Indian GCSE tutor for monthly fee

GCSE students will be able to call tutors in India

A company which has made its name with revision guides is offering a round-the clock online personal tuition service for GCSE students.

Letts Educational is charging £49.99 per month for an unlimited support service, using tutors based in India.

Tuition is offered for maths and science, communicating through text, voice and interactive whiteboard.

The provision of such support by India is a growing trend and reflects the country's educational confidence.

Outsourcing

This latest move sees one of the UK's most familiar exam revision brands moving into the international online market - using a subscription model to appeal to GCSE students wanting on-demand help.

Tutors based in India are assisting pupils in the UK

It will link up with the Bangalore-based company, TutorVista, which provides Indian teachers who can give one-to-one lessons to pupils in the UK.

Letts says that the 500 tutors, working from their own homes, are all qualified, subject-specialist teachers.

They will provide hour-long lessons as frequently as required, communicating through instant messaging, internet telephony and interactive screens.

This flat-rate approach to coaching, using tutors in India, has already been established in the USA - and Letts says that it is aiming to recruit "a few thousand" subscribers in the UK in its first year.

Research from the University of London's Institute of Education has estimated that 27% of state school pupils - across primary and secondary - receive lessons from private tutors.

And researchers found that in some secondary schools, almost two thirds of pupils were receiving additional support from private tutors.