Maths Help Make Maths Tuition Fun

Maths Help Make Maths Tuition Fun How to Make Maths Fun? Yes, it's Possible! ChaptersMake Maths Lessons Great!Learn Maths Through the Internet! How to Prepare Exciting Maths TuitionLet’s be honest, maths has never been the most popular subject. It’s the age-old problem area that most people find challenging, from childhood right through to adult life.But maths doesn’t have to be hard! That’s where you, the maths tutor, come in. Whether your private tuition is aimed at primary school, GCSE, A-Level, or even university, there are many ways to appeal to students at all levels and find out how they can thrive in what is currently a problem area.You have the power to change your student’s entire approach and way of thinking when it comes to learning maths and retaining information, and help them overcome any fear or anxiety in maths.The classroom isn't always the best place to learn! Source: VisualhuntSometimes the trickiest part of maths is not having an understanding of the basics before moving on to the more complicated activities. This can make stude nts feel lost and confused, and maths becomes a chore.Once a student has fallen behind, it can be really difficult to catch up, and students often feel like they’re drowning. This is something picked up by Ousted (Office for Standards in Education) in a report on maths education â€" they found that students weren’t helped or supported enough if they fell behind, which affected their entire course of study.So it seems that maths is becoming a noticeable issue in national education. But there are many ways that private tutors can pick lost students back up, and redirect them towards success.The first step in getting your students motivated to learn maths is by re-contextualising it. This means that, by putting maths into accessible and relevant situations that your student can recognise and relate to, you will make it comprehensible, as well as fun and engaging.Making maths fun is the most crucial element in changing your student’s outlook. By showing them that maths isn’t a c hore, and that it can be really versatile and exciting, you will spark their interest and self-confidence. MyriamMaths Teacher 5.00 (13) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MarkMaths Teacher 5.00 (5) £200/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors Dr parikhMaths Teacher 5.00 (8) £40/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors KamalMaths Teacher 5.00 (9) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors PetarMaths Teacher 5.00 (8) £40/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors GowsikaMaths Teacher 5.00 (5) £15/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors RubenMaths Teacher 5.00 (1) £15/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ConorMaths Teacher 4.75 (4) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutorsMake Maths Lessons Great!Of course each student is different, and should be treated as such. It’s important to keep track of how your student absorbs information, the way they understand and approach challenges.Start by spending some time with your student to really work out what it is about maths that troubles them. Is it a specific topic? Is it the way it’s taught in school? Is it because they just aren’t succeeding?Once you can hone in on the issues, you can start exploring what would make maths more fun during your home tuition sessions.And now the world is your oyster! There are so many ways to make your lessons more enjoyable and creative, using tools and media such as:BooksMusicArtVideosApps and websitesBoard gamesCard gamesMock scenarios and transactionsIntroducing play into learning, especially with younger students, is really important for their development and understanding of a subject or challenge. Whatever you use, just make sure it’s age appropriate and gets your student engaged in the activity, and the sky’s the limit!Just by putting maths into a different context, you can help your student look at it with fresh eyes. Whether this is through games, mock transaction activities, cooking, or whatever method your maths student might enjoy , the crucial goal is making maths relevant.This is where you can start getting creative with your home tutoring sessions, personalising them to the individual needs of your student. Play around with different learning techniques that can be carried out through fun activities, and take note of what your student enjoys.There is a much wider scope for what you can do in terms of fun and games with younger students, particularly at primary or early secondary school age. At this age, your student is at a stage in their development where playing is still necessary for learning, so you can use this to your advantage.The most crucial part about playing