Only where a pupil is ill or away, and only in place of a session that was already scheduled. The engagement itself is in person. We have tried it the other way round and the reports got worse.

Can we meet the tutor before we commit?

The first meeting is with the tutor we intend to assign, not with a salesperson, precisely so that you can. If the meeting goes badly there is nothing to cancel and nothing to pay.

Will we be told the tutor's name?

Yes — with the access code from your confirmed enquiry, and in any case at the first meeting, where they will be sitting at your table. The closed profiles protect the tutor from a public index, not from you.

Our child does not want a tutor.

Say so at the first meeting and let them say so too. Ten of those forty-five minutes are with the pupil alone for exactly this reason. A pupil who has been sent is a difficult hour for everybody; a pupil who has agreed is a different lesson.

Do you work with pupils who have a diagnosis?

Yes, in the subject, alongside whatever specialist support is in place, and in contact with it if you would like us to be. We are not the specialist support and we will not pretend to be.

How quickly can you start?

Usually within two weeks; in September and January it can be four. If we are full we tell you the date rather than putting you on a list we do not intend to work through.

Programmes

Four programmes, each with a stated end. Prices include the tutor's travel within Reinickendorf and Pankow and all material the tutor writes. Invoiced monthly, in arrears, by bank transfer.

Home tutoring

Fee

€95

60 minutes

Agreed end

Reviewed at the end of every term.

Format

One session a week at your home, same tutor, same hour. Sixty minutes of teaching plus the tutor's session log.

Who it is for

Pupils from year 5 to year 13 who are following the lesson but losing ground in one subject. The most common reason families call us.

What the work covers

The current topic in the pupil's own exercise book and textbook
The gap underneath it, once the tutor has found it — usually two years further back than anyone expected
How to read a question, plan an answer and check it, which is a skill and can be taught

What you receive

Sixty minutes of one-to-one teaching a week
A three-line session log within a day of each session
The written monthly report and the parent area
Any worksheet the tutor writes for your child, which is yours to keep

What it does not include

Homework completion, coursework, or any work handed in under your child's name
Cover for a missed school lesson: we teach the subject, not the timetable

Abitur mentoring

Fee

€1,790

20 hours

Agreed end

The last written paper. The mentoring ends there.

Format

Twenty hours across the two terms before the written examinations, scheduled around the pupil, with the density rising as the dates approach.

Who it is for

Pupils in the qualification phase in one Leistungskurs or Grundkurs, who need the whole two-year body of material brought back into one head.

What the work covers

A written map of the syllabus with everything the pupil can already do marked off
The four or five topics that carry the most marks, taught properly rather than revised
Past papers under real conditions, marked against the official assessment criteria
The written examination as a piece of time management, which is where marks are usually lost

What you receive

Twenty taught hours with one mentor
The syllabus map, updated after each block, as a working document
Marked past papers with the criteria written against each answer
Monthly reports throughout, and a closing letter after the last session

What it does not include

Any prediction of a grade, before or after the examination
Contact with the school or the examination board on the pupil's behalf
The oral examination, which we coach separately by the hour

Gymnasium Probejahr coaching

Fee

€1,290

one school year

Agreed end

The Probejahr conference in June.

Format

Weekly, for the length of the probationary year: one hour of subject teaching and, once a month, a half hour with the parents.

Who it is for

Year 7 pupils in the Berlin Probejahr where the first set of marks has made the year look uncertain.

What the work covers

The two subjects the marks say are at risk, taught weekly
Working method: how to keep a folder, plan a fortnight, and revise before a test rather than the night before
The parent half-hour: what the marks actually mean, what the school has said, and what to do next

What you receive

Thirty-six weekly hours across the school year
Nine monthly parent half-hours
Monthly written reports and the parent area
A written review each half-term with a plain assessment of where the year stands

What it does not include

Any guarantee that the Probejahr is passed. That is decided by a conference of teachers on evidence we are not part of.
Representation at the school or at a Klassenkonferenz

Exam-week intensive

Fee

€640

one block

Agreed end

The last paper in the block.

Format

Eight hours inside ten days, arranged around the examination timetable, in your home, usually two hours at a time.

Who it is for

Pupils with an MSA, a Klausur block or an Abitur paper inside a fortnight, and one subject that is not ready.

What the work covers

A triage of the syllabus: what is worth the remaining hours and what honestly is not
Two past papers under timed conditions with full marking
The recurring error, found and drilled until it stops recurring
A one-page revision sheet the pupil writes and the tutor corrects

What you receive

Eight taught hours inside ten days
Two marked past papers with the assessment criteria written out
The revision sheet, corrected
A short closing note, in place of a monthly report

What it does not include

Teaching a syllabus from nothing. If the pupil has not met the material, ten days is not enough and we will tell you that on the telephone rather than take the fee.
Sessions on the morning of a paper. We do not think they help.

Terms in plain language

Travel: Included within Reinickendorf and Pankow. Elsewhere in Berlin, €12 a session towards the journey, agreed before the first visit.
Cancellation: By you: free until twenty-four hours before, half the fee inside twenty-four hours, nothing charged for illness with a message. By us: never charged, and we offer a replacement hour the same week.
Invoicing: Monthly in arrears, by bank transfer, fourteen days to pay. No direct debit, no card on file, no standing order.
Notice: Two weeks, in writing, at any time. Programmes with an agreed end simply stop there and do not roll over.

Questions families ask

Do you teach online?: Only where a pupil is ill or away, and only in place of a session that was already scheduled. The engagement itself is in person. We have tried it the other way round and the reports got worse.
Can we meet the tutor before we commit?: The first meeting is with the tutor we intend to assign, not with a salesperson, precisely so that you can. If the meeting goes badly there is nothing to cancel and nothing to pay.
Will we be told the tutor's name?: Yes — with the access code from your confirmed enquiry, and in any case at the first meeting, where they will be sitting at your table. The closed profiles protect the tutor from a public index, not from you.
Our child does not want a tutor.: Say so at the first meeting and let them say so too. Ten of those forty-five minutes are with the pupil alone for exactly this reason. A pupil who has been sent is a difficult hour for everybody; a pupil who has agreed is a different lesson.
Do you work with pupils who have a diagnosis?: Yes, in the subject, alongside whatever specialist support is in place, and in contact with it if you would like us to be. We are not the specialist support and we will not pretend to be.
How quickly can you start?: Usually within two weeks; in September and January it can be four. If we are full we tell you the date rather than putting you on a list we do not intend to work through.

The first meeting costs nothing

Forty-five minutes, at your home, with the tutor we would assign.

Enquire →