Opinions on Breakthrough education: Glen

[g2gsofast]

Hey, just wondering if people have any opinions on Breakthrough education. I think a guy called Kevin teaches, and I just wanted to know if he's any good. Anyways, I have been hearing some mixed opinions/reviews about him and his teaching. Also if anyone has any other suggestions for tutors (for methods) around the south-east suburbs, please send me their details, I would really appreciate it.
Thanks!!

[ardria]

Hey, just wondering if people have any opinions on Breakthrough education. I think a guy called Kevin teaches, and I just wanted to know if he's any good. Anyways, I have been hearing some mixed opinions/reviews about him and his teaching. Also if anyone has any other suggestions for tutors (for methods) around the south-east suburbs, please send me their details, I would really appreciate it.
Thanks!!

Disclaimer: not affiliated with any tutoring companies apart from being a student

I'm doing Chemistry there this year so I can only speak for that. All of my friends who go/have been have positive things to say, though one friend did drop out because she found it too advanced. 9 out of the 20 students in the state who got 50 in Chemistry last year were his students. He really does produce the results, though keep in mind most students he attracts are already high-achieving and hard-working.

Personally, I highly recommend it. But of course, see if it's right for you.

- His classes are best suited to students who really really want 40-50 (especially 45-50) and will work for it
- Kevin is super supportive and makes an effort to make his classes enjoyable. You can ask him questions outside of class/during breaks at any time. You can also text/email him questions, but I have seen firsthand how freakishly busy he is so don't always expect a reply
- For upcoming SACs, you can ask Kevin for a preparation pack for it. They contain questions from several commercial sources and teacher's notes
- He has all of his classes recorded so you can catchup any other time if you miss any

Imo, his classes aren't the best suited to students who are:
- Struggling with basics (because he speeds through it)
- Aren't keen enough to put in the work themselves (I think there's no point going at all if you won't do the work)
- Don't like or can't keep up with the fast pace
- Don't like the crowded, intensive class environment

Also keep in mind that it isn't cheap for a group tutor, and the Glen classes have ~20-30 students. Box Hill has less.

Other options:
- Conquest Education at Monash Uni or Keysborough. Much more chill with much smaller class sizes but good teaching and you can pay in cash each class. However, you don't get the out of class support.
- https://atarnotes.com/forum/index.php?topic=163352.0 is excellent for Methods at State Library but he may not have space left.

Best of luck, happy to answer your questions

[Quantum44]

I don't personally go to breakthrough but I know plenty of people who have gone/go there for tutoring. On a whole, the reports have not been good, particularly regarding the owner Kevin.

For starters he sells lies. My brother went to him for spesh and he told everyone they were going to get 40+ and in the end my brother was the only person in the entire class who got 40+. Not to mention his unsubstantiated bullshit about 1 in 5 people getting 99+.

He is overpriced. I vividly remember seeing people paying him $1000 up front in cash (seems a bit suspicious), and the overall product is not worth it.

For such a money-oriented person, he is exceptionally lazy. He told my brother to email him any questions he had and never replied once.

The sessions are crowded and there is no individual attention. You might as well save money by having an individual tutor who got a 50 in your subject.

In the end my brother just didn't bother going to the sessions since he found it far more productive to study at home before the exams.

He may have changed since my brother graduated in 2014, but my friend has him for methods this year and I'm hearing similar reports.

[exit]

PM'd you information of what I know. Ardria's post is very accurate from my experiences. I can tell you Quantum's post is not though I understand where he is coming from and why people might think that way.
I know people IRL who read these forums so I am hesitant to some of the personal information/experiences I have.

To refute quantum
-bt claims of 1 in 5 students 99+ is very substantiated considering the demographic of students that go there
-about his tutoring itself, ardria is accurate. private tutoring is better for those who struggle than want to excel
-bt gets multiple 50s in spesh and methods almost every year <- fact, he has said the names of these students
-'overpriced' but you get a lot for your money
-kev is not lazy but busy - does reply to texts/emails
- classes are too big for it to be remotely possible for anyone to say that they were the only 40+er and no tutor guarantees study scores.

Personally, a private tutor should be better and more productive if they have the resources to back it up

[Quantum44]

PM'd you information of what I know. Ardria's post is very accurate from my experiences. I can tell you Quantum's post is not though I understand where he is coming from and why people might think that way.

What makes you say that? I assume you went to breakthrough for methods.

[Aaron]

PM'd you information of what I know. Ardria's post is very accurate from my experiences. I can tell you Quantum's post is not though I understand where he is coming from and why people might think that way.

Why not post what you know here, so that others can make an informed decision about this too? You can't just say someone's post is inaccurate (publically) and not back it up with anything.

I would imagine there is more than one person here interested in different perspectives.

