About
A1 Tutors was founded by husband and wife team Lynda and Andrew Gilbert. They began working together as private teachers in 1983. Lynda, a graduate in Comparative Literature with a PGCE in EFL, taught French, German, and English, whilst Andrew, a music teacher, taught budding musicians to play guitar and bass.
After repeated requests for help with other subjects, they decided to open an agency offering help in all subjects. Obtaining a licence from the Department of Employment involved impressing the D.O.E. inspector that their screening procedures met the required standard.
It soon became clear that their clients' main concern was tutor screening, and Lynda and Andy saw no reason for not being completely open, i.e. sending every client copies of all screening documents before each new placement.
All reference requests sought the writer's permission to disclose copies. The writer was invited to mark his reference 'confidential' if he objected, getting round the problem of referees feeling awkward about writing open references. When confidential references arrive, the agency simply requests additional references from the tutor. Running the agency is now a full time occupation, providing tuition in all subjects, the most requested being Maths, primary skills, the sciences and English
