If you’re looking into online learning for your child, reaching out to an online school or online tutoring service, like TLC LIVE, is a great first step – but parents may wonder what the difference between the two is.
While both are related, they’re not the same thing and understanding the difference is important when it comes to choosing the right support for your child. In this blog, we’ll walk through both services clearly and explain who each one is designed for to help you work out which route makes the most sense for you and your family.
What is online tutoring?
TLC LIVE has been offering online tutoring since 2011. It works in one of two ways – either privately, where a parent or pupil comes to us directly for support, or in connection with schools, where we work alongside educational institutions and local authorities to provide structured additional provision.
Private tutoring
For families coming to us directly, the process starts with getting to know your child’s level. Before lessons begin, we carry out a free initial assessment to understand where they are in their subject knowledge, what the gaps are and how we can support. From there, we build a personalised study plan tailored to your child’s needs and goals.
Lessons are delivered by one of our fully qualified teachers, and your child gets dedicated time and attention with no distractions – just focused learning. Sessions are structured but flexible, so they can be scheduled around both your family’s routine and what it is your child is studying in school. Lessons start from £25 and 98% of our students in 2025 rated the tutoring good or excellent.
We cover all major exam boards across Maths, English, Science, Geography, History and Religious Studies – plus additional subjects – and we support pupils from KS1 through to KS4. Tutoring is great for boosting subject knowledge and also supporting children with their confidence. When they have 1-1 time with our tutors, they’re able to progress faster and receive that personalised, focused learning that helps them reach their academic goals.
Working with schools and local authorities
TLC LIVE also works directly with schools and local authorities to deliver tailored tutoring programmes that meet the specific needs of their communities. For schools, this might mean partnering with us for intervention and transition strategies, gifted and talented support, or to help meet Pupil Premium commitments.
We also support schools in meeting their obligations under Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans, and work with local authorities to provide specialist provision for pupils with SEND and other additional needs – covering the gaps that schools themselves are sometimes unable to fill. This could be due to various reasons such as staffing change or a specific learning need.
In our school-based work, teachers ensure that every child gets the attention they need. As with private tutoring, we cater for pupils from KS1 through to KS4, ages 6-16.
What is an online school?
TLC LIVE Online School is a separate offering to tutoring. We opened the school in 2024 and became fully accredited by the Department for Education in 2026 – you can read the full Ofsted report here if you’d like to explore what that entails or read our blog on what accreditation means for an online school.
Unlike tutoring, which supplements a child’s existing education, our Online School is a full alternative to mainstream schooling. It is designed for secondary school-aged pupils aged 11-16 and constitutes a recognised form of home-based learning. Classes are capped at nine students per lesson, which means every pupil receives individual attention and personalised learning than is typically possible in a mainstream classroom.
We also operate a no-cameras policy during lessons. This creates a more relaxed, lower-pressure environment that allows pupils to focus on their learning – something that makes a real difference for children who experience anxiety or find traditional classroom settings difficult.
Curriculum and packages
At TLC LIVE Online School, we offer a range of curriculum packages for both KS3 and KS4 pupils.
For pupils in KS4 (Years 10 and 11), all packages are built around the core (I)GCSE subjects: English Language, English Literature, Mathematics, and Science (Double Award). From there, families can choose to add up to four additional subjects from Geography, History, Religious Studies, Global Citizenship, Business, GCSE PE, and Art and Design.
These are structured as Core +1, +2, +3, or +4 depending on how many additional subjects your child takes on. All KS4 packages include weekly PSHE sessions and weekly 1:1 mentoring session to support pupils as they work towards their GCSEs. If you’re interested in the difference between IGCSEs and standard GCSES, or how GCSEs work at an online school, check out our blogs.
For pupils in KS3 (Years 7 to 9), we offer the same structure, where the core curriculum package offers 12 live lessons per week covering English, Maths and Science alongside weekly PSHE, with the option to add additional subjects. The core plus KS3 package includes History, Geography, Religious Studies, Citizenship and Digital Skills. Additionally, all packages include mentoring and PSHE lessons.
Who goes to an online school?
Families come to online school for all kinds of reasons, and there is no single profile of a child who thrives here. Some of the most common reasons families come to us include the need for greater flexibility around health, performance or family circumstances, support for neurodiverse learners, anxiety or Emotional Based School Avoidance (EBSA), EHCPs that aren’t being fully met in a mainstream setting, and families who live or travel internationally but want their child to follow the UK curriculum. We’ve explored many of these reasons in more depth in our dedicated blog on the benefits of online school, which is worth a read if you’d like to understand more.
Every lesson is delivered by a qualified, subject-specific teacher in a live virtual classroom. Pupils can communicate with their teacher through a 1:1 channel during lessons, so they can ask questions when they need to without feeling self-conscious in front of their peers. It’s a small but important detail that makes a genuine difference to how willing pupils are to engage.
So, which one is right for your child?
Both options work well for different children and different families. Here are some pointers to help you think it through.
Online tutoring might be the right fit if:
- Your child is attending school but struggling in one or more subjects and needs targeted support alongside their existing education
- They need to catch up after a period of absence or illness
- They are approaching GCSEs and want focused, subject-specific exam preparation
- Their school has identified gaps in attainment and is looking for additional/alternative provision
- You want to support your child’s learning without changing their wider school environment
- Your child is in KS1 through to KS4 and needs support at any stage of their education
Online school might be the right fit if:
- Your child has difficultly attending mainstream school, whether because of anxiety, EBSA, health needs, or another reason
- They have an EHCP that isn’t being fully met in their current school setting
- They are in Years 7 to 11 and need a full-time, structured alternative to mainstream schooling
- Your family needs more flexibility than a traditional school timetable can offer
- You’re unhappy with your child’s original school placement but don’t want to go to any other local school, or school is feeling physically unsafe for your child
- Your child is neurodiverse or disabled and would benefit from smaller class sizes, a no-cameras policy, and a calmer, more personalised learning environment
- They’ve had a difficult experience in mainstream school and need a fresh start in an environment that genuinely feels different
It’s also worth knowing that the two aren’t mutually exclusive. Some families use online school as their child’s primary education and bring in private tutoring alongside it for additional subject support.
Final thoughts
Every child is different, and so is every family’s situation. What matters is finding the right kind of support.
If you child needs a little extra help in a subject, they’re finding difficult, or a full alternative to mainstream school that genuinely works for them, TLC LIVE has an option that fits. Our team is always happy to have a conversation about which route makes the most sense for your child and your circumstances – there’s no pressure and we know how important it is to get this decision right.
If you’d like to explore your options or want further information from us, get in contact today and we’ll be there to support you.
Written by Ryan Lockett, Headteacher and Director of Studies at TLC LIVE Online School