The disparities between rural and urban Britain are vast. It has been reported by Rural England that students living in rural areas have far less choices of post-GCSE institutions than their counterparts living in London. The report has found that London students have as many as 12 options, a number which is slashed in half to 6 or 7 when looking further afield to more remote areas. In addition to this, a Rural Services Network online survey carried out in 2018 found that 42% of Brits felt that 16-18 year-olds in their rural communities had no choice of schools or colleges.This distinct lack of choice is unfairly limiting pupils who don’t live in built up areas, creating a divide between regions in England.

Online tuition can attempt to level the playing field by providing equal opportunities for children, no matter their location. What was once seen as a premium resource for parents, online tutoring has become an accessible support structure to aid one of the most challenging periods in academic history. Leading EdTech platform MyTutor has commissioned a nationally representative study evaluating the de-stigmatisation of online tutoring. The new data has found that almost half of the nation are now more likely to share and discuss their child’s experience of online tutoring with others, with 44% agreeing that they will continue to invest in online tutoring post-pandemic. Furthermore, almost a third of the country agree that pre-pandemic they would never have publicly discussed using online tutoring as they worried it might make their child appear less intelligent, but now they no longer feel this is the case.

This is in stark contrast to previous national data commissioned by MyTutor pre-pandemic, which revealed that one third of parents who hired a tutor to help their child with their school work kept it a secret, with one in four confessing that if directly asked about it, they would rather lie than admit to doing so.

Key stats*:

48% used to think tutoring was unnecessary but since the pandemic they now think it’s really valuable
48% are now more likely to share and discuss their child’s experience of private tutoring with others
30% agree that before the pandemic they would never publicly discuss using private tutoring for fear it might make their child appear less intelligent, but post-pandemic they no longer feel this is the case
44% will continue to invest in online tutoring for their children post-pandemic
*(nationally representative research commissioned in April 2021, in full compliance with the British Polling Council Guidelines)

The Zoom classroom is out, online tutoring is in:

The benefits of online tutoring are two-fold: alongside providing educational support, the one-on-one personal interaction offers pastoral support which ensures they are no longer lost in a sea of faces on a zoom call. Having a personalised education which is specific to learning style along with external influences such as age and geographical location has immense benefits. This familiarity also became ever more valuable as lockdown attributed to poor mental health and isolation of children who missed their school friends and interaction with their teachers.

“Teens need support now more than ever”: Bertie Hubbard, co-founder of EdTech platform MyTutor, discusses the impact which the pandemic has had on the mental wellbeing of young people across the nation:

“The last twelve months have been unbelievably tough year on teens and parents alike with months out of school, exam cancellations, not seeing friends and worrying about Covid-19. As schools open again, catching up on lost learning and prepping for assessed work this term will bring another set of challenges for teens.

They’re in more need than ever for some support and reassurance with their studies, and that’s exactly what our tutors offer. Our tutors are all from UK universities, and because they’re just a few years older they can easily relate to what teens are going through. With their dedicated one-to-one support, teens get some much-needed reassurance and come out with a stronger self-belief – 88% say that lessons made them feel more confident.

Rather than replacing teachers with robots, the biggest power of EdTech lies in enhancing person-to-person learning. At MyTutor, we provide online tuition that raises kids’ grades, boosts confidence and helps them fulfil their potential in life. Because it’s online, kids get access to amazing tutors from across the country, rather than whoever’s nearby. As there’s no travel for the student or the tutors, it also saves time and money travelling – reducing the cost and stress involved for parents.”