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Harrison AllenWho are they? 

Harrison Allen
13 Earlsfield Rd
London
SW18 3DB

Tel: 0208 874 0233

Email: [email protected]
Web: www.harrisonallen.co.uk

We have met with Harrison Allen staff. In addition, 7 clients and 26 tutors have completed an online survey (sent to 30 clients and 80 tutors) and we have followed this up with additional short phone interviews with some of those surveyed.

Harrison Allen staff

Sheila Allen and Julie Harrison began the company way back in 1989. Both have since stepped back and the key members of the team are now Karen Abbott (client services), Rosa Coakley (client services, part-time) and Pippa Harris (tutor manager). They are supported by Susi Wood (accounts). Offices are in the top floor of a large Victorian house, five minutes from Wandsworth Common, which they were getting ready for their annual tutor Christmas party when we reviewed them.

No wonder tutors praise the sense of community – ‘You really feel part of something special,’ said one. Tutors also told us, ‘They’re always swift in responding’ and ‘if ever I have an issue, I can speak to the person straightaway and they’re on it’. Parents agree they are ‘incredibly professional and responsive’, as well as ‘very helpful throughout the process’.

Karen has been with HA the longest, around 10 years. She was previously a lawyer, while Rosa and Pippa used to work in client services – Rosa at Wandsworth Borough Council and Pippa at the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising. Susi was a director of a travel business. Unusual that nobody comes from a background in education, but there’s no doubting this bubbly, energetic team’s love of their work. Once you get them talking about helping children reach their potential, you can’t stop them.

What do they offer?

Almost all subjects at all levels from primary through GCSE, A level, IB and Pre-U right up to university. Tutoring is also offered for 7-plus, 11-plus and 13-plus, as well as specific secondary school entrance exams and university/Oxbridge applications. Some unusual subjects can be supported too – Mandarin recently. Will recruit to order if need be – and such is the reputation of the company that the tutors tend to be exceptional.

In addition to this (in fact, forming the lion’s share of Harrison Allen’s work) are the tutoring services provided directly to schools and local authorities – including for looked-after children, children on pupil premium, refugees and those with SEN or medical needs and mental health issues. Sometimes schools or local authorities ask them to do specific courses – they’d just done a six-week one for GCSE re-sits. Other times, they’re asked to support home education – or to support a child to get back into mainstream education.

The knock-on benefits of this work to private clients are huge. It means Harrison Allen is ‘quality assured inspected’ by local authorities, with reassurance to parents on all aspects of the business. It also means the company doesn’t shy away from children with greater challenges (whether educational, medical, SEN or mental health related) – a problem at many other tutor agencies who only want the straightforward cases. A third advantage is that the tutors they work with have to be at the top of their game in order to provide high-class education in difficult circumstances – which, in turn, means being emotionally intelligent and able to adapt learning quickly and effectively to meet the individual student’s needs.

‘We were turned away by the big-name tutor companies but Harrison Allen welcomed us with open arms and provided a great tutor,’ said one parent. Another told us that their tutor ‘not only supported my son’s maths but felt like a big brother – he even agreed to talk to him the night before his GCSE to boost his confidence.’

The company has a particularly good reputation in supporting students with autism and ADHD, as well as those with anxiety. ‘They just get SEN – every tiny aspect of it,’ said a parent.

Most tutoring is by the hour – during the day for tutoring for schools, pupil referral units, youth support units or home schooling; after school for tutoring in the home (or at a library, residential care home etc). They do offer online if requested but they are known for bespoke in-person, face-to-face tutoring across south-west London. Mainly Wandsworth, Merton, Kingston, New Malden, Wimbledon, Putney, Richmond, Twickenham and Teddington, Barnes, Chelsea, Dulwich, Streatham, Croydon and Tooting. Also Ealing, Harrow, Isleworth, Camden and Hounslow.

Age-wise, the company gladden our hearts by declining to tutor younger children ‘unless they have a clear need for support’. But they will support 7-plus, with one parent telling us her their tutor ‘was so diligent, making a solid plan and she really got my child ready for the exams within two months’. At the other end of the spectrum, they tutor growing numbers of students at university. Those of school age are pretty evenly split between state and independent schools – ‘None are gold plated.’

