Tutoring support for learners with dyslexia

Perhaps the learner can explain an idea aloud but finds it hard to organise a written answer. Or they understand the maths once a long question has been broken down. Tell us which subject or task matters, where the learner gets stuck and what already helps. Add the course and level if there is one.

Use a recent piece of work to make the request specific: the instructions, the learner’s attempt and the point where help was needed. For a school pupil, include relevant classroom goals or existing support recommendations. The EEF’s school-tuition guidance emphasises connecting tuition with classroom learning; this is a useful starting point for discussing private subject lessons too.

Dyslexia Scotland’s guidance for teachers suggests thinking time, shorter instructions and support for organising written work. The examples below apply those ideas to a subject lesson. Discuss them with the learner and tutor as options; the useful adaptation depends on the task and the person.

Latimer provides online-first, one-to-one tuition. Microsoft Teams is the default platform; you and the tutor can agree an alternative. Discuss how both of you will see the learner’s work, whether instructions should also be written down and how the learner can ask for a pause or clarification.

Agree lesson length, frequency and any practice around the learner’s workload, concentration, goals and your budget. Each tutor sets their hourly rate, shown on their profile. Latimer invoices after lessons on a pay-as-you-go basis. Ask what the proposed pattern would cost before booking.

For school pupils, EEF guidance recommends checking whether an adaptation is helping the individual. A practical way to do this in tuition is to keep an early attempt and revisit a comparable task at the agreed review point. Discuss what the learner can now start, explain or correct, and where prompts are still useful.

Ask the learner whether the pace and materials helped them take part. If the same barrier remains, discuss changing the explanation, support or workload. Finishing more questions is only one observation; understanding the subject and knowing what to do next should stay part of the conversation.

The offer here is subject tuition, not diagnostic assessment or therapy. If you need detailed advice on specialist dyslexia teaching, qualifications or assessment routes, use our dyslexia tutor guide before deciding what to request. In England, NHS guidance says a child’s dyslexia assessment is usually carried out by an educational psychologist or specialist teacher.

Keep that assessment question separate from the conversation about help with current subject work. A matching request or introductory meeting does not establish a tutor’s diagnostic competence.