Marks show where your child finished, not why. A personalised profile joins up subjects, habits, coursework, subject choices and workload, so online IB tutoring can start from what this particular student needs. Here is what a profile includes and how to prepare.
A personalised student profile is a joined-up picture of one learner. It brings together subjects, strengths, gaps, study habits, workload and goals, instead of reducing everything to a single grade or a generic study plan. Two students can bring home the same mark for very different reasons, and the right support for each may look completely different. A profile helps a tutor and a family see the reasons behind the marks, not only the marks themselves.
Looking at marks alone is a little like reading a final score without watching the match. You learn who won, but not where the game was decided. A profile asks further questions. Does your child understand the content but struggle to show it under timed conditions? Do big tasks get left until the last moment? Is one subject quietly taking up energy that others need? Because every IB student answers these questions differently, every profile looks different too.
Teacher feedback is one of the richest sources, and it is easy to skim. When you read comments together with your child, look for phrases that repeat from unit to unit, such as needing more evidence, explaining reasoning more clearly or structuring an answer. A comment that appears once is a note; a comment that appears again and again is a pattern. Writing these repeats down gives a tutor a clear place to begin, and gives your child a sense that the problem is specific and workable.
When a student keeps avoiding a big task, families often assume a lack of motivation. In practice it is frequently a planning problem. A large piece of work with no visible first step feels overwhelming, so it is postponed, and the delay adds more worry. Noticing this changes the support offered. Instead of urging a student to try harder, a tutor can help break the task into stages, agree a realistic order and make the first step small enough to begin.
A realistic profile includes long-form work as well as timed exams. Depending on the programme, that can mean the Personal Project, the Extended Essay, Theory of Knowledge and CAS. These pieces take sustained effort over a long period, and they often sit alongside regular schoolwork. Where a student is in the process matters: still choosing a question, planning, drafting, or polishing documentation and a bibliography will each call for a different kind of help.
Deadlines in this long-form work directly affect the plan. If a draft is due soon, it may rightly come before revision for a smaller assessment. If the project is well on track, more time can go to subject content. For students who want focused guidance on research questions, structure or academic writing, an extended essay tutor can fit into the profile as one part of the wider picture, rather than as a separate task competing with everything else.
A profile is especially helpful when a student is moving from the Middle Years into the Diploma or Career-related programme. Subject choices may need to be confirmed at a point when your child is already busy, and it is easy to choose based on a favourite teacher, a friend's decision or a single good mark. A profile gives families a steadier basis for the conversation, because it shows strengths, habits and interests across the whole picture.
Students benefit from understanding what each chosen subject actually involves: the kind of thinking, the amount of writing, the independent work and the way it is assessed.
It also helps to ask how each subject fits your child's academic profile and future plans.
For students who have largely decided, the goal is simply to understand what the next programme will expect, rather than starting future coursework early or adding pressure now.
Good planning also protects rest. Students who never switch off tend to lose focus, and school breaks can become a source of guilt when unfinished work hangs over them. A realistic plan notes what genuinely needs attention during a break, such as project documentation or a report section, and what can wait. The purpose is steady, sustainable progress, with room to recover, rather than a plan built on pressure.
Once the profile exists, experienced online subject tutors use it to decide what to work on first. A recurring weakness in one criterion may come before a topic that is already secure. An earlier unit that was never fully understood may need revisiting before new material is added. The profile keeps sessions focused on what will help this student, rather than following a fixed script that treats every learner the same.
A profile is not a one-time document. As your child works, the tutor can adjust the pace, change the balance between content and exam technique, and check whether earlier gaps are closing. If a project deadline moves closer, priorities can shift. Because sessions are online, the work can be built around the student's real materials, such as drafts, feedback and past assessments, so the support stays practical and connected to what is happening at school.
You do not need a perfect folder to begin, but a few items make the profile much richer. Recent school reports and teacher comments show how your child is seen in each subject. Assessment feedback shows exactly where marks were gained or lost. If your child is working on a project or essay, a current draft, even an unfinished one, shows the stage reached. A short list of school deadlines helps with planning.
Equally valuable are the human details. Write down your worries, even small ones, and the questions you would like answered. Most important of all, invite your child to add their own goals and questions. Students often notice things adults miss, such as which subject feels confusing or which kind of task is hardest to begin. A profile built with the student, not just about them, is more accurate and more likely to be used.
The information you share is used to begin building your child's profile, so the support that follows reflects one real student rather than a general template. Keep the tone of the form conversational and include your child's own view where you can. If you are unsure what matters, mention it anyway. Small details, such as a subject your child dreads or a task they keep avoiding, often turn out to be the most helpful.
It is a joined-up picture of one student that covers subjects, strengths, gaps, study habits, coursework, workload and goals. Instead of relying on a single grade, it explains why your child is where they are and helps decide what to work on first in online tutoring.
No. A realistic profile also looks at long-form work such as the Personal Project, the Extended Essay, TOK and CAS where they apply. These pieces take sustained effort and have their own deadlines, so they affect how time and support are best arranged around regular subject work.
Start by listing everything on their plate and sorting it into what is urgent, what is important and what only feels loud. Breaking large tasks into small first steps often helps, and so does protecting genuine rest. A tutor can then help order the work into a realistic sequence.
Gather recent reports, teacher comments, assessment feedback, any project or essay drafts and a list of school deadlines. Add your own worries and, ideally, your child's goals and questions. You do not need everything perfect; a general description is enough to begin building the profile.
Complete the consultation form to describe your child's subjects, coursework, worries and goals. That information helps begin a profile built around one student, so online IB tutoring starts in the right place.