Why Traditional Tutoring Is Failing Australian Students
The Future Of Online Tutoring & Importance Of Mentorship.
Author: NL English Academy Team
As thousands of Australian families invest heavily in tutoring services, a growing body of evidence suggests the traditional large-class content-delivery model is fundamentally failing to develop confident, capable learners. Nelson Luo, Founder and Principal of NL English Academy, argues that the future of effective education lies not in “squeezing more students into a class”, but in genuine mentorship that transforms how young students think, learn, and approach challenges.
“The Australian tutoring industry has optimised for scale, not outcomes,” says Luo, a former student of NSW’s top selective school, North Sydney Boys High School.
After withdrawing from the prestigious UNSW Co-Op Scholarship in 2022 (1 of 6 chosen across Australia) to pursue his passion for mentoring young Australians, Luo now runs NL English Academy, an exclusive online academy where student enrolments are by application only. NL English Academy specialises in OC, Selective & high school English, taught in focus groups of maximum 6 students per class. On the side, Luo represents Australia competing in professional Muay Thai in Thailand.
Luo comes from a migrant family background, where academic success is a key route to upward mobility.
“As a former selective school student, there’s no doubt that the selective school environment has changed the trajectory of my life. The single, unifying trait within the entire school is grit, determination and camaraderie, forged under the academically competitive environment. It's the foundation for success that my peers and I are deeply grateful for. I am forever grateful to my peers at North Sydney Boys for pushing each other forward, and of course our teachers who always believed in us.”
The Content Delivery Problem
Traditional tutoring centres operate on a volume-based model: large classes of 10-35 students, rotating tutors, and curriculum focused solely on covering material. While this approach maximises revenue per instructor, Luo suggests it fails to address the core needs of developing learners.
“Parents are investing thousands of dollars to prepare their child for the Selective Test, but many students aren't transforming because they're being churned through a one-size-fits-all tutoring factory. When a student sits in a room of 20 other students, they become invisible. Every student is different and deserves close guidance,” explains Luo.
The Mentorship Difference: Why Small Classes Transform Outcomes
Unlike traditional tutoring that focuses solely on delivering academic content, comprehensive mentorship addresses the development of students holistically. Effective mentorship requires understanding each student's individual learning patterns; whether they process information better verbally or through writing, what specific errors they make repeatedly, and how they respond to different feedback styles.
Beyond weekly small-group classes, NL English Academy’s comprehensive mentorship models include online one-on-one mentorship sessions where students receive personalised guidance on needs extending beyond the curriculum. From scholarship interview preparation to leadership communication and time management, Luo hosts weekly mentorship sessions with NL English Academy students to foster students’ well-rounded growth.
In traditional large-class tutoring environments where students are processed rather than individually known, this depth of personalised attention becomes functionally impossible.
Perhaps most critically, manageable online class sizes enable systematic tracking of individual progress over weeks and months, allowing educators to identify whether improvements are genuine skill development or temporary performance fluctuations.
“At 10 students, you're lecturing and hoping,” explains Luo. “At six, you're mentoring and knowing. That distinction determines whether students develop sustainable skills or just learn to get by.”
Luo believes that this level of student transformation doesn't happen through content delivery alone.
Beyond Academic Results: Developing Future Leaders
The mentorship approach extends beyond test preparation. Through the NL Changemaker Scholarship program, which financially supports ambitious and altruistic students each term, student recipients like Donovan L. have demonstrated the broader impact of comprehensive mentorship.
Donovan represents Australia competing against other countries at the World Scholars Cup, an international academic competition for students aged 11-18 that focuses on collaborative learning and critical thinking. In 2024, Donovan competed in Shenzhen, bringing home 3 trophies, 11 gold and 3 silver medals. This June, Donovan competed in Bangkok, and brought home 7 gold and 5 silver medals. Later this November, he will be travelling to Yale University, to compete and represent Australia again.
In 2024, Donovan also won the ICAS medal for writing in Western Australia.
Donovan’s medals after the 2024 World Scholars Cup hosted in Shenzhen
Another year 9 NL English Academy student, Parnavi Juneja, has found the small-class online mentorship model critical for her improvement and all-rounded development.
Parnavi’s mother, Priyanka, shares that Parnavi has “consistently scored top English grades, scoring full marks in multiple English exams.”
However, beyond her academic achievements, Parnavi has been inspired and extremely motivated at a young age to make a difference in her local community. Currently, Parnavi also academically mentors primary school students, and is arguably a role model for the other students of her age.
“We're not just mentoring high achievers, we're developing confident, articulate young leaders who can think critically, communicate effectively, and will take the initiative to help others in the community. This is the foundation for building the next generation of Australians,” Luo says.
The Balance Factor: Why Extra-Curriculars Matter
Contrary to the “study-only” mentality promoted by many tutoring centres, NL English Academy actively encourages students to maintain balance with sports and extra-curricular activities - an approach backed by Luo's personal experience.
“The students who excelled at North Sydney Boys weren't only academic machines,” Luo observes. “They were optimisers in all aspects of life, excelling in sports, communication, organisation, and studies. When students cut out everything to focus purely on academics, they rarely study more effectively. They just fill the gaps with social media and procrastination.”
NL English Academy recently became the main sponsor of North Sydney Boys High School Football Club, a wholly alumni & parent-run organisation reinforcing this philosophy through action.
The Future of Tutoring & Online Learning
As the tutoring industry continues to grow across Australia, Luo advocates for a fundamental shift in how educational support is structured and delivered; one that prioritises depth of impact over breadth of enrolment.
“Parents deserve to know what actually drives educational outcomes,” he says. “It's not how much content you cover or how many students you can fit in a room. It's whether you're providing genuine mentorship that develops the student holistically; their skills, their confidence and their resilience.”
The traditional tutoring model, Luo argues, has been built around scaling up: maximising student numbers per class and automating feedback where possible. While this approach may be profitable, it fundamentally undermines the personalised attention that drives genuine transformation.
“The future of effective education isn't about scaling up, it's about going deeper,” Luo explains. “Deeper understanding of each individual student. Deeper relationships built over months and years, not weeks. Deeper feedback that addresses root causes, not surface-level errors. Deeper development of skills that extend far beyond test scores.”
This philosophy challenges the prevailing business model in tutoring, but Luo believes it's essential for meaningful educational outcomes.
“When you prioritise knowing fewer students better rather than teaching more students adequately, everything changes. You stop processing learners through a system and start genuinely investing in their development. That's when real transformation happens.”
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