Finding the right tutor

How to choose a primary English tutor

Separate phonics, fluency, comprehension, spelling and writing needs before choosing support for your child.

Editorial

Lead authorRobin GibbonsFounder & CEO·Latimer Tuition
Reviewed byHeather LatimerTutor Matching & Customer Service·Latimer Tuition

Choosing primary English support

Short answer: match the tutor to the literacy need

Choose a primary English tutor who can find out which part of reading or writing is difficult, explain an appropriate first step and show how your child will practise it independently. Phonics, fluent reading, understanding a text, spelling and composing a piece of writing need different kinds of attention. A tutor’s general English knowledge does not tell you how they will teach those skills to a young child.

Bring a recent reading book, a short piece of unaided writing and the class teacher’s main concern. Ask your child what feels hard or frustrating too. This guide is for parents across the UK; the curriculum examples from England are labelled below. Give the tutor your child’s nation, school year or stage, and current classroom approach.

Which part of English needs attention?

Use these observations to start a conversation, not to diagnose a difficulty. More than one row may apply. The distinctions draw on England’s primary English curriculum and Ofsted’s England report on English teaching; the tutor should establish your child’s starting point rather than infer it from their age alone.

Skill	What you might notice	What to ask the tutor
Phonics and decoding	Your child struggles to connect letters with sounds or blend the sounds to read an unfamiliar word.	How will you identify the letter–sound knowledge already secure, build on the school’s phonics programme and choose reading practice that uses what has been taught?
Reading fluency	Your child reads many words accurately, but slowly or in a way that makes the sentence hard to follow.	How will you tell whether my child still needs help reading individual words or needs practice reading them more fluently? Ask about supported rereading, feedback, stress and intonation (how the voice emphasises words and rises or falls), rather than speed alone.
Comprehension	Your child reads the words aloud but struggles to explain events, vocabulary or what a character might mean.	How will you explore understanding through conversation as well as questions on paper? Can you show how you would teach vocabulary and ask the child to explain an inference?
Spelling	Your child can say what they want to write but cannot reliably represent the words in writing.	How will you identify useful spelling patterns or word parts to teach, then look for their use in fresh sentences as well as a practised word list?
Writing and composition	Your child has ideas but struggles to organise them, form sentences or get them onto paper.	How will you separate planning and sentence-building needs from spelling or handwriting demands? Ask how oral rehearsal, modelling and independent writing would fit together.

School and curriculum context

Make the teaching fit what happens at school

In England, the national curriculum separates reading into word reading and comprehension, and writing into transcription (spelling and handwriting) and composition. That is a useful reminder to ask for more than a single judgement that a child is ‘behind in English’.

Ask the teacher which phonics programme and reading materials your child uses, what has already been taught and which next step matters most. A tutor supporting early reading should explain how their teaching and practice books will fit that sequence. Ask how they will choose practice using the letters and sounds your child has been taught, rather than expecting your child to guess unfamiliar words.

The EEF one-to-one tuition guidance recommends identifying gaps, connecting tuition with classroom learning and monitoring progress. This is school-focused evidence informing the questions here, not a promise about an individual private tutor. Parents may need to pass relevant school information to the tutor themselves.

These curriculum examples apply to England. GOV.UK also notes that academies and private schools do not have to follow the national curriculum. Ask which curriculum your child follows. For children in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, give the tutor the school’s curriculum and stage information rather than treating an England year-group worksheet as a requirement. Share the teacher’s actual priority rather than asking the tutor to teach a whole year’s content again.

A practical sequence for choosing a tutor

Gather a small, useful sample
Choose one recent reading book and a short piece of independent writing, with a teacher comment if available. Note what your child did without help and what an adult supplied. A neatly corrected page can hide the starting point.
Ask about experience with this age and need
Ask what the tutor has taught at your child’s stage and how they would approach the difficulty you describe. Relevant primary teaching experience and qualifications help you understand their background; ask for a concrete teaching explanation as well.
Agree what the first lesson will establish
A useful starting conversation covers what the child can already do, where they get stuck and what will be taught first. Ask how the tutor will make the assessment manageable for a young child, including breaks or changes of activity if needed.
Look for a lesson your child can take part in
Ask how much time your child will spend speaking, reading or writing, and how the tutor will respond to mistakes. For online lessons, establish how books and handwritten work will be visible and what adult help is needed with the equipment.
Settle costs and safe arrangements
Agree the fee, lesson length, cancellation terms, between-lesson work and parent updates. Ask about safeguarding arrangements, how concerns are handled and communication outside lessons. England’s parent guidance on out-of-school tuition gives practical questions for providers, including arrangements for supervising one-to-one sessions. Our guide to DBS checks for private tutors explains that part of the decision.
Choose a review point and an independent goal
For example, agree to look for a taught spelling pattern in a new sentence, or a child explaining a short passage in their own words. Record how much prompting was needed. Agree when to review the approach instead of accepting a promised reading age or fixed improvement deadline.

Illustrative tutor conversation

An example: reading the words but missing the meaning

Suppose a child reads this invented passage accurately: ‘Aisha put her unopened picnic bag by the door. Outside, rain ran down the window. “Perhaps tomorrow,” she said.’ They then say that Aisha is going on a picnic now.

