Socratic tutoring
Identity and Concept
Socratic Tutoring is a new project by British Private Tuition (BPT). It is based in part on the concept of "Aristocratic Tutoring” outlined by Erik Hoel in The Intrinsic Perspective. Hoel argues that the dearth of modern “geniuses” such as Newton, Mozart, Darwin etc. can be attributed to the decline in traditional tutoring or academic mentoring, since the majority of such geniuses were fortunate enough to be mentored by a polymath tutor – often throughout their entire childhood.
Mission
The aim of Socratic Tutoring is to honour and resurrect this tradition with the aspirational intention of intellectually cultivating a new generation of polymaths – or even geniuses – in a modern-day classical academy of ambitious, well-rounded young people. While Socratic Tutoring, in terms of its concept and provision, is exclusive by definition, we are making it accessible to all aspirational families who place a premium on a high-quality and unique education.
Methodology
Indeed, Socratic Tutoring represents a very different type of tuition: it prioritises a humanistic and holistic education over exam preparation and university entrance. It will be synonymous with academic and intellectual freedom – free of exam, syllabus and time constraints. It will be guided by one of our expert Oxbridge tutors who will be cast very much as academic mentors rather than standard teachers or tutors. Learning will be more child- / student-led and centred around intellectual enquiry, conversation and experiential and participatory learning. Children will be taught to think for themselves, with a premium placed on constant honing and assimilation of the six core critical thinking skills (Interpretation, Analysis, Reasoning, Evaluation, Problem-Solving and Creative Thinking). Finally, there will be a strong emphasis on immersion, reading and targeted screen-time. The character and tone of Socratic Tutoring will be in essence a sort of “intellectual nurturing”, whereby our tutors will instil a love of learning in students away from the classroom or exam room.
Subjects and Topics
Socratic Tutoring services will reflect the components and values set out above. More specifically, however, this section gives examples of some of the content that might be involved. The substance of Socratic Tutoring will range from (1) focused sessions or courses on specific academic topics or subjects to (2) “freestyle” sessions to (3) cultural enrichment excursions.
The focused sessions or courses might be over a longer / sustained period, or could be held as “summer school” courses, potentially involving other students too. The subjects or topics tutored will be determined by the parents’ assessment of the requirements of the child, but could involve specific niche areas such as an in-depth study of Ancient Greek drama and the role of the chorus, for example, or “love stories through the ages”, or perhaps a comprehensive and wide-ranging immersion in the Renaissance; others may wish to learn a certain language, popular or obscure; children interested in history may want to learn more about a period of history that they never encounter at school, such as the Boer War or the adventures of the British navy; those with political leanings may wish to immerse themselves in Southeast Asian politics, spanning the end of the colonial era through the Cold War to the modern day; and children with a love of Physics may wish to engage in a course on chaos theory, while those with a passion for Biology might like to study the life of a forest. These are by necessity only a tiny sample of the menu of the topics and subjects that BPT’s Socratic Tutors could offer students of Socratic Tutoring.
On the other hand, the cultural enrichment excursions could, for example, involve a day-trip to the museums around West London, or perhaps a multi-day trip to Florence to take in all the architecture, churches, art and cultural heritage, or even a longer, in-depth tour of the ancient Angkorian temples in Cambodia.
Finally, the freestyle sessions will enable the tutor and student to choose any area of study, whether History, Art, Music, Philosophy, Science, Literature, Film, Economics, or any other that is academically stimulating on a session-by-session basis, sometimes spanning more than one field in the same session. For example, a one-off session on Leonardo da Vinci – the definitive polymath – would by definition cover a variety of fields.
One feature of Socratic Tutoring will be establishing creative links between otherwise unconnected fields, subjects or topics under the mentorship of their tutor. A more obvious example from English literature might entail students writing a script for a modern day version of “To Kill a Mockingbird” which could combine studies of literature, theatre, script-writing and a contemporary socio-political analysis of the US. Alternatively, students with an interest in both, say, neuroscience and architecture might use insights from brain science to design physical spaces that positively affect mood, cognition and creativity. One final example might involve students applying Aristotle’s virtue ethics to AI machine learning models to establish a new framework for designing AI systems that reflect human moral reasoning.
Other features are creative and lateral thinking, business awareness and tech proficiency – children could be guided to write a digital diary of their experiences; or might be encouraged to devise an entrepreneurial project or business start-up.
There will also be a significant emphasis on oral proficiency, debate and presentation, open communications and the art or skill of engaging conversation.
