Tutorax

Tutorax is a Canadian tutoring company that matches students with private tutors for in-home or online lessons, and that has grown a set of specialized services around that core: summer courses, preparation for Quebec ministry and admission exams, orthopedagogy for students with learning difficulties, speech therapy, language stimulation for young children, and services for schools. It lists two addresses, in Laval, Quebec and Toronto, Ontario, and runs a French-language site for Quebec alongside English pages for Ontario cities. It is a service for learners and their parents rather than a marketplace: families make a request, Tutorax calls back, and its team picks the tutor.

How it works

The process has three steps on both the French and English sites: make a request online, receive a call (the site says within 24 hours), and get the first lesson. The Toronto page says Tutorax guarantees to find a tutor in less than seven days for in-home tutoring and within 24 to 48 hours for the virtual service, and that lessons are available 7 days a week.

The pairing is done by staff, not by browsing profiles. The site describes a "personalized tutoring pairing" process that matches each student by needs, learning style and personality. A follow-up call with the parents comes after the first lesson to check the match, and further follow-ups are made during the school year to check progress. The Toronto page says Tutorax works "hand in hand" with the child's teacher, and one Quebec parent's review notes that the company contacted her daughter's teacher directly. If a family is not satisfied with the first tutor, the Private Tutor Match Guarantee promises a new tutor and says the next tutoring hour "will be on us."

Formats

In-home tutoring is offered across Canada, the French site says, in all subjects from elementary school to university level, for homework help, exam preparation or catching up. On the Toronto page, tutors can meet students at a place of the family's choice in any Toronto neighborhood. Several parent reviews describe tutors meeting students at school after class, too.

Online tutoring runs on a web platform that the French site says includes an interactive whiteboard, document sharing and saving, and audio and video communication, so the student can work directly on homework and keep the work. One review describes a junior hockey player switching between home lessons and the virtual classroom when playing away games. Group tutoring also appears in the reviews: one parent describes a weekly Sunday-morning session where her son studies with two classmates and the same tutor.

Prices

The Toronto page publishes three hourly rates, all marked "No contract & no commitment":

• Online tutoring (virtual support) for grades 1 to 12: $45 an hour.
• In-home tutoring for elementary and high school students: $55 an hour.
• Virtual support for college and university students: $50 an hour.

The FAQ says tutoring takes place on a regular monthly basis, with the frequency and length of sessions set to each student's needs; payment is by credit card and fees are billed monthly. It also says tutoring is eligible for a tax deduction and that part of the cost may be reimbursed by certain insurance plans, advising families to check with their insurer. The French pages list prices under "Procédures et tarifs" for each service but do not repeat them on the home page.

Subjects and services

Core subjects on both sites are mathematics, French, English, science, chemistry, physics, biology, history and geography, with Spanish listed on the Toronto page and "all school programs" covered. The Toronto page describes help from kindergarten to grade 12 and on to university, in public and private schools, and lists homework help, exam preparation, catch-up and remedial assistance, online tutoring and summer courses. The Ontario menu adds OSSLT preparation.

The Quebec site carries more. Summer courses for primary and secondary students are described as "reconnus" (recognized) courses for consolidating learning, retaking a failed course or getting ahead. Preparation for ministry exams and for secondary school admission exams is pitched as "Les programmes #1 au Québec" (the number one programs in Quebec), the company's own claim. Cégep and university courses have their own menu entry. Orthopedagogy, specialized support for students with learning disorders or difficulties, is offered to primary and secondary students at home or at school. A speech therapy team offers assessments and interventions at home, online or in daycare; one section gives the age range as 2 to 12, another as 2 to 25. Language stimulation agents support children aged 2 to 12 at home, in daycare or at school, working with any speech therapists already involved. Services for schools cover tutoring, substitute teaching, summer courses and exam preparation.

Tutors and results

The Toronto page claims more than 1000 qualified tutors and describes the team as college students, math students, French students, students with special education experience and others with tutoring experience. The site also recruits orthopedagogues, speech therapists and language stimulation agents.

The outcome figures are Tutorax's own: it says 95% of its students notice an improvement in their academic performance, that it has helped more than 20 000 students, and that 99% of parents would recommend it to a relative and use it again. The French home page carries a long run of parent reviews. Among them, one describes a meeting with a tutor in less than 24 hours on the eve of an exam and a result of 85%; another, a daughter whose math average rose from 61% to 82%; another, a son admitted to two private secondary schools after tutoring; and one parent calls her son "une petite boule d'énergie" (a little ball of energy) whose tutor held his attention with learning games.

Who it suits

Tutorax suits Canadian families, especially in Quebec and Ontario, who want a company to pick and supervise the tutor rather than browse a marketplace, with published hourly rates, monthly billing and no contract. It suits parents of a student with a learning difficulty who may need orthopedagogy or speech therapy alongside subject tutoring from the same provider, families preparing a child for Quebec ministry or private school admission exams, and students who need a summer course to retake or get ahead. Schools can buy tutoring, substitutes and exam preparation directly.

It suits less well a learner outside Canada, whose options would be limited to whatever the online service accepts, or an adult learner wanting to choose a tutor personally from profiles and reviews: here the company makes the match and offers a replacement if it does not work.