Group Classes or Private Tutoring for English – which is better?

Meet Alex* (name has been changed). He has been with a private tutor for the past 2 years. Every week, he would write a piece of writing, get it corrected by the tutor, then write another one, and the cycle continues. Sometimes the tutor would give him a random passage to analyse…but the lessons weren’t structured. He felt like he was on a winding path rather than a clear, straight line. His parents realised that his marks weren’t getting better, and heard from other parents that their children have been attending JP English. They enrolled Alex into our trademark 2 hr year group class, and after just 1-2 terms, his grades improved from a C to an A! Some parents may be doubtful of sending their children to classes, but here are reasons that our classes are better compared to one on one tutoring.

Structure

For Year 7-11, the 2 hour group sessions that JP English provides follow a strict structure that is acutely fine-tuned by top achievers of NSW and allow for the students to gain the most benefit because as alluded to, our sessions follow the NESA syllabus directly. This is essential and extremely helpful because the questions that all year 12 students face in their assessments, and the HSC, come from the NESA syllabus.

Diverse Discussion

Another benefit of classes is that each week, teachers will discuss with their students different text types every week. This is incredibly helpful in the 1^st section of Paper 1 of the HSC exam– the unseen reading section – because this section is notorious for its diverse array of text types. This includes prose fiction, poetry, non-fiction extracts (newspapers, journal articles, opinion pieces, etc) and film stills. By learning the best way to approach these diverse range of text types in terms of technique spotting and purpose finding, students can most certainly expect to blitz through the very time consuming unseen section.

Further, a great benefit of 2 hour group classes in contrast to 1 on 1 sessions is that discussion in a group session also allows you to learn from others mistakes which will most certainly help a student’s progression to a flawless final exam. Additionally, student exemplars are shown to classes, which motivates your child to improve on their own writing.

What about Individual Homework and Assessment Marking?

You may be thinking that group classes remove the chance for homework and assessment marking that is often a major incentive of individual sessions. However, at JPEnglish, your child’s presence in a group class will not rid your of this immeasurable benefit. All homework and assessment work will still be individually marked.

Overall, I hope it is clear that the structured 2 hour sessions which promote diverse discussion that JP English provides are most certainly the way to go over 1 on 1 sessions. Your child’s presence in these group sessions will most likely put them on a path of success.

Want to see how our english tutors can help you write with insight and sophistication? Contact us today to learn more about how we help students succeed in English!