Choose your cookies

Necessary storage keeps the site working. Analytics, including PostHog and masked session recordings, is on unless you switch it off or choose necessary cookies only. Marketing choices are explained in our cookie policy. Change your choices anytime in Cookie settings.

Latimer Tuition

Navigation

Latimer Tuition

Parent learning support

School Anxiety and EBSA: Can Tutoring Help?

Start with school and health support, understand the education plan and decide whether extra teaching has a useful role.

Editorial

  • Portrait of Robin GibbonsLead authorFounder & CEO·Latimer Tuition
  • Reviewed byHeather LatimerTutor Matching & Customer Service·Latimer Tuition

Agree support with school before adding lessons

Arrange a conversation with the class teacher, pastoral or attendance lead and, where relevant, the person coordinating additional learning support. In England this may include the special educational needs coordinator (SENCO). The NHS advice for parents supports listening to the child and working with school to identify problems. These questions turn that into a practical meeting agenda.

  • Bring the child’s account and a short record

    Note when attendance became difficult, what your child says, any missed learning and what has already been tried. Include situations in which they cope better. Offer a way for them to contribute without having to repeat a distressing account to every adult.

  • Identify the barrier before choosing the response

    Ask what school can change and who will arrange it. Worry about an unfamiliar topic may need teaching; distress linked to relationships or the school environment needs attention to those circumstances. More work is not a substitute for understanding the barrier.

  • Include additional needs and existing provision

    In England, DfE attendance guidance says support should reflect individual needs. Discuss disability-related reasonable adjustments where relevant and access to provision in an education, health and care plan (EHCP), if the child has one. EBSA does not automatically mean a child has a disability or needs an EHCP.

  • Write down responsibilities and a review date

    Agree who keeps in contact, what school will do, what learning is manageable and when the plan will be reviewed. Include the child’s response, access to education and wellbeing in the discussion. Do not judge whether the whole plan is working only by a completed worksheet.

A school meeting request

Wording for the first school meeting

When this applies

Adapt this when anxiety is affecting attendance or access to learning.

Suggested wording

“My child is finding school difficult and says [their words]. We have noticed [specific situation] and tried [what happened]. Could we meet to understand the barriers and agree support? Please include what school can change, how learning will continue, who will coordinate the plan and a review date. We would like our child’s views included in a way they can manage.”

Why this helps

The request gives staff concrete information and asks for shared actions. Our SENCO meeting checklist can help prepare questions about additional learning needs.

When is extra teaching a sensible option?

Consider tuition only alongside the wider plan, with a clear learning purpose. The situations below build on the specific missed-learning example in DfE’s England guidance. They can help you discuss whether teaching would address the concern; they are not a programme for treating EBSA.

There is a specific missed-learning concern

Your child identifies a topic they do not understand and is willing to try some supported work. Ask school for a suitable starting point and whether support can be provided through school. If extra tuition is considered, agree a small academic goal, what information can be shared and how it fits the existing plan.

The main difficulty lies elsewhere

Your child describes distress about relationships, the environment or being away from home, rather than a particular learning gap. Return to those concerns with school and appropriate professionals. Choosing a tutor cannot by itself establish or address the cause.

The learning arrangement adds pressure

If the proposed task or lesson is becoming another source of distress, pause that activity and discuss the response with the adults coordinating support. Change the task or arrangement before adding more. A child’s ability to work at home does not, on its own, settle what they can manage at school.

Find the guidance for your UK nation

The education duties described above apply to England. Ask your school who coordinates attendance and additional learning support locally, then use the guidance for your nation.

England

Working together to improve school attendance sets out school and local-authority responsibilities. The current publication is dated July 2026.

Wales

Welsh Government attendance guidance provides the national framework for improving school attendance.

Scotland

Included, Engaged and Involved: Part 1 is the Scottish Government’s guidance on improving attendance in Scotland’s schools.

Northern Ireland

nidirect school attendance and absence guidance explains attendance and absence arrangements for parents in Northern Ireland.

Support and clarity

Frequently asked questions

Straight answers to the questions people ask most often.

Do we need medical evidence before school can help?

Raise the concern with school promptly. In England, DfE attendance guidance says schools should not routinely demand medical evidence for illness absence. They may seek reasonable evidence when there is genuine, reasonable doubt or to support prolonged or repeated illness. Evidence used to plan suitable education is a separate issue from routine absence recording; ask what information is needed and for what purpose.

What should we ask a tutor if tuition is part of the plan?

Ask how they would choose a manageable starting point, coordinate with school learning and respond if the child becomes distressed. Agree what they will report about understanding and participation, and who reviews whether lessons still fit the wider plan. Avoid promises to cure anxiety or guarantee attendance. No tutor arrangement replaces the school and health support the child needs.

Sources and references

Sources and references

Found this guide useful?

Add Latimer Tuition as a preferred source on Google.