games is that your student sees how fun maths can be, and how it can be applied to everyday life. In showing your own positivity and love of maths, it will rub off on your student too.Make your student aware of the various daily activities that use and rely on maths. You can think about how you might turn these activities into games that you can play with your student.You can use any games you like â€" and board games, puzzles or card games are a great place to start. Try adding in little maths problems for your student to solve, or play games involving money. A bit of competition is a great motivator â€" and a prize is always fun!Games are a great way to overcome challenges! Source: VisualhuntMaths games are great idea because they will help your student visualise the methods and the application that they need to learn. If you’re teaching your student to tell the time, for example, why not get hold of a clock to teach the lessonâ€" you can buy (or make!) pretend clocks with moveable hands, so that you can call out times and your student can adjust them accordingly.When learning how to handle and count money with younger students, there are lots of fun ways to engage them and put their learning into practice. You might decide that you could have a go at a setting up a shop, or go on a little spending spree, all in th e comfort of your home!By designing a pretend shop or café, you can make money and transactions fun. Outline a budget, a menu and some prices, and let the games begin.If you want to make things a bit more challenging, why not introduce some vouchers and have a go at working out discounts and percentages. Swap places as you pay, so that your student can understand about both sides of a transaction.Learn Maths Through the Internet!The internet is pivotal when exploring fun ways to teach maths. Just a simple internet search of ‘maths games’ or ‘make maths fun’ will bring you pages of results, including articles, advice and guidance, and all sorts of games and resources to try.If you’re looking to work on particular aspects of your student’s syllabus, BBC Bitesize  is a brilliant tool. You can hone in on particular topics that directly follow the national curriculum, available for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, for both primary and secondary school.If you’ re looking for free online maths tools that stem away from specific course specifications and just focus on learning basic maths principles and fun games, then have a look at Educators Technology  who have set out a list of links and ideas to get you started.For more ideas on which games and activities to try to be a fun maths tutor, check out our blog post on maths games!How to Prepare Exciting Maths TuitionTo get started, put aside some time to really research and play around with ideas. Make a list of ideas you might have yourself, perhaps you have something in mind for a particular topic that’s been tricky for your student.As the tutor, it’s important to have a go yourself at any of the apps and websites you might want to use, or that have been recommended to you, before you go on to suggest them for your student to use.This goes for any resources you find during your search, just have a quick scan to make sure they will be useful, appropriate, and most importantly, fun to u se during your private tutoring sessions.Outline a brief lesson plan, to make sure that all the bases are covered and your student is still receiving what they need from you in terms of curriculum and tackling specific problems. But this is where you can start weaving in some fun and games to your sessions.Play around with games and roles. Source: VisualhuntRemember to keep your plan adjustable, as it is subject to change. After all, you need to notice how your student is responding to the activities you have set out. If they are having fun, great! Keep track of what works, what might need tweaking, and your student’s individual progress.If they still seem to be struggling, or if you think they aren’t enjoying something, move on! You’ll find that much of it is a case of trial and error, and practice makes perfect. It’s important here, too, to keep track of what didn’t work and why, and how you could improve for next time.It might be a good idea to set your student a bit of homework as well. It doesn’t have to anything too big or strenuous, it could even be as simple as trying out a new app or completing a section on BBC Bitesize, for example.By encouraging your student to keep working at their maths in their own time, they will naturally get better and better. By setting work that is fun, manageable, and that doesn’t resemble the dull and difficult exercised they do at school, then you can help them build a new relationship with maths â€" one of pleasure and confidence.

