Online GCSE Tutoring in Wealdstone
One-to-one lessons for Year 10, Year 11 and resit students, £30 per lesson
Online GCSE tutoring in Wealdstone across every subject we teach. A slice of the grade in several GCSE subjects is decided long before the exam season, in folders and portfolios marked by the school. Parents in HA3 often find this out late, usually when a deadline has already gone past.
This page sets out which subjects still carry non-exam assessment, how it is marked, and the line a private tutor is not allowed to cross. That last part rules out some of what families ask us for, and we would rather say so on the page than in the first lesson.
The first session is free and it is a real lesson, on the written side of whichever subject is causing trouble.
What Wealdstone families ask
- Which subjects still carry coursework.
- How much of the grade it decides.
- Who marks it, and who checks the marking.
- What a tutor is allowed to touch.
- What happens when a deadline is missed.
Which subjects still carry non-exam assessment?
Fewer than before the reforms, but the ones that remain often carry a large share of the qualification, which makes them worth planning around.
The reformed GCSEs moved most subjects to written papers only. Maths, the sciences, English Literature, History, Geography and Religious Studies are now assessed by exam. What survives sits mostly in the practical and creative subjects, where assessing a folder or a performance is the only sensible way to test the skill.
The Joint Council for Qualifications sets out the coursework and non-exam assessment rules that every centre works to. The weightings themselves live in each board’s specification and differ between boards, so the version your child’s school uses is the one that counts.
The practical effect is that a student taking Art, Music or Food alongside the exam subjects is working to two different calendars at once. One ends in May. The other ends whenever the department set its internal deadline, which is often much earlier and much less publicised.
Roughly where the weight sits
| Subject | Assessed away from the exam hall |
|---|---|
| Art and Design | Portfolio plus a set task, most of the grade |
| Music | Performing and composing, a clear majority |
| Drama | Devised and scripted performance |
| Food Preparation and Nutrition | An investigation and a practical task |
| Design and Technology | A design and make task |
| PE | Practical performance plus analysis |
Weightings vary by exam board. Take the specification as the authority, not this table.
Who marks it, and can the mark change?
The school marks, the board moderates. That two-step is why a teacher can be confident about a mark and still unable to promise a grade.
A teacher applies the board’s assessment criteria to the work and awards a mark. The board then moderates a sample of the centre’s marks to check the standard was applied as intended. If the moderator finds the centre marked generously or harshly across the board, marks can be adjusted for the whole cohort, not just the sampled students.
That is worth understanding calmly rather than as a threat. It means an individual mark sits inside a centre-wide judgement, and it explains why departments are careful and sometimes conservative when they tell students where they stand.
It also means the deadline is real. Work handed in after the centre has submitted marks cannot simply be added later, and a missing component leaves a hole in the qualification that the written paper cannot fill.
If a deadline has already been missed, the conversation to have is with the department this week rather than after the holidays. Options narrow quickly and quietly.
The authentication rule
- The work must be the student’s own.
- The school signs to confirm that it is.
- Help beyond normal teaching has to be recorded.
- Boards can investigate where the rule is broken.
- Penalties fall on the student, not the helper.
What can a private tutor legitimately do?
Less than some families hope, and the honest version of this answer costs us bookings every year.
We do not work on the coursework artefact. Not the portfolio, not the design folder, not the food investigation write-up, not the composition. The student has to be the author of it, the school authenticates it on that basis, and any outside assistance beyond ordinary teaching has to be declared. Nobody benefits from a tutor sitting the wrong side of that line.
What we do instead is teach the skills the task draws on, using different material. A student who cannot structure an evaluation can be taught to structure one on a topic that is not their assessed task. A student whose written analysis is thin can practise analysis on other examples. The learning transfers; the work stays theirs.
And for most of these subjects there is still a written paper carrying a serious share of the marks, which we can teach without any of these constraints at all. In Food Preparation and Nutrition, for instance, the written exam is worth half the qualification, and it is frequently the half that gets neglected while the practical takes all the attention.
Where we help, and where we do not
| Request | Our answer |
|---|---|
| Teach the written paper | Yes, all of it |
| Teach evaluation writing on other material | Yes |
| Explain the assessment criteria | Yes |
| Review the assessed folder | No |
| Draft or redraft coursework text | No |
Which GCSE subjects can your child get help with?
The exam-assessed subjects below, each with its own specialist rather than a generalist covering all of them.