Background and basics

Without doubt, the most thorough approach to recruitment, vetting and safeguarding that we’ve seen in any tutor company. Necessary because they work with local authorities and schools, and it provides extra reassurance for private clients. Not only do all prospective tutors have to go physically to the office (no online interviews here) but the interview is an hour and a half, including a mock lesson and quizzing on everything from safeguarding (not just knowledge, but what would you do in such-and-such scenario) to how they keep up with their own CPD.

Tutors might be asked, How can you make your questions more engaging for a child with dyscalculia? How might you use videos to help a child who learns more visually? How will you keep a child with ADHD focused? What soft skills do you use? Tutors won’t even get invited for an interview at all unless they have a degree in the subject they’re teaching and have at least a year’s tutoring or teaching experience. Then, if they pass muster, Harrison Allen follows up at least two references (one teaching, one academic minimum) plus EDBS checks – and, if appropriate, social media checking. Plus it insists on originals for all qualifications.

You might think this would put tutors off – far from it. ‘This is the only tutor company that’s ever asked me to go personally to their offices to meet them – and they really spend time getting to know you so they match you with the right students, it shows just how professional they are.’

Roughly half the tutors are qualified teachers (ranging from newly qualified to retired), while the rest include everyone from postgraduates to experienced TAs, finance directors and medical students. The latter, they told us, often make brilliant tutors ‘because they’re so hard working, as well as young and fun and not far from education themselves’.

Once a tutor is assigned on a job, they are monitored and encouraged to attend the twice-yearly get-togethers. Only 36 per cent of the tutors we surveyed said they’d been offered training, but Karen wonders if that’s because the usual annual workshop (offered in subjects like communication for ASD learners) had to be cancelled. In other years, they offer more than one, according to need.

Most of the tuition requests come in by phone or by email, although parents are welcome to drop in and some do. A tutor is usually found within 48 hours, ‘but we’d rather take a couple of extra days to settle on the right person’. These matches are praised – ‘They took the time to find out exactly what we needed,’ said a mother. But if a family doesn’t feel the tutor is quite the right fit, they’ll change them, no question. Parents commend ongoing feedback from tutors – ‘excellent reports’.

All the tutors we surveyed said they’d recommend the company, and nearly half had been working with them for over three years – a far more loyal bunch than we see in a lot of tutor companies.

Harrison Allen is a corporate member of the Tutors’ Association. Any charity work tends to be one-off donations.

Money and small print

No introductory or registration fee. Charges (if paid by direct debit) are £76.80 per hour for tutoring for primary to GCSE (of which the tutor gets £37 plus £8 travel); £85.20 for A level and Pre-U (of which the tutor gets £46 plus £8 travel); £98.40 for Oxbridge-related tutoring (of which the tutor gets £55 plus £8 travel); and £112.80 for university tutoring (of which the tutor gets £66 plus £8 travel). All are published clearly on their website and include VAT. Strict 24-hour cancellation policy, only waived under exceptional circumstances – some parents feel they could be a bit more flexible on this.

Some tutors felt the travel allowance was on the stingy side, and a few criticised the set rate – ‘I think it would be helpful to have a pay scale for the more experienced staff,’ said one. Others said that although they knew they could get higher pay with other tutor companies, this was ‘still my favourite by far because they’re so child-centred and caring of their staff’.

Harrison Allen say

‘We believe we provide a genuinely bespoke service to all our clients and have high professional standards in all that we do. We are a small team of enthusiastic people, ourselves parents, all with children or young adults of our own, and we pride ourselves on the time and care we take with each instruction.’

Remarks

The gold standard. Ethical, professional and meticulous in every detail of its work from recruitment to matching and following up. Run by a lovely, dedicated bunch of people who, as one tutor put it, ‘care about every single child’. That so many schools and local authorities use them for their tutoring services speaks volumes – particularly when it comes to their expertise in tutoring children with additional challenges, eg SEN and mental health.

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