Where To Take Portuguese Lessons

Where To Take Portuguese Lessons Find Out Where To Find The Best Portuguese Classes Across The UK ChaptersLearn Portuguese In LondonPortuguese Lessons In ManchesterPortuguese Classes In BirminghamLearning Portuguese In LeedsGet Fluent In Portuguese In GlasgowPortuguese Lessons BelfastPortuguese Lessons CardiffPortuguese Lessons EdinburghThere are no two ways about it - learning a second language can only be a good thing.When you consider the reasons for studying a new language such as Portuguese, it is so easy to think of the positive rewards like being able to communicate with Portuguese speakers, having an extra skill on your CV, becoming more intelligent, and so on... yet it is really tough to think of any disadvantages. Can you think of any off the top of your head?There's a common misconception, usually among monolinguals (those who speak only one language), that being bilingual or even multilingual can cause you to become confused and mix up the different dialects. Any person who speaks a language on top of their mother tongue will disagree with this, as the different langu ages simply make sense in your head.Yes, okay, you may find yourself merging similar languages at the start of your language learning journey (especially languages like Spanish and Italian, for example), but soon enough you will master the language to a degree where you will just switch from one to the other with ease and all will click into place.Never mind worrying about which tie to wear to an interview, with an extra language skill on your CV you could ooze confidence and sail through the process. Photo on Visual HuntSo, now that we've established that there's absolutely no reason not to learn a foreign language, here are some advantages to learning Portuguese  specifically.Reasons For Learning Portuguese1. Portuguese is a highly useful languagePortuguese is the official language of Portugal and is a widely spoken language (probably more so than you think), so is definitely worth learning. While learning French and German is common at school, there are far more native speakers o f Spanish and Portuguese, with  over 230 million of the population  speaking  Portuguese  (among this number 222 million have it as their mother tongue).More people opt for Spanish over Portuguese, but what they may not know is that Portuguese is spoken not only in Portugal but it is also a principal language in Brazil (Brazilian Portuguese), Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique, East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and  São Tomé and Príncipe.  Portuguese is also widely spoken in Sri Lanka, Goa, India, and Macau, which shows that is commonly spoken across numerous continents.2. Learning Portuguese opens opportunities to travelAs we've discovered, Portuguese is on many people's lips, and not just in Europe! By becoming proficient in Portuguese, you could enable yourself to travel freely across Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia with little or no language barrier. So why not go and catch up with some of the 230 million speakers of this language and discover the world at the same time?Learning a new language like Portuguese opens up opportunities to travel and get by across the world. Photo credit: flossyflotsam on VisualhuntAlso, with Brazil having the eighth largest economy in the whole world, that seems like a good place to visit if you are on the search for a job!3. Portuguese will improve your career prospectsWhile having any second language will work to your advantage, there's a reason why Portuguese might make you stand out from the rest. Portuguese is said to be the seventh most studied language, therefore, with it being much lower down the table than its popular peers, as a speaker of this language, you could be bringing something unique to a business.In the US, Portuguese doesn't even come in in their top ten most studied languages, so US employers would have a field day if they saw this on your resume!4. Portuguese will help you learn other 'Romance' languagesFair enough, having a knowledge of Latin will ease the process of learning Latin-ba sed languages, but why not skip this process and move straight onto learning a language that you can actually use in real life, with real-life people, and in real-life situations? By learning Portuguese, you could make learning other languages like French or Spanish way simpler. The same goes if you do it the other way around - so if you are already a French or Spanish speaker, you will no doubt find that you pick up Portuguese really easily.Other examples of Romance languages are Romanian and Catalan, so it's not just the same old languages we are talking about here!5. Portuguese is a beautiful languageFinally, what really speaks for itself is the beauty and elegance of spoken Portuguese.As one of those languages that