Plytime Learning Maths Tutoring FAQs
About Plytime
Plytime Learning is designed to work better for parents, students and tutors and provide more effective and affordable learning support.
With everything you need in one place, we give you the flexibility to choose what’s right for you. There may be times where you just need access to the Plytime Learning platform for practice and self learning, and other times where you need the additional support of a 1-to-1 maths tutor.
The choice is yours at the click of a button.
Plytime is ideal for students who are ahead or want to be at the top, for students who are behind or want to catch up and for all students in between.
And Plytime subscriptions are perfect if you want to maintain steady progress with a little extra support, if you want more support to improve more quickly, or if you want to improve rapidly and push harder to reach your potential
It’s designed for anyone who wants additional maths tutoring support to help them be their BEST
Together with input from dedicated tutors, we use sophisticated algorithms and machine learning to ensure that every student automatically receives content that is appropriate to their needs and level of ability. As students improve they move through the curriculum at their own pace.
FOCUS Tutoring® is a new way to get dedicated 1-to-1 support, that has been proven by independent research to be significantly more effective than traditional tutoring.
With FOCUS Tutoring® you can build a tutoring package that’s right for your child – in focused 15-minute chunks that you can spread out across the week or join together into longer sessions. Powered by our intelligent software and question reviews, your dedicated tutor will know exactly where to focus their effort to make the tutoring sessions effective and efficient and help your child to be their best.
Focus 15® is the term we use to describe an individual 15 minute 1-to-1 online tutoring session. You can choose as many FOCUS 15’s as you need during the week and can easily edit the number of sessions, up or down, as your child’s needs for support change.
Well, it ties in with research into how concentration diminishes over time and short focused periods of attention can be far more effective than longer session. It’s the same reason why TED talks are kept below 18 minutes – one optimal unit of attention span! You would be surprised what you can achieve in 15 minutes.
Research with MMU has proved that shorter maths tutoring sessions are 25% more effective than longer sessions.
It’s also incredibly flexible and many of our students and tutors find is so much easier to fit a 15 minute session into their busy schedule.
Initially Plytime is covering the Primary Maths curriculum but our intention is to expand into other Primary and Secondary subjects as soon as possible.
Plytime is based in the UK and all our resources are in the English language. We have big plans to expand internationally in the future.
Many people turn to tutors when they are struggling or have an important exam coming up – which is fine – but it doesn’t have to be that way. Plytime is designed to make it easy and more affordable to dip in and out of our tutoring sessions so that students find it easier to stay on top of things and avoid falling behind. You don’t have to spend time searching for a new tutor, just take out a subscription whenever you need it and we’ll match you with your own dedicated tutor.
All Plytime content has been created with help of educational specialists in line with the latest curriculum.
Gamification is a way of encouraging students to practise more through games and rewards. At Plytime Learning we have developed a unique way of allowing students to play against each other – but where everyone has the same chance of winning regardless of age or ability. The content is still personalised to each individual and it’s not about being the best – it’s about being YOUR best and continually improving. And if multi-player games aren’t for you, that’s absolutely fine – you can still enjoy the gamification and try to improve on your own best scores.
For Students
- Click subscribe to create your parent account. You will receive an email asking you to verify this account.
- Then add the student account (you can add as many students as you want to under a parent account) and you will also receive a verification email for the student account that you must activate within 5 days.
- Select your subject and the student level – this gives the system an idea where to pitch the initial questions and if you’re not sure you can use the assessment tool to help.
- Then choose which subscription option you require. If you select Plytime Learning platform only, you will then move to the Stripe checkout where you can apply a discount code if you have one. If you choose to add FOCUS Tutoring you will then be asked to select the days and times of your weekly sessions.
- Once you are set up you can easily add or remove sessions as required.
When you add a new student we ask you to select a starting level for your child – just so that we know where to pitch their initial questions. The levels range from level 1 to level 8, with level 1 meaning that your child is be significantly behind in their school year and level 8 significantly ahead.
You can check your child’s level by using our quick assessments here. You can create an account here
No – we take away all the hassle of finding a tutor. You tell us when you want your Focus 15® tutoring sessions and we will try to match you with one of our approved Plytime Tutors at a time of your choice making it nice and easy for you.
Yes – if you have worked with a particular tutor before and would like to use them again, you just need to enter their referral code in the area provided and select that you on only want to see their availability.
