Lauren Benzaken

Spear’s Review

Lauren Benzaken is head of Accolade Tuition, a London agency that prepares children for admission to secondary school and universities and gives help to day pupils and boarders in schools in the UK and the US.

Benzaken is a former primary school teacher and interviews all of her agency’s tutors personally. ‘They need to be able to hold my attention, to be engaging,’ she said. Parents are also interviewed to gain an idea of their objectives – entrance to target schools, for example, or improvement in particular subjects – before suitably experienced tutors are offered.

Accolade also publishes a series of study guides on a wide variety of subjects, from pre-school phonics to The Merchant of Venice for GCSE. Sessions can be online, especially helpful for those at boarding school, or face-to-face.