What happens on the call

Fifteen minutes. You will finish it knowing more about your child's situation than when you started, whether you book anything or not.

What we will ask you

• What is going wrong, in your own words. Homework that never appears, silence when you ask how it went, or solid work that falls apart in the test.
• What the school has said. Reports and parents' evening comments help even when they are vague.
• Recent marks, and how they were sat. A mock score means something different from a topic test.
• What the deadline is. Eight months and eight weeks produce completely different plans.

What you will get back

An honest read on what is most likely going wrong. A Year 11 who freezes in tests sounds different from one carrying a foundation gap, and both sound different from one who has not started yet.

You will also get a straight answer on whether we can help and how long it would take. Sometimes the answer is that your child needs something other than tuition, or that the timescale you are working to does not fit the work involved. We would rather say that on a free call than three months in.

How to make the fifteen minutes count

Have three things to hand: the most recent report or mock result, the exam board if you know it, and one specific example of the problem. "They got 3 out of 8 on the ratio question but can do ratio at home" tells us more than half an hour of general description.

If your child is old enough and willing, put them on for the last five minutes. They describe the problem differently from parents, and the gap between the two versions tells us a great deal.

If you decide against booking

Take the free tools, the past papers and the guides on the education hub with you. Plenty of families work from those on their own and get where they need to be.

Where to go next