If you don’t know the tutor’s referral code, please get in touch with us at student@plytime.com and tell us the name of the tutor and when you last used them and we will send you their uinque referral code.
Subscribing to the Plytime Learning platform is just £3.50 per week. This gives you full access to personalised content 24/7, questions review and help videos, performance tracking and the ability to earn tokens and reward for effort.
Our aim is to make one to one tutoring more effective and affordable. So, you can use our flexible subscriptions to add 1-to-1 tutoring, whenever you need additional support, for just £8.50 per FOCUS15®. You will automatically be matched to a dedicated, DBS approved tutor, at times to suit you and the subscriptions are super flexible to allow you to dip in and out of tutor support across your child’s academic life.
See our pricing options. Payments are taken weekly, 1 week in advance of your sessions.
Tokens are awarded when you practice questions and review incorrect answers on the platform. The number you receive depends upon the individual question, whether you answered correctly and your subscription package. Your accumulated tokens are visible in your student account.
Plytime Rewards can be redeemed by using Tokens you have earned. Just click on the redeem button and we will send you a confirmation and then the Reward. Please make sure that you (the parent or guardian) are happy with your child’s selection. We may need to contact you for the address you want any physical Rewards sending to.
Yes of course. You can book as many as you like and we will match you with a tutor who can accommodate your selected number of sessions, based on the time and days you choose. You can book your Focus 15®’s on different days or you can choose to run them consecutively.
Yes, you will have a dedicated tutor for all your sessions. Once you tell us how many Focus 15®’s you would like per week and select your first session, we will only show the available sessions for that chosen tutor.
You will see details of the date and time of your next Focus 15® on the Student Dashboard and the Parent Dashboard.
You can contact your Tutor through the Tutor Student Messages and request to move the day and/or time of a Focus 15®. As long as sufficient notice is given and both parties agree through the Messages that this works for them the Tutor can change the session to an agreed time.
Very – you can increase or decrease tutor support or cancel your subscription at any time via your parent dashboard. As you have paid 1 week in advance your access to the platform and any outstanding Focus 15® sessions will remain for the week following cancellation. You can take out a new subscription at any time and top up your learning again whenever your child needs additional support.
Plytime is keen for the users to benefit when they introduce new friends to the platform, to help them learn, so the parent referral scheme is designed to do that.
If you know someone who wants additional learning support, just get in touch at student@plytime.com and ask for a unique parent referral code. If the code is used when creating a subscription both you and the new user will receive a benefit as set out here
We take child safety seriously. All of our approved tutors have an enhanced DBS. No personal details are shared with Tutors other than the Student’s first name and all contact between the Tutor and Student is restricted to the Plytime Platform via the Focus 15® session or the Student Tutor Messages. Please see our Terms and Conditions and Safeguarding Policy for more details.
The one-to-one tutoring takes place online via an interactive video Focus 15® session. The tutor will have access to the Student performance data and be able to support their specific needs. They can see and speak to the student and have the use of a whiteboard during the session. At the end of the Focus 15® the tutor will agree with the student what they should focus on before their next session.
We have a Plytime Tutor-Student Messages facility allowing for written communication between the Tutor and the Student/ parent or guardian so that you can contact your Tutor at any time outside of a Focus 15®. Please note, for safeguarding reasons we do not allow any contact between students/parents and tutors outside the platform.
Whilst we try our best to ensure that students and tutors work well together, we understand that sometimes, it might not work out. If that does happen, just get in touch and let us know what the problem is, so that we can continue to improve the service, and we’ll allocate a new tutor to you.
You will be able to see real time performance data for your child in the Student Dashboard which will highlight their overall subject improvement and also at a more detailed level to show where your child may need additional focus. You can also review all questions they have answered whilst on the Plytime Platform and there are hundreds of short help videos available to provide a little extra help in between Focus 15® sessions.
As much as they like. They will have full 24×7 access to the challenges, Plytime content and help videos. We want to make the challenges as engaging as possible so that they will want to keep practising – the more they play (& practice) the better they will get and we want to help them to be their best.
Yes of course – as long as you give sufficient notice, you can request, through the Tutor-Student Messages, that the Tutor cancels the Focus 15® for the weeks that you are not available. A refund will be provided for the cancelled sessions.
Yes of course. If you have more than one child, you can create different accounts and subscriptions for each student and each student can have a subscription for more than one subject (once we have added new subjects). These will be visible in the Parent Dashboard.
Yes. Each student will have their own personal login details and Student Dashboard.
