There is a side of tutoring rarely discussed in public or in training – the emotional and strategic management of parents. Tutoring is marketed as an academic service, focused on curriculum support, exam preparation, and confidence building. In practice, the tutor is often managing two clients simultaneously: the student who needs the help, and the parent who needs reassurance. Parents are not passive observers; they are financial stakeholders and emotional stakeholders. Their concerns are driven not just by performance but by fear – fear of their child falling behind, of a competitive schooling system, of making the wrong decisions, or of being judged through their child’s academic outcomes. Tutors quickly learn that explanations of marks, progress, or expectations must be delivered with precision. Too soft and the message is dismissed; too direct and a defensive spiral begins. It becomes a constant exercise in translation – turning school jargon, vague report comments, and teenage reluctance into something parents can understand and act on. The challenge is that parents want fast clarity and long-term certainty in a system that rarely provides either. Tutors end up functioning as unofficial mentors, communicators, and interpreters of the education system itself. The irony is that while qualifications prove subject knowledge, they do almost nothing to prepare tutors for the emotional intelligence, boundary-setting, and diplomatic communication the job demands. The academic hurdle is often the smallest challenge; the real art of tutoring lies in maintaining trust, neutrality, and calm between parent expectations and student reality. It’s a skill never advertised in tutoring brochures, but it is the skill that determines whether a tutor survives beyond the first term.

Oliver Fletcher