When I explain that I work for a professional body representing the tuition sector, people from outside of the education sector look at me blankly! I was reflecting on this recently. Here’s my raw and unfiltered thoughts on who we are and what we do as an association – in 1 minute:
What is The Tutors’ Association?
The Tutors’ Association is the not-for-profit professional membership body for the tuition industry. We represent the profession as significant partners within the education landscape, building a positive perception of tutoring amongst parents, schools and wider society.
What does this mean?
For Tutors, this means that we work on behalf of our members to offer advocacy, standards, events, partnerships, support and CPD. Recently, we held our 7th National Tutors’ Conference at Church House in Westminster, which represented a huge leap forward in achieving recognition for the tuition sector.
“Ah, a regulator?” – No!
A misconception we frequently encounter is that we seek to impose ‘regulation’ on Tutors. This could not be further from the truth. We stand for self-regulation – our Board of Directors are democratically elected from within our membership of Tutors and Tuition Business owners. Their vision drives the actions of our Executive Team beyond simply the tangible benefits that TTA provides its members. Whilst we support CPD, collaboration and connections within our network, we do not believe in prescribing specific approaches, methods and tools for Tutors. In fact, we think that the beauty of tutoring as a career is that it offers the freedom to adapt and innovate responsively to the needs of learners.
What We Do for Parents, Schools and the General Public…
So what does this mean to parents, and for schools? We strongly champion minimum standards. Hiring a tutor who is a member of The Tutors’ Association indicates a commitment to the profession and high standards of safeguarding practice. Verified members of TTA undergo safeguarding checks including the supply of two professional references and an enhanced DBS Check to reassure the public of their suitability for working with children and vulnerable adults. We are developing our resources and tools to help parents and schools work safely with Tutors, collaborating with partners including the DfE and NSPCC, and invite you to visit our website in the coming months to access these.