simply rolls off of the tongue of fluent speakers, it is mesmerising. It's no wonder that the 'Romance' languages are linked to love, they sound so breathtaking! Fall in love with Portuguese or fall in love with someone speaking to you in Portuguese... either way you will definitely want to learn this language once you start to learn more about it, I assure you!See below just a snippet of the Portuguese lessons, online courses, and workshops available to you across the country. During these sessions, you will learn to speak either beginner Portuguese, conversational skills or business Portuguese and will be taught about sentence structure, verbs, conjugation, pronunciation, vocab,  and grammar rules.You might,  for example, learn the days of the week and other common words and phrases, like 'obrigado' ('thank you').. Alternatively, you could look at going to Queen’s University Belfast, which runs beginners’ Portuguese courses over a period of 10 weeks.If you are interested in learning Portuguese though, whether European or Brazilian, it’s worth noting that it will likely take some time commitment from you in order to get better at the language and improve your speaking, reading, writing, and listening skills.For example, Language Trainers estimates that students would likely have to put in the following times in order to reach a certain proficiency in Portuguese:Elementary level of Portuguese â€" 30 hours;Intermediate level of Portuguese â€" 150 hours; andAdvanced level of Portuguese â€" 400 hours.So, if you are serious about getting better at Portuguese, it’s a good idea to be aware of how much time you can commit to learning a new language and think about which proficiency level you’d ultimately like to reach.Try Your Hand At Online LearningIf none of the courses above seems appealing, or you’re unsure about whether you can commit to attending regular Portuguese language classes, then you could also consider getting better at Portuguese with the help of online resources.There are plenty of apps out there that may help you get better at Portuguese, with some of the most well-known being:Babbel;Duolingo; andMosaLingua.On apps such as Babbel and Duolingo, lessons are often delivered in bite-sized chunks, which m akes these apps good to use to learn foreign languages such as Portuguese if you’re particularly time-poor.What’s more, some language learning apps are free to use, so if you’re thinking about studying a foreign language, whether that’s Portuguese, French, German, Spanish, or another language, these apps can be a good way to learn about the basics of a language and gauge whether you’d be interested in further study.It’s worth noting that, while these apps and websites can be very helpful, especially if you would consider yourself a beginner taking Portuguese classes London, you might find it harder to get as much value out of these kinds of language programmes if you’re a more advanced speaker, or consider yourself fluent or near-fluency in Portuguese.For advanced speakers, often going to a dedicated language class where you have the opportunity to speak in Portuguese, discuss complex matters in Portuguese, and learn about advanced aspects of Portuguese grammar can be more helpful.If you study a degree in Portuguese, you often have the chance to go on a year abroad (Image Source: Pixabay)Portuguese Lessons CardiffIf you live in Cardiff and want to learn Portuguese, then you’ll be pleased to hear there are plenty of options available regardless of your ability level.For example, if you’re a complete beginner when it comes to Portuguese, then you might want to consider attending a course designed to introduce you to the basics of the language.The University of Cardiff, for example, runs part-time courses designed for beginners’ Portuguese courses. Lasting 12 weeks, the course can help complete beginners who want to learn how to “hold a basic conversation” in Portuguese, with the course having a particular focus on Brazil.Even if you’re not a complete beginner in Portuguese, there are other basic Portuguese courses offered by the University of Cardiff, including the “Portuguese for Beginners II” course or “Portuguese for Improvers Stage B”.Note that the Portuguese for Improvers course runs for 20 weeks, and not 12, so you would have to be prepared to commit more time to your Portuguese studies to take this course.There’s Plenty To Learn In A Portuguese ClassThe content of a Portuguese lesson will depend on many factors, including:Your existing ability level in Portuguese;How long your course will run for;Whether you’re learning about European Portuguese or Brazilian Portuguese; andHow well you can read, write, speak, and listen in Portuguese.Beginners courses in Portuguese in Cardiff might cover areas such as basic grammar, including the past and present tense, or learning about basic adjectives, pronouns, and