There’s no such thing as a guaranteed ATAR
When you start looking around at options for tutoring, you may be looking for several things, like how the tutor works with the student, the size of the tutoring classes, the style of teaching and the lessons and times available – even whether someone you know has had a good experience with the company.
Something that’s sure to help convince you is the promise of a guaranteed ATAR.
We’re going to break down that promise and look at why no-one can really guarantee an ATAR.
- Pre-requisites.
If you’re looking at a tutoring company that has a guarantee of a high ATAR (or offers any numerical guarantees), pay close attention to the prerequisites for students that study there.
Do you already have to be achieving high marks? Are their ranks you need to have met to be eligible to attend the tutoring course?
What these pre-requisites do is make sure you’re already well on your way to achieving the guaranteed ATAR before you even attend the tutoring college. You’ve effectively already guaranteed yourself the ATAR!
- Entrance Exams
Does the tutoring college your looking at have an entrance exam? If so this is a form of pre-selection which ensures they only accept already high achieving students. And high achieving students usually get high achieving ATARS.
- Multiple Student Streams
Check the fine print of any tutoring organisation that has a guarantee attached. Do they only guarantee certain results to certain streams of tutoring? Do they have a high performing A tier and a lower performing B tier of students? The A Tier will be selective and only allow high performing student entrance (this is normally where the guarantee comes into play)
If you are in a lower tier or stream, the guaranteed result also drops, so make sure you’ve done your homework, as these organisations are pre-selecting high performing students – not guaranteeing anyone can achieve that ATAR over 90.
The Real Deal:
When it comes to picking a tutoring company, don’t fall for the myth of the guaranteed ATAR. Pick tutoring based on what will work for you, the quality of the tutor and how the tutoring environment feels, not on the myth that they can guarantee your results.
Tutoring helps build student confidence and gives a consistent environment in which to focus and practice subject areas that students find difficult. Tutoring also provides a more tailored learning environment than students would receive in school. It’s this mix of focussed attention, practice and repetition that is really making the difference to student results.
So when looking at all your options, remember that tutoring does make a difference to results and confidence, but it won’t guarantee you an ATAR. Anyone that says it will, has made sure you’re already well on the way to receiving that guaranteed ATAR before they offer you help.