Frequently Asked Questions

We help students primarily in the areas of Reading, Writing, Spelling, Comprehension, English and Maths – from Primary to Secondary. We also offer expert courses in Essay Writing, Study Skills and Intelligence Development. At appropriate times of the year, we also offer Getting Ready for School (for the school starters), SATS preparation and exam preparation for Foundation (where appropriate), Higher-Grade GCSE and A Level English and Maths. Some students also attend for specific help with school entrance exams. We can also help with GCSE re-sits in English and Maths.

We teach students who are between 5 and 18 years old.

Yes. We do exam preparation for selective local school entrance exams. It is important that you contact us well before the exams to give your child the best chance of success.  

Payment can be made weekly in advance by DD or continuous card authority. Other payment options are available to suit individual needs, including Universal Credit, Working Tax Credit, childcare vouchers, tax free childcare and standing order. A small discount is offered for payment in advance of a block of 10 sessions and also if your child attends 2 or more regular weekly classes. A deposit of 2 weeks lesson fee is payable on enrolment. This is then used to pay for your last 2 weeks lessons with us.

 Kip McGrath Derby South in Allenton is OFSTED registered (since Feb 2012). This provides us with a professional code to work to, as well as giving parents access to different payment options, for example, Universal Credit, Working Tax Credit, Childcare Vouchers and Tax-Free Childcare. Please ask us if you’d like more information about these options. 

No. All tutoring is done either in centre at our modern and welcoming premises in Allenton, Derby or Online.

Yes, our Kip Online platform provides the functionality to teach and interact with each child from the comfort of their own home, with real-time teacher involvement. We don’t use third party products. E.g. Zoom  

 Many parents are concerned about how their children are performing at school and whether they are at the appropriate level for their age and class. We provide a free, no-obligation educational assessment and discuss the results with you in detail. This is an opportunity to meet Sue & Dave, ask questions and for you both to see our environment for yourselves. 

Our free, no obligation, educational assessment is designed to identify any gaps in your child’s learning and to also identify their strengths. The free assessment can take anywhere from 45 – 60 minutes and is conducted by a fully qualified teacher. Your child will be assessed in English or maths or both depending on their needs. Following the assessment, you will talk directly to the teacher to discuss the results and ask any questions you may have. The assessment results help us to design an individualised learning programme for your child. 

You’re under no obligation to enrol your child at the end of the assessment, as we want you to be sure that you have considered this step fully. Sue & Dave understand it’s such an important decision.

There are many disabilities with varying levels of disorder. We always recommend that you seek professional advice on this question first. We can teach students with disabilities such as ADHD, Asperger’s, Dyslexia, Autism and others. It is very important that we carry out an educational assessment with your child before we can determine if we can effectively tutor them. Our main focus is to ensure that your child’s disability will not interfere with their ability to learn in this environment. Please contact us to discuss your child’s needs.  

Lessons are 60 minutes long and students typically attend for one lesson a week. Some older children do attend more often, according to their needs. Even young children attend for 60 minutes – their lessons are broken up into 10-minute activities, designed to keep them engaged and on-task.  

Lessons are offered Monday to Friday after school (at 4:00pm & 5:30pm) and on Saturday at 9:30am, 11:00am and 1:00pm. Please contact us to discuss your individual needs.  

Homework is an essential part of the Kip McGrath programme, as it consolidates the weeks’ learning. We are aware of each student’s school workload so set homework is generally limited to around half an hour each week. If you have difficulty getting your child to complete the homework, please tell us.  

Please let us know as soon as possible. We will then offer a catch-up lesson alternative, in the same week wherever possible. This will be at a time convenient to you within our normal weekly schedule. In exceptional circumstances, catch-up lessons may be carried over until the next available school holiday sessions.

No, please take the opportunity to check out a range of providers. More than 75% of our Customers come via word-of-mouth referral. We believe we provide the best value local professional tuition in English & Maths.

 Every child is different and every concern is different. Your child’s progress is monitored regularly by continuous assessment and by regular parental feedback. There is no long term obligation or contract to attend indefinitely; all we ask is that you provide us with two weeks’ notice to stop tuition.   

The Kip McGrath study programme is progressive. Your child will be starting at an appropriate level, based on the assessment, and will work their way up to their set goal. Each week their lesson plan contains new activities that build on the knowledge they learnt in the previous week.

Every child is unique and learns at their own pace. Some children do not necessarily need extra tuition; if this is the case, we will be honest with you. We find that our students love the engaging learning environment in our Centre and, because we know exactly which areas to develop, children improve in confidence and are enthusiastic about coming to Kip. ​Once they’ve caught up, our students often want to keep up too.  

Make your child’s school teacher aware that they are attending Kip, and ask to be kept up to date with your child’s performance at school, including specific areas that the teacher believes need attention. Set aside a place and a time for your child to do homework from both school and Kip McGrath and ensure that they complete it each week. Make sure that they attend their tutoring sessions each week – regularity is a major key to improving your child’s results. Always let Sue & Dave know if you have any concerns about the progress of your child or the type of work that they are doing.