introductions.On the other hand, an advanced Portuguese speaker might learn more about complex areas of grammar or learning how to discuss particularly complex subjects that require an in-depth knowledge of Portuguese vocabulary.Moving Past Beginners’ Portuguese Lessons In CardiffAlthough it’s great to know that there are beginners courses out there in Portuguese, there are other types of Portuguese classes available in Cardiff.For example, there are conversational Portuguese classes available through providers such as Language Trainers and Listen Learn, who generally offer a lot of flexibility when it comes to how you take your Portuguese lessons. One to one, group classes, and Skype lessons are just some of the lesson formats available.Aside from conversational Portuguese classes, you can also learn about Portuguese for business purposes. Cactus Language Training is just one provider that offers business Portuguese lessons, whether on a weekly or intensive basis.Alternatively, Simon Simon also offers business Portuguese lessons, using what they call the “Communicative Approach” to help you improve your understanding of Portuguese.Edinburgh has lots of Portuguese language classes on offer (Image Source: Pixabay)Portuguese Lessons EdinburghIf you’re looking to le arn Portuguese in Scotland, or more specifically in Edinburgh, then you have plenty of language tutors to choose from!For example, you might choose to improve your knowledge of Portuguese by going to the inlingua language centre. Offering classes in both European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese, there are lessons available for all ability levels.So, if you just want to learn common greetings or common phrases in Portuguese, or you’d like to learn about more technical aspects of Portuguese grammar, you should be able to find a course that can help you.It’s worth noting that how long the evening classes run can depend on the number of students attending a course. The more students there are, the longer the course is likely to run, with timeframes of 12 weeks given for five to ten students, 10 weeks for four students, and 8 weeks for three students.If you’re looking for a slightly different approach when it comes to learning Portuguese, then you could try the Portuguese Teach er. Offering classes for both general and business Portuguese, the Portuguese Teacher offers a free trial lesson for prospective students, which is a good way of seeing if you like the lessons before committing to an extended period of study.Yet another option for Portuguese language tuition in Edinburgh is Chris Polatch â€" The Language Specialists, who offer courses aimed at both junior learners as well as adults.Take Portuguese At UniversityAnother great option to learn more about Portuguese, whether that’s just to learn the basics such as the alphabet or take more serious Portuguese studies, is to take a Portuguese course through a university.If you’re looking for a short course in Portuguese then you might consider taking a course at the University of Edinburgh, which offers adult Portuguese classes for both beginners and those with an elementary knowledge of the language.However, if you’re looking to take more advanced Portuguese lessons, then you could think about going down the route of getting a formal qualification in Portuguese, such as an undergraduate degree.Again, the University of Edinburgh can help in this regard, although it’s worth noting there are minimum entry requirements that you would have to meet if you did want to study Portuguese at the university.If you do decide to study Portuguese as part of an undergraduate degree, then it’s likely you’ll be able to have a year abroad as part of your degree programme.A year abroad would give you a fantastic opportunity to improve your Portuguese language skills. This is because:Travelling to Portugal, Brazil, or another Portuguese-speaking country can help you appreciate the culture of that country more;You’ll get plenty of opportunities to practice your spoken Portuguese as well as your Portuguese listening skills; andYou’ll hopefully be able to improve your overall fluency in the language.Looking For Lessons Outside Of University?Whether or not you decide to go for formal Portugu ese study, you don’t have to rely on university language centres in Edinburgh if you’d like to learn Portuguese.Choosing to learn Portuguese (European or Brazilian) with the help of a language tutor, such as a Superprof tutor, is one option that could work well for you.With a private language tutor, you have more control over how many lessons you have, where they take place, and what kind of topics they should cover.If you think that Portuguese language tuition with a Superprof tutor might be for you, check out the range of tutors available on Superprof’s database, and see whether there’s a tutor that looks like a good fit!