Mechanics
Socratic Tutoring will be a fluid combination of online and in-person time with Socratic Tutors. While it is difficult to expect children of under 8 to engage with online tuition for long in one go, we hope that the very nature of Socratic Tutoring will capture children’s interest for longer than orthodox 7+ / 8+ tuition – based as it is around reading comprehensions and times tables. Furthermore, perhaps due to the advancement of technology but also particularly since Covid, many tutors are used to tutoring online and, likewise, many families are used to it too, mainly for its convenience and choice of online tools. Having said that, much of what Socratic Tutoring has to offer will by necessity be in-person, whether a visit to an art gallery or a bucolic autumnal stroll discussing the mysteries of the mycelium network, or whatever the child is interested in. We therefore expect a hybrid model, with some children / students leaning more one way than the other, but with most spanning a combination of online and in-person tutoring. Ultimately such decisions will be made based on the child’s age and character, respective geographical locations and the specific focus of the sessions or courses.
In a similar vein, due to the mentoring dynamic of Socratic Tutoring, we expect time with tutors to be on a one-to-one basis, though it may be that one-to-two arrangements might be reached, especially with siblings of similar age. It must be emphasised, however, that Socratic Tutoring does not involve any traditional childcare or nannying in terms of meals provision, chauffering, etc. We therefore expect any such requirements to be managed separately to the Socratic Tutoring; in other words, a parent or nanny would need to accompany the child on any cultural or academic excursions, or at least be on hand to provide anything that the child requires. This would serve to cover any safeguarding concerns (though it should be emphasised that all tutors will also be enhanced DBS-checked).
Finally, in terms of scheduling, as always it really is up to the client how often they would like their child to see the tutor in question or – more pertinently – how much time financial considerations as well as school and other commitments allow. It may be that some clients prefer to avail themselves of Socratic Tutoring more during the holidays, when there is space and time for students to immerse themselves fully in something different; others may prefer weekly time, to ensure a sustained academic mentoring relationship that builds and flourishes over months or even years; others still may prefer a one-off course or cultural excursion. Socratic Tutoring can be tailored accordingly, and the BPT Director will help clients to determine the best structure for their children to make best use of Socratic Tutoring and recommend the best financial package to reflect those requirements (see Financial Model below).
Financial Model
BPT’s Socratic Tutoring services will be accessed via (1) a subscription fee and (2) an advance payment on account.
The subscription fee will provide initial access to the community of Socratic Tutors, enabling the client to browse tutor profiles and areas of expertise (initially via a manual review with the BPT Director, though in time via an app / portal which would enable direct browsing). The subscription fee serves as a retainer for BPT and reflects the oversight, quality control and client liaison work that the BPT Director will do.
The advance payment on account will be agreed between the client and the BPT Director, depending on the intensity and range of Socratic Tutoring services anticipated, but provisionally GBP5,000, GBP10,000 or GBP20,000 packages, with higher amounts guaranteeing better value for money in terms of services provided.
Advance payments on account can be allocated however the client chooses across the following time bands, with the prices listed below reflecting the lowest GBP5,000 package by way of example:
full day (7 hours) = £825
half-day (4 hours) = £500
2 hours = £275
1 hour = £150
In other words, an advanced payment of GBP5,000 could allow the client to book time credits comprising, say, four full days, two half days, two sessions of two hours plus three sessions (maybe online) of a single hour, with any remaining credit able to be rolled over to the next package.
As well as booking time credits, such payment on account also opens up a “menu” to the client, in other words a broad range of Socratic Tutoring services (referenced by way of examples in Subjects and Topics above but not yet fully itemised, something that will be done in due course in consultation with the full team of Socratic Tutors).
Any miscellaneous costs – e.g., books, art gallery entrance fees, any travel costs incurred by the tutor, etc. – will be borne by the client.
Bookings
Once a client has subscribed for access to the Socratic Tutors, they will in time be able to book sessions, packages, courses and tutors via an online calendar in accordance with the amount of credit that they have on account. However, advance notice is vital to ensure tutor availability, so time will need to be booked at a minimum of two weeks’ notice. Bookings might be able to be made on a more urgent basis, but will need to be made manually via the BPT Director / website (as all bookings are currently required to be made) and there are no guarantees of tutor availability. When a client makes a booking, a feature of the subscription service is the availability of a comprehensive, tailored and bespoke tutor brief / advisory session with the BPT Director to determine client expectations and requirements, and to ensure that the best possible academic mentor will be lined up for the child in question.
Vision
Our vision is of a cohort of knowledgeable, virtuous, empathetic and intellectually curious polymaths nurtured to be literate, confident, articulate, creative, flourishing and engaging young people. And maybe even the odd genius…
Pilot Course and Early Mover Discount
We are currently offering a pilot course of 20 hours as well as an early mover discount for our first 5 clients who subscribe to the pilot course from Wednesday 1st July 2026. All details can be found in the introduction to Socratic Tutoring embedded below.