Maths
Foundation and Higher, assessed entirely by written papers. See GCSE Maths tutoring.
English Language and Literature
Papers only, with spoken language reported separately. See GCSE English tutoring.
Combined and Triple Science
Required practicals are examined in the papers. See GCSE Science tutoring.
Computer Science
Programming taught properly, and the written papers. See GCSE Computer Science tutoring.
Business Studies
Calculation, case study and evaluation marks. See GCSE Business Studies tutoring.
Humanities
History, Geography and Religious Studies, exam assessed, when a specialist has room.
Does coursework carry over into a resit?
For Maths and English Language, the question does not arise, and those are the two subjects most resit students are dealing with.
Maths and English Language are assessed by written paper alone, so a resit is a clean run at the papers with nothing carried forward and nothing to redo. That is one of the few genuinely simplifying facts in this area.
The 16 to 19 maths and English condition of funding, updated in July 2026, requires continued study of either subject where grade 4 was not reached. Grade 3 means a GCSE route; grade 2 or below allows Functional Skills level 2 instead.
For a subject with a practical component, a retake is a bigger undertaking and worth a direct conversation with the centre before committing to it.
Two series a year
- November covers Maths and English Language.
- About ten weeks after August results.
- Other subjects wait for the summer.
- The centre controls entries and deadlines.
See GCSE resit tutoring and the exam dates page.
How does an online lesson run?
A video call, a shared whiteboard, and paper in front of the student. The tutor watches the method rather than waiting for an answer.
Tell us the subject and the worry
Including whether coursework is part of it.
Free one-to-one session
A real lesson, no card details taken.
A straight answer on scope
What we can teach, and what we will not touch.
Weekly work on the examined content
Which is where the reachable marks usually are.
Reviewed at six weeks
Against marked work rather than impressions.
The full process is on how it works. Harrow publishes school term dates for community schools, and academies set their own, which matters when internal deadlines land near a holiday.
What does a GCSE tutor in Wealdstone cost?
Thirty pounds a session, one to one, and no bundle is sold in advance.
The price holds across subjects and year groups, and it does not go up in the spring when demand does.
An hourly rate somewhere else is only comparable once you know how long their lesson runs. Our guide to GCSE tutoring costs covers what the wider market charges.
What £30 covers
- A full one-to-one lesson with a subject specialist.
- Teaching matched to your child’s exam board.
- A clear line on what we will and will not do.
- Work on the examined half of a practical subject.
- A tutor change if the match is wrong.
Tell us which subject is the problem
Say if coursework is involved and we will tell you honestly what is possible.
- Year group and subject.
- Whether the concern is the exam, the coursework, or both.
- The exam board, if you know it.
- Any deadline already passed.
- Days and times that work at home.
Prefer to talk it through? WhatsApp us, or use the contact page.
Send an enquiry
Frequently asked questions
Which GCSEs still have coursework?
Art and Design, Design and Technology, Food Preparation and Nutrition, Drama, Music, PE and a few others carry non-exam assessment. Maths, the sciences, English Literature and most humanities are assessed entirely by written papers.
How much of the grade does it count for?
It varies by subject and board. Art and Design is weighted most heavily towards it, Music and Drama carry a large practical share, and Food Preparation and Nutrition splits roughly half and half with the written paper. Check the specification rather than assuming.
Who marks non-exam assessment?
The school marks it against the board’s criteria, then the board moderates a sample to check the school applied the standard correctly. That is why a teacher can give a mark but not promise a grade.
Does the spoken language part of English count?
No, and this surprises people every year. The spoken language endorsement is reported separately on the certificate as a pass, merit or distinction. It does not form part of the 9 to 1 grade for English Language.
Can a tutor help with coursework?
Only in limited and declarable ways. The work has to be the student’s own, the school authenticates it, and outside help beyond normal teaching has to be recorded. We teach the underlying skills and stay well clear of the artefact itself.
What can you actually do then?
Everything on the written side, which for most of these subjects is half the qualification or more. We also work on the writing and analysis that a portfolio or evaluation demands, using different material.
What does it cost?
£30 a lesson, one to one, with nothing owed before the first one.
Are you based in Wealdstone?
No. Lessons are online and the company is registered in Feltham. There is no centre here and we do not claim one.
Book a free GCSE session for your child in Wealdstone
One free one-to-one session, no card details and no obligation. If what you need is help we are not permitted to give, the tutor will tell you in that session rather than after you have paid for six.