Plan a one-to-one tutoring session

One-to-one tutoring is powerful because the tutor can find the exact gap and adjust minute by minute, but sessions often slip into the tutor explaining while the student nods, or into doing homework together. A strong session starts with a quick check of the last session and a short diagnostic, teaches one thing explicitly with a worked example, then moves quickly to the student doing problems while thinking aloud, with help fading from guided to independent. It ends with the student explaining back what they learned, homework that practises it with spacing, and a note so the next session (and the parent, where relevant) knows where things stand.

Plan a 60-minute tutoring session in
ph:subject.

Only if [LAST_SESSION_NOTES] is given:

1. Set one session goal (two at most) as something the student will be able to do by the end. If last session's notes show an unresolved gap, prioritise it. If the topic is too broad for the time, narrow it and say what is left for next time.
2. Timed plan adding up to exactly 60 minutes: warm-up retrieval (questions from earlier sessions or last homework), diagnostic, teaching segment, guided practice, independent practice, explain-back, homework set-up. Adjust proportions for age and session length.
3. Diagnostic: 3 to 5 short questions that pinpoint where the student is on today's topic, ordered from easier to harder, with what each wrong answer would reveal and how the plan changes if they get them all right (skip ahead) or all wrong (step back to the prerequisite).
4. Teaching segment: the key idea in plain words, one fully worked example with the reasoning the tutor says aloud, a common mistake to show and fix, and 2 or 3 questions to check understanding before moving on.
5. Practice: 3 to 4 guided problems with the hint the tutor gives at each sticking point (a question, not the answer), then 3 to 4 independent problems of rising difficulty, including one exam-style or real-world problem if relevant. Give answers.
6. Homework: 15 to 30 minutes of work: new topic practice plus 2 or 3 spaced review questions from earlier topics. Answers for the tutor.
7. Session note: a short template the tutor fills in after the session: covered, what clicked, what still needs work, homework set, plan for next time, and a 2 to 3 sentence parent update if the student is a minor.

• The student does most of the thinking: the tutor talks for less than half of the session.
• All problems and answers must be correct; check arithmetic and working.
• Match the language and difficulty to the student's level and any exam board named; do not invent exam-board specification details.
• Hints guide; they do not give the answer.
• Keep the parent update factual and encouraging, with no comparisons to other students.

Session goal

One or two sentences, plus what is deferred.

Timed plan

Table: Minutes | Phase | What happens. Total = 60.

Diagnostic

Numbered questions with answers and what wrong answers reveal, then the branching note.

Teaching segment

Key idea, worked example, common mistake, check questions.

Practice

Guided problems with hints, then independent problems, with answers.

Homework

Numbered tasks with answers.

Session note

Template with fields.