[exit]

I edited my comment above. I'm not the biggest fan of BT and I reckon he is not for everyone so I have no obligation to advertise for him (he doesn't need it anyway)

But these claims are wrong (as of 2017, not 2014):
-He doesn't reply to emails
-He guarantees people study scores (nope, he tells people that they can screw up exams and drop off a lot in study scores)
-The results he publish are unsubstantiated bullshit (he publishes the names + schools of people who get 99.95 every year)
-His brother is the only one of got 40+ for spesh -> i don't believe your brother personally knows what study scores the 20+ in the class got and i know multiple people who went there that got 40+ for spesh
His language may be deceptive and some of the stuff he says might be slightly outdated
-The overall product is not worth it -> very subjective. His service is very unique and not for everyone.

Hope this helped

[Quantum44]

I edited my comment above. I'm not the biggest fan of BT and I reckon he is not for everyone so I have no obligation to advertise for him (he doesn't need it anyway)

But these claims are wrong:
-He doesn't reply to emails
-He guarantees people study scores (nope, he tells people that they can screw up exams and drop off a lot in study scores)
-The results he publish are unsubstantiated bullshit (he publishes the names + schools of people who get 99.95 every year)
-His brother is the only one of got 40+ for spesh -> i don't believe your brother personally knows what study scores the 20+ in the class got and i know multiple people who went there that got 40+ for spesh
His language may be deceptive and some of the stuff he says might be slightly outdated
-The overall product is not worth it -> very subjective. His service is very unique and not for everyone.

Hope this helped

Well he never replied to my brother's emails despite repeated promises, but I guess he must have changed.

He must have also changed in this regard as he was really laying it on thick how everyone was going to do well, which is also what I heard from my friend doing methods this year.

How does he know the ATARs of everyone he tutors? To say that 1 in 5 people get 99+ means he must know the ATARs of everyone he tutors, which is not possible since ATARs are not published, only 40+ study scores, which also addresses why my brother knew he was the only person who got 40+ (most people agree to have their results published).

Yes, this is subjective, but I believe you can definitely get better value from other tutors. My impression is that Kevin is a businessman and doesn't care for his students aside from the marketability of their results.

Obviously aside from these issues I'm sure he knows his stuff and is a competent tutor but I just don't think he's as good as he's cracked up, and is a divisive figure at best.

[exit]

Well he never replied to my brother's emails despite repeated promises, but I guess he must have changed.

He must have also changed in this regard as he was really laying it on thick how everyone was going to do well, which is also what I heard from my friend doing methods this year.

How does he know the ATARs of everyone he tutors? To say that 1 in 5 people get 99+ means he must know the ATARs of everyone he tutors, which is not possible since ATARs are not published, only 40+ study scores, which also addresses why my brother knew he was the only person who got 40+ (most people agree to have their results published).

Yes, this is subjective, but I believe you can definitely get better value from other tutors. My impression is that Kevin is a businessman and doesn't care for his students aside from the marketability of their results.

Obviously aside from these issues I'm sure he knows his stuff and is a competent tutor but I just don't think he's as good as he's cracked up, and is a divisive figure at best.

Well he never replied to my brother's emails despite repeated promises, but I guess he must have changed.

He must have also changed in this regard as he was really laying it on thick how everyone was going to do well, which is also what I heard from my friend doing methods this year.

How does he know the ATARs of everyone he tutors? To say that 1 in 5 people get 99+ means he must know the ATARs of everyone he tutors, which is not possible since ATARs are not published, only 40+ study scores, which also addresses why my brother knew he was the only person who got 40+ (most people agree to have their results published).

Yes, this is subjective, but I believe you can definitely get better value from other tutors. My impression is that Kevin is a businessman and doesn't care for his students aside from the marketability of their results.

Obviously aside from these issues I'm sure he knows his stuff and is a competent tutor but I just don't think he's as good as he's cracked up, and is a divisive figure at best.

Definitely agreed with the general gist. I believe he surveys his students after results come out. Almost all his students come from good schools so I don't think his claims are far fetched. Unless your brother took a picture of the roll of all the students I don't think his claim is accurate though.



Overall, you can get better but you can also get worse. But definitely not the best value out there...prob still better than companies like tssm/tsfx

[ardria]

Would kindly like to add that "better" or "worse" is completely subjective to each individual haha, as well as whether or not you think he "cares about his students" because my experience could be the total opposite of someone else's. Maybe 9 out of 10 people I know have or have had positive experiences about his tutoring but again that's just my circle of friends!

One thing that's objective is that the results he produces are no simple coincidence or lie.

 Most important is whether his style and price works for you or not

[Orb]

Just going to chime in with my experience:

I went there for Specialist back in the day.

-In my class there was probably 5-6 students out of 30 who got 40+ raw in Specialist.
-Re: emails I know he definitely didn't reply to half of mine asking him for resources. Might be selective replying.
-Definitely very very expensive for the service offered. Not a bad tutor for sure!

It's not a bad service, I'd say he's definitely top 20% in terms of quality of tuition, but I could probably find better value (given his price of $1280 for 12 classes which averages out to be >$100 per class) out there