For Tutors
Please register your interest in becoming a Plytime Tutor here. Once we have received your form we will contact you and invite you to a video call where we explain everything to you, assess your suitability and review your DBS. Once we’ve done this, we will set you up as an approved tutor and you can add your ideal hours and times you want to work then you’re ready to go. We will start to match you with Students at times that suit you.
You are self-employed and can start to build your tutoring Business through Plytime right away. As we provide a full learning service (marketing, matching, subject content, marking, performance tracking, help videos) once you are approved and set up you are ready to go. You have full flexibility allowing you to set the times and number of hours you want to work to fit into your lifestyle – earning as much or as little as you want. It will be your responsibility to report earnings to the authorities but if you have concerns about running your own small business, our Plytime Tutor forum is always available to ask questions and get help or support from our network of brilliant tutors.
Plytime Learning is committed to maintaining the highest standards of service to students and tutors therefore we believe it is in the best interests of our tutor network to approve tutors before they join the platform. We want the best tutors who are capable and determined to help students to be their best – and feel a sense of pride in belonging to the Plytime network.
Plytime is open to anyone who wants to build their tutoring business with Plytime. It’s ideal for existing tutors, university students or graduates, teachers, teaching assistants, or anyone who wants to tutor and help make a difference. We are currently only able to accept UK residents.
We will recruit tutors who:
- Have a great knowledge and good qualifications to be able to offer support in their chosen subject
- Are eligible to work in the UK on a self-employed basis
- Are enthusiastic, articulate, and motivated
- Have a good internet connection, a computer with good quality camera & microphone and a compatible browser
If this sounds like you, head to our sign up page to register.
No. Previous tutoring experience is not necessary for tutoring with Plytime as we provide all the content, marking and performance data. So as long as you can show us how suited you will be to tutoring, your passion and expertise in your subject(s), and your ability to communicate well with students, previous experience is not required.
Yes you can and even better, you will earn a referral payment for doing so. Just tell them to use your unique referral code that we sent to you on sign up (please get in touch at tutor@plytime.com if you need a reminder) when subscribing and to tick that they want to only see your availability to choose their sessions.
Plytime is keen for the tutors to benefit when they introduce new students to the platform to help them learn so the tutor referral scheme is designed to do that. If you know someone who wants additional learning support, just tell them your unique tutor referral code – sent to you on sign up (please get in touch at tutor@plytime.com if you need a reminder). If the code is used when creating a subscription both you and the new user will receive a benefit as detailed in the Facebook Tutor Group.
Yes. We take student safety seriously so we want all the Plytime Tutors to have an enhanced DBS.
Yes we can help you to apply for an enhanced DBS with CareCheck. The check costs around £50* which would be borne by the tutor but it gives our parents peace of mind knowing their children are online with a trusted and dedicated tutor.
*This can be recouped with less than 2 ½ hours of Focus 15® tutoring.
As well as providing an enhanced DBS check, you may also be asked to provide references to support your application.
No. We don’t work like a standard marketplace where you have to be on page 1 to be noticed. All our tutors are matched automatically to Students based on their availability, ideal hours and Plytime score. Once you have been approved you will start to get bookings and as long as your performance is good we aim to get you to you ideal hours as soon as possible.
Absolutely. You let us know the ideal number of hours that you want to work each week and then let us know your availability to fit around your existing timetable and we’ll do our best to match you with students up to your ideal hours.
You will see details of the date and time of all your scheduled Focus 15® sessions on your Dashboard
The Plytime platform provides a full service for Tutors so that you don’t have to spend time searching for students, finding suitable content, preparing or marking for which we charge service fees. Each tutor will receive a net £5 for each Focus 15® session – so that’s £5 for each 15 minute session that they tutor (or the equivalent of £20 per hour).
Tutors will be paid weekly, 1 week in arrears on the Friday of the following week. ie. For sessions run on Monday 6th the tutor will get paid in the payment run on Friday 17th.
Of course – the beauty of Plytime is that it’s really flexible and allows you to re-schedule or cancel sessions for appointments or holidays. You can agree any changes with parents, giving sufficient notice, using the built in messaging facility.
Other
The best way to contact us is to send us an email via our contact page or via the chat function on our website (icon in the bottom right-hand corner)
If you are having any technical issues please let us know via the contact form and we will try and assist.
If you would like to apply for a job with us the best way to get in touch is to use our contact form. We look forward to receiving your message!