What Does Evaluate The Expression Mean

What Does Evaluate The Expression Mean An expression is an algebraic term which consists of constants (numbers) or variables and they are combined together by different operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication or division. An expression can contain as many terms as required, and to evaluate the value of the expression means to calculate what the expression equals to after performing the operations. If the value of the variable is mentioned, then we can plug-in the given value in the place of the variable and we can evaluate the expression! Example 1: Evaluate the expression, 5x + 3 + 4x 7 if given x = 2. Given expression: 5x + 3 + 4x 7 and x = 2 Now in order to evaluate the value of the expression, we can simply plug-in 2 in the place of x in the given expression. This implies: 5x + 3 + 4x 7 == 5(2) + 3 + 4(2) 7 == 10 + 3 + 8 7 = 14 Therefore the value of the given expression when x = 2 is 14 Example 2: Evaluate the expression, 3 2b + 7b + 5 if given b = 1. Given expression: 3 2b + 7b + 5 and b = 1. Now in order to evaluate the value of the expression, we can simply plug-in 1 in the place of b in the given expression. This implies: 3 2b + 7b + 5 == 3 2(1) + 7(1) + 5 == 3 2 + 7 + 5 = 13 Therefore the value of the given expression when b = 1 is 13

5 English Verbs to describe READING - Intermediate Level English

5 English Verbs to describe READING - Intermediate Level English Reading is a wonderful pastime. Everybody likes reading whether it is a book, a novel, magazines or even dare I say  it blogs! What other verbs can we use in English when referring to this wonderful pastime?After reading this, you will learn 5 English verbs that you can use instead of READ. 5 English Verbs to describe READING GLANCEYou may not have a lot of time so you look at or read something quickly.Example: I  glanced at the headlines in the newspaper to see what was happening.FLICK THROUGHIf you are waiting for someone to arrive or sitting in a waiting room  before an appointment you might flick through a book or magazine to pass the  time. It is a quick look without really spending too long on any page or article.Example: Sarah  flicked through the magazine  out of curiosity and ended up buying it.LOOK or LOOK THROUGHYou might be asked to read something in detail by your  boss and check it for content, errors etc. You will look through it or look over it in  some detail.Example:    I looked over your article  and it seems to be very informative.SCANScan has a more modern use now relating to documents that you want to  send electronically. You scan them (with a scanner) and send them via email to your  contact. However, you can use your eyes to scan a document quickly.Example: Matts new teacher  scan ned quickly  through his previous assignments.STUDYAll students will be familiar with this word. When we are reading books or  documents for the purposes of our school work or university work then we read in a  different way so we study that document in detail to extract (take) as much  information as possible.Example: I have  studied the documents  carefully and would like to ask you to do the same. 5 English Verbs for READ - Infographic Enjoyed this infographic? Here’s what you can do next: English Idioms related to Books and Reading A CLOSED BOOKSomething that you know very little about or something that you find very difficult to understand.ex. My son is always struggling with maths in school, it is a real closed book to him.A TURN-UP FOR THE BOOK(S)This expression is used to describe an unexpected development of events, a surprising and unusual occurrence. When we use it in a conversation, it usually has sarcastic meaning.ex. Peter had given up hope of being promoted. Out of the blue, last week his boss made an announcement about him being promoted.  Thats a real turn-up for the books.BE IN SOMEONES BAD BOOKSTo be out of favour with someone.ex. Sarah is not talking to me. Im in her bad books for not inviting her to the movies on Saturday.IN SOMEONES BOOKAccording to someones opinion, from someones perspective.ex. I dont know about this situation in detail, but in my book, its you who have to apologise.BRING SOMEONE TO BOOKTo punish someone who did something wrong or to make someone explain their actions public ly, someone should be brought to justice.ex.  Hooligans responsible for storming of city hall  should be brought to book.COOK THE BOOKSTo falsify financial statements or records to someones advantage, usually in order to get money unnoticedex. Auditors discovered that company accountant  had been cooking books for years. English Idioms about Books - Infographic Enjoyed this infographic? Here’s what you can do next:

English Spelling Advice Double Consonants

English Spelling Advice Double Consonants Teaching English spelling makes me feel like this guy... but its still important!Ive just realized that one of the aspects of learning English we almost never write about here is English spelling. This also happens to be one of the most difficult parts of English, both for non-native and native speakers.English, as Im sure you know if youre reading this, is not a phonetic language. So the words are not always spelled the way they are pronounced. There is some logic to the spelling though, as well see with double consonants.Look at these words with double consonants. Which is correct?Acted or Actted?Planned or Planed?Heres the rule. If the original word is just one syllable and ends with a consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) then we double the last consonant. So with the words above, the original words are act and plan. Both are one syllable, but act ends in two consonants and plan ends in CVC. Therefore we write acted and planned.Now we will look at words with two syllables. Which is cor rect?Traveled or Travelled?Prefered or Preferred?Once again, we look at the origin of the word. If it end in CVC, we only double the consonant if the stress, when pronounced, is on the second syllable. This is where it becomes important to take lessons with native English speakers, and practice your listening exercises, so you can hear where the stress should be. The roots of the words above are travel and prefer. In  travel, the stress is at the beginning, in prefer the stress is at the end of the word. So we write traveled and preferred.How was that? Any questions? Let us know in comments, or schedule a class and we can help! Violet This was a very useful and easy to understand explanation. Thanks. ANA Sorry, Im not a native, but this is not right!! WE WRITE TRAVELLED!! LOIEnglish Hahaha! Actually it is correct. traveled is American English and travelled is British English. We spell several things differently. Another good example is: jewelry or jewellry also marvelous or marve llous. Something similar happens with the m programme or program. Both forms are completely acceptable however you shouldnt mix the two spellings in your writing. Choose a style you are comfortable with and write in that style dont mix. Hope this helps! Thanks for the comment!

