praised for their efficiency, dedication and responsiveness.
We have a monthly reporting system which is used to update parents on an ongoing basis.
The monthly report details:
- the focus of that month’s tutoring
- the form of assessment used
- the student's achievements and areas for further work
- the focus for the coming month
The regular, rigorous reporting of the tutors we represent is frequently commended by parents.
Here is a sample of the tutors we represent
Keystone is unique in employing over 60 UK based professional tutors on a full-time basis. Our employed tutors engage with Keystone's bespoke professional development programme, work exclusively for Keystone and are committed to tutoring as a career and profession. We believe these factors make a unique difference to the level of commitment we can assure, as well as the quality of teaching we can provide.
How does Keystone
select its tutors?
Tutors often tell us we're the hardest agency to join. Here's why
Every tutor passes an Enhanced DBS check (including the Children's Barred List), has their qualifications verified and provides references. Then they go through our own selection process:
- Application: We review experience and academic record, and only accept tutors who can commit for over two years. Tutors are also asked what their TED talk would be on, and it's the first thing we discuss at interview.
- Interview: Every tutor is interviewed, so we can assess both character and academic ability.
- Practice lesson and assessment: Tutors teach a practice lesson, which we judge on preparation and delivery, and they also sit an academic assessment.
Keystone's Tutor Training Programme
Our training programme keeps employed tutors up to date with changes to school and university entrance exams and developments in their own subjects. That means better outcomes for your child, and a team of motivated tutors who are committed to professional development.
You can see the training modules each tutor has completed on their profile page. Our most experienced tutors also lead sessions on specific topics and subjects.
Here's a sample of some of our training sessions:
Reflection sessions
Tutors watch recordings of their own lessons and look closely at the decisions they made and why. It's an honest way to see what's working and sharpen their practice.
Best practice sessions
Tutors observe one another, share ideas and talk through specific challenges. Seeing another tutor's style, lesson structure and resources often sparks new ways of teaching.
The Keystone Academy
Twice a year, all our tutors come together to develop particular areas of their practice. Recent topics include:
- Child protection and first aid
- Subject-specific content, schemes of work and assessment
- Curriculum developments
- Using ICT in tutoring
- Supporting students with special educational needs (SEN)
Who are Keystone's tutors?
The tutors we represent are dedicated to their work, and receive outstanding evaluations from their students. After a strenuous screening process, we tend to choose intelligent and likeable tutors who enjoy relating to, and setting high standards for, their students. While it is a truism that intelligence does not make you a good tutor, we like tutors to be passionate and knowledgeable about their subjects so that they can field the most curious of questions from their students. Self-confidence and inspiration derive from such strong relationships we feel.
Professional Tutors
Keystone is singular in its commitment to professionalise tutoring. Rather than having a loose body of tutors, we have pioneered the first professional tutoring contracts in the UK. We have attracted tutors who see tutoring as a career, and behave accordingly. They train regularly, always looking for ways to improve their craft; they have access to materials that Keystone has developed in-house; most importantly, they have a long-term, committed professional disposition.
Teachers
Keystone is also fortunate to have a number of ex- or part-time teachers amongst its ranks. The combination of their teaching experience and subject knowledge enables teachers to be highly effective in the one-to-one environment.
Tutors
Most of Keystone’s tutors are committed to tutoring for the longer term. They are usually well aware of their plans for the next two or three years, at least, and use tutoring as their main source of income around vocational plans.
