Case study
Online GCSE Homeschooling for a Family Travelling Internationally
Worldwide
Location
Online Homeschooling
Category
The parents of a Year 10 student approached Witherow Brooke after deciding to spend eighteen months travelling internationally as a family. Their plans would take them for extended periods through Europe and Asia, making continued attendance at a conventional school impossible.
Their son had already begun his iGCSE courses in the UK and the family were keen that travelling should not delay his education or require him to change curriculum. He was studying English Language, English Literature, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, History and Spanish, with the intention of sitting his iGCSE examinations as a private candidate at the end of Year 11.
A complete, online academic programme was required that could remain consistent as the family moved between countries and time zones.
Role of the Tutors
Witherow Brooke constructed a weekly online timetable using subject-specialist tutors for the student's different iGCSE subjects. Each tutor took responsibility for their area of the curriculum, while the programme as a whole was overseen by Witherow Brooke to ensure that syllabus coverage remained on schedule, no subjects were neglected, and that technical skills such as independent revision and exam technique were incoprorated into the programme.
The timetable was deliberately built to be adaptable to the family's travel comittments. Lessons were concentrated on certain days to leave others free, and teaching hours were adjusted as the family moved between Europe and Asia. When travel days or changes of accommodation disrupted the normal timetable, lessons could be rearranged without interrupting the overall programme. We also advised the family on registering as a private candidate and arranging for the student to sit his final examinations at an approved examination centre.
Tutor Profiles
Rather than appointing a single generalist tutor, we assembled a small team of subject specialists with extensive iGCSE teaching experience and online one-to-one tuition. Tutors were selected both for their knowledge of the relevant syllabuses and for their ability to make online lessons engaging over an extended period.
Consistency was particularly important given the family's changing surroundings. The tutors provided a familiar weekly structure wherever the student happened to be, while also being flexible enough to accommodate the practical realities of international travel.
Outcome
The student completed the remainder of his iGCSE courses entirely online while travelling with his family through seven countries. Despite moving regularly, he remained on schedule across all eight subjects and returned to the UK to sit his examinations as a private candidate.
He ultimately achieved grades 7–9 across his iGCSEs, allowing the family to continue travelling without compromising his progress towards A-Levels.