Great Statistics Tutor

Great Statistics Tutor Meet our new Tutor Dr. Arnold F. He lives in Jamaica, NY and specializes in Calculus, Statistics and Math. Arnold has taught college math courses for over 40 years and has learned it is important that a tutor go at a pace that is comfortable for the student. Arnold is available for In-Person as well as On-Line tutoring. He is extremely patient and has tutored high school and college age students as well as students in their 50s. Arnold thinks that a tutors job is to teach so the student is better able to do the next problem on their own. For IN-person tutoring Arnold is near Queens College and St. Johns University so you can arrange to meet on campus if that is convenient for you. Also Arnold has successfully tutored many students using an Online whiteboard. He is usually available on short notice for homework questions or exam prep. Arnold and other Tutors at TutorZ.com are here to help you become successful. They look forward to meeting you and helping you reach your educational goals.

A-Level Results Day Looms - Tutor Hunt Blog

A-Level Results Day Looms A-Level Results Day Looms A-Level Results Day LoomsSecondary SchoolsA-level Results day looms, but is the predicted grade system hopelessly out of date? All around the UK tens of thousands of students are eagerly awaiting the results of their A-Levels. After months of study, they are going to be presented with grades that will have a decisive impact upon the rest of their lives. I certainly don`t envy them - the trepidation they feel around this time must be overwhelming. For some the results will mean getting into their first choice university, and securing a place on a course, which will hopefully guide them towards their chosen career. For others who don`t achieve the required grades for their 2 preferred universities, results day may well be a time when they have to reappraise their options, and make different plans for the future. The `clearing` system is designed for students who don`t achieve their required grades, and are looking for another university to apply to. Clearing can be accessed via UCAS website, but students may find it easier to contact preferred universities directly, in order to see if they have any places, and will accept you with your grades. Many people advocate preparing in advance - before you receive your results you should have a contingency plan in place, with alternate universities and courses you would be interested in applying to if you don`t get your required grades. This will help save time when competing with many other students going through the clearing system. There are many teachers who support a radical change in the university application system, being of the opinion that predicted grades should not even be part of the process, and students should only decide where they wish to go after they get their results. Britain is actually the only nation that uses predicted grades as part of the university application system - as a UCU study, which investigated the processes in more than 30 countries revealed -and there are calls for this forecasting system to be scrapped completely. The University and College Union (UCU), a trade union that represents university staff, has said the UK is `out of step` with the rest of the world, and says an `urgent overhaul` of the application process is desperately needed. Research conduced by the UCU revelled an astonishing statistic: only 16 per cent of A-level grade predictions are correct. I can`t imagine any business would continue using a predictive system with such a low accuracy rate - and it may well be unduly stressful for students, not to mention an administration nightmare for universities, for degree applications to be based on such a fallible process. UCU general secretary Sally Hunt was quite clear in her disapproval of the predicted grades method of university application: `We are alone in the world in using a system where students are offered university places based on highly inaccurate predicted grades. Unconditional offers have made a mockery of exams and led to inflated grade predictions, while putting students under enormous pressure to make a snap decision about their future.` `The simplest and fairest way to deal with these problems is for us to adopt a system of post-qualification admissions, where offers are based on actual achievement rather than estimated potential, as the rest of the world does. It`s time for the government to give the system the urgent overhaul it needs.` Her opinion chimes with my own: courses should be chosen, and universities selected and applied for only after students have received their results. It seems plainly obvious that you should only make decisions based on what is available to you - predicted grades do just that, they predict what will be available to the student; as UCU`s research has shown though, the predictions they make rarely come true. The deputy general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders Malcolm Trobe voiced a similar opinion, citing the archaic nature of the predicted grades system: `Out of date and no longer fit for purpose, it is a historical quirk which is not mirrored in other countries and creates unnecessary problems. In particular, we are extremely concerned about the rising number of unconditional offers made to students before they have taken their A-levels.` A-Level results will be released on the 16th of august. Long gone are the days when the whole family would wait expectantly for the postman to deliver the letter containing the grades - nowadays students can `track` their university status in real time on the UCAS website. This will inform them if they have got into their university of choice - but it won`t actually tell them their grades. For this information they will need to travel into their school or college. By this time of course they will already know if the results are good or bad. 18 months ago0Add a Comment