A useful tutor response would explore the misunderstanding. Does the child know what ‘unopened’ means? Have they connected the rain with ‘perhaps tomorrow’? The tutor might explain the unfamiliar word, reread the three sentences together and ask: ‘Which words suggest the picnic has been put off?’ A supported answer could be: ‘She says “perhaps tomorrow”, so she may go another day because it is raining.’

The next task should let the child do the thinking. Try another invented sentence: ‘Ben packed away his kite when the leaves stopped moving.’ Ask what changed and which words help them decide. If ‘kite’ or the connection with wind is unfamiliar, explain that before expecting an inference. Look for the child connecting the details, rather than repeating a model answer.

This is a comprehension example, not a reading test or a real lesson. A child who cannot yet read the words needs a different starting task; discussing a passage read aloud can still help the tutor explore understanding separately from decoding. Ask prospective tutors how they would notice that difference.

Primary English tutor enquiry

A message you can send to a prospective tutor

When this applies

Replace the details with one clear concern and the information you already have.

Suggested wording

My child is in [year or stage] at a school in [UK nation]. We are looking for help with [reading words / reading fluently / understanding texts / spelling / writing]. Their teacher has suggested [priority], and at home we notice [specific example]. They enjoy [interest] but find [task] frustrating.

We can share a recent book and a short piece of independent writing. Their phonics programme is [name, if relevant and known]. How would you decide where to start, fit your teaching to their school work and show us what they can do without help? Please explain the lesson length, fees, safeguarding arrangements and how parents receive updates.

Why this helps

A focused enquiry lets you compare teaching responses. You do not need to label a difficulty yourself before asking for help.

Decision caveat

When ordinary English tuition may not be enough

Tell the tutor about existing support and what makes learning easier for your child. If reading or writing remains persistently difficult, raise the concern with the class teacher and the school’s learning-support lead alongside any tuition. For parents in England, NHS guidance on dyslexia in children suggests speaking to the SENCO if dyslexia is suspected. Names and school arrangements differ across the UK.

When this advice is not enough

Do not treat a tutor’s informal reading or spelling task as a diagnosis of dyslexia. The NHS guidance for England says a specialist teacher or educational psychologist usually carries out a dyslexia assessment. A child may need further assessment or a specialist teaching approach alongside ordinary English support.

What to do instead

Ask the school what has been tried, what it shows and whether further assessment is appropriate. For specialist dyslexia tuition, the British Dyslexia Association’s tutor guidance recommends recognised specialist qualifications, including ATS or AMBDA. These are specialist credentials, not requirements for every primary English tutor. Ask how the proposed teaching and progress updates fit your child. Our SENCO meeting checklist helps parents prepare a focused school conversation.

Support and clarity

Frequently asked questions

Straight answers to the questions people ask most often.

Does my child need a reading tutor or an English tutor?

Use the title as a starting point, then ask what the person teaches. A reading tutor might focus on decoding, fluency or comprehension; a broader English tutor may also teach spelling and composition. Explain the difficulty and ask for relevant experience and an example of the proposed teaching. The title alone does not establish the fit.

Can an older primary child still need phonics?

Yes. England’s Department for Education reading framework includes support for older pupils who cannot decode adequately. Ask a prospective tutor how they would identify missing letter–sound knowledge and teach it with age-appropriate materials. Being in an older year group does not by itself establish that decoding is secure; fluency and comprehension may need attention too.

Can a tutor help a child who reads confidently but dislikes writing?

Ask the tutor to find out where writing becomes difficult. The child may have plenty to say aloud but need help organising a sentence, spelling words or writing by hand. Bring both an independent sample and your child’s account of the difficulty. A plan based only on longer writing tasks may miss the smaller step that needs teaching.

How much practice should we do between lessons?

Agree a manageable task and ask the tutor to show you how to support it. Be clear about when to help and when to let your child try independently. The amount should fit your child’s needs, school workload and family routine. Review it with the tutor if the task is too difficult or takes too long.

Official guidance

1.
National curriculum in England: English programmes of study
Department for Education · Accessed 2026-09-30
England curriculum definitions for reading, transcription and composition.
2.
Using after-school clubs, tuition and community activities
Department for Education · Accessed 2026-09-30
England parent guidance on choosing safe out-of-school tuition.
3.
The reading framework
Department for Education · Accessed 2026-09-30
England reading framework, including support for older pupils with decoding difficulties.
4.
Dyslexia in children
NHS · Accessed 2026-09-30
England advice on suspected dyslexia and assessment.
5.
The national curriculum: Overview
GOV.UK · Accessed 2026-09-30
England national curriculum scope and school-type flexibility.
6.
Telling the story: the English education subject report
Ofsted · Accessed 2026-09-30
England school evidence on reading fluency, including rereading and vocal expression.

Research and evidence

1.
One to one tuition
Education Endowment Foundation · Accessed 2026-09-30
School-focused evidence informing learning-gap, school-alignment and progress questions.

Other sources

1.
Finding a tutor
British Dyslexia Association · Accessed 2026-09-30
Specialist dyslexia tutor credentials and practical questions.

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A message you can send to a prospective tutor

Match me with a tutor

Find a tutor

Frequently asked questions

Official guidance

Research and evidence

Other sources