Six weeks before Easter
You run GCSE and A level revision courses over the Easter holidays: a few days per subject, small groups, in a hired room at a local school or community centre, and some online. The flyer goes out. Bookings come in by email, phone and a form. The office adds them to a spreadsheet: one tab per subject, one row per student.
Chemistry fills and overflows, and nobody notices until a parent asks why their child is not on the list. English has three students and the tutor wonders whether it is going ahead. Half the bookings are unpaid. The room is booked for too many days. Two days before the start, the office is still confirming who is in which group.
Why courses get chaotic
- Bookings arrive through several routes and are keyed in by hand.
- Group limits are tracked by counting rows, which is easy to get wrong.
- Payment is separate from booking, so unpaid places are common.
- Decisions about running or cancelling a small group are left too late.
- Tutors and rooms are booked before the numbers are known, or after.
What the chaos costs
Overfilled groups that dilute the teaching. Underfilled groups that run at a loss or are cancelled at the last minute, disappointing families. Unpaid places that are hard to chase after the course. Room hire for days that are not needed. Office time at exactly the moment when regular students are also asking for extra lessons.
Tutors feel it too. A tutor who is not told until the last minute whether their group is running cannot plan the rest of their holiday, and may take other work instead.
The course booking we build
- Each course is set up with its subject, level, exam board, days, format, maximum and minimum group size, price and tutor.
- Families book online, choosing courses, and pay by card at booking, for example through Stripe.
- Groups close automatically when full. A waiting list opens, and the owner can see where a second group would fill.
- At a date you set before the course, groups below the minimum are flagged so you can decide to run, merge or cancel with time to tell families.
- Rooms and tutors are allocated from the final numbers, with a clear view of which days need which room.
- Registers, materials lists and joining details for online groups are produced for tutors and families.
- After the course, families can be offered regular tutoring in the same subject.
| Course | Booked | Status | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| GCSE chemistry | Full, with a waiting list | Closed | Consider a second group |
| A level maths | Near full | Open | None |
| GCSE English | Below minimum | Flagged | Run, merge or cancel |
Easter, afterwards
Bookings come in through one form, paid. Chemistry fills in the first week; the owner sees the waiting list, books a second tutor and room, and opens a second group. English stays below the minimum at the cut-off date; the owner merges it with another day and tells the families in good time. Tutors get registers and materials lists the week before.
After Easter, several course students take up regular lessons with the tutor they met.
The following year starts from a better place, because the owner can see which subjects and days filled first and which groups struggled, and plan the flyer around that.
Courses are usually the easiest place to start taking payment at booking, because families expect to pay upfront for a short course. Agencies that try it here often go on to use the same approach for packages and regular lessons.
Signs your revision courses need help
- Course bookings are kept in a spreadsheet.
- Groups overfill without anyone noticing.
- Unpaid places are chased after the course.
- Decisions to cancel small groups come too late.
- Rooms and tutors are booked before numbers are known.