Are Grinds Worth It?
Getting grinds because everyone else is getting grinds is a terrible reason to get grinds.
Yet, that’s where a lot of families find themselves. More than half of Irish students now get private tuition in their final year of school. But more grinds don’t automatically mean better results. Research cited by the Irish Independent found the clearest benefit among students who were struggling, while there was little average gain for students already performing in the middle or upper range. At around €50 an hour, a weekly one-to-one grind can cost a family roughly €1800 over the school year for just one subject, roughly €11 000–€12 500 per year for full-time 6th Year grind school.
So before you sign your child up for Maths, Irish and French because that’s what everyone else seems to be doing, ask one question: what problem are the grinds actually going to solve?
Does Your Child Actually Need Grinds?
Before paying for grinds, you should be able to finish this sentence: “My child needs extra help because…”
There should be a specific problem you want the grinds to solve.
They have gaps from previous years.
This is a big one in Maths. If algebra never properly clicked in 2nd or 3rd Year, those gaps don’t disappear when they reach Leaving Cert. New topics start building on foundations that were never really there in the first place.
They understand it in class but can’t do it in a test.
Following a teacher’s solution and solving a question independently are two very different things. If the notes make sense but the marks aren’t following, they may need more practice actually doing questions themselves.
Their results are consistently dropping.
One bad test happens. Three or four poor results in a row are harder to ignore. Look for a pattern rather than panicking over one percentage.
The same topics keep causing problems.
If algebra, trigonometry or another core area keeps costing them marks, targeted help can be far more useful than simply telling them to “study more”.
They’re trying to stay at Higher Level.
Sometimes a student is capable of Higher Level but is just about hanging on. The right support can help close the gaps before dropping to Ordinary Level becomes the only realistic option.
They’ve missed a chunk of school.
Illness, absence or changing schools can leave weeks of material missing. That becomes particularly difficult in Maths because the next chapter often assumes you understood the last one.
They need accountability.
Some students know what they should be doing but simply aren’t doing enough of it. Regular classes, testing and someone keeping an eye on their progress can provide structure that “go study Maths” doesn’t.
And then there’s the bad answer:
“Everyone else seems to be getting grinds.”
That’s not a reason to spend €1,800 a year. If your child is doing well, understands the material and their biggest problem is that they aren’t studying enough, another hour of teaching might achieve very little. Work out the problem first. Then decide whether grinds are actually the right solution.
Signs Your Child May Need Grinds
There’s no need to guess. Before deciding your child needs grinds, pull out their last three Maths tests. Look at both the percentages and their paper.
A steady decline in results.
A 45% after getting 70% and 68% isn’t necessarily a crisis. A steady slide from 70% to 55% to 40% is different. It tells you their foundation of Maths is starting to get away from them.
Making the same mistakes over again.
Look past the final mark. If algebra, fractions or basic manipulation are costing them marks across all papers, you’ve found an underlying gap that needs fixing.
Needing constant help with homework.
There’s a difference between getting stuck on a difficult question and being unable to get started without a parent, teacher, solution or YouTube video beside them.
Leaving questions blank.
A student getting 50% after attempting everything is in a completely unique position to a student getting 50% while leaving a quarter of the paper blank. Blank questions could tell you that they may need help with time management, or need support starting questions they may be unfamiliar with.
Do they understand this year’s Maths — or is an old problem catching up with them?
Maths builds. A student struggling with Leaving Cert functions might actually have an algebra problem that started years earlier. A good Maths grind should find that gap, not just keep pushing through the current chapter.
Are they actually putting the work in?
This one matters. If your child understands the material but isn’t studying, practising questions or doing their homework, paying for another class may not solve anything.
The first step should never be booking grinds. Always find out where the problem is. Your child might already know what they’re struggling with, or a teacher or tutor can help spot the gaps. Once you know what’s holding them back, see if it can be fixed with some extra work and practice. If it can’t, that’s when grinds makes sense.
Signs Your Child May Need Grinds
There’s no need to guess. Before deciding your child needs grinds, pull out their last three Maths tests. Look at both the percentages and their paper.
A steady decline in results.
A 45% after getting 70% and 68% isn’t necessarily a crisis. A steady slide from 70% to 55% to 40% is different. It tells you their foundation of Maths is starting to get away from them.
Making the same mistakes over again.
Look past the final mark. If algebra, fractions or basic manipulation are costing them marks across all papers, you’ve found an underlying gap that needs fixing.
Needing constant help with homework.
There’s a difference between getting stuck on a difficult question and being unable to get started without a parent, teacher, solution or YouTube video beside them.
Leaving questions blank.
A student getting 50% after attempting everything is in a completely unique position to a student getting 50% while leaving a quarter of the paper blank. Blank questions could tell you that they may need help with time management, or need support starting questions they may be unfamiliar with.
Do they understand this year’s Maths — or is an old problem catching up with them?
Maths builds. A student struggling with Leaving Cert functions might actually have an algebra problem that started years earlier. A good Maths grind should find that gap, not just keep pushing through the current chapter.
Are they actually putting the work in?
This one matters. If your child understands the material but isn’t studying, practising questions or doing their homework, paying for another class may not solve anything.
The first step should never be booking grinds. Always find out where the problem is. Your child might already know what they’re struggling with, or a teacher or tutor can help spot the gaps. Once you know what’s holding them back, see if it can be fixed with some extra work and practice. If it can’t, that’s when grinds makes sense.
More Grinds =/= Better Results
If Maths is the problem, solve Maths.
It’s very easy, particularly for those in 3rd Year or 6th Year, for grinds to start piling up. They take up Maths grinds because they’re struggling. Irish grinds because the oral is coming. Biology grinds because a friend recommended a great teacher. Before long, two or three evenings a week are taken up with extra classes.
At some point, “more support” starts eating into the time your child needs to actually study.
A grind is still teaching time. Your child needs time to practise questions, learn material, do past papers, make mistakes and figure things out for themselves. Filling every free evening with another class can leave them with plenty of hours being taught and very few hours actually studying.
There’s another side to it too: pressure. The Irish Independent spoke to psychotherapist Colman Noctor, who said students can feel an expectation to produce results because their parents have paid for grinds or revision courses. Add several subjects and a significant amount of money, and what was supposed to make exam year easier can become another source of stress.
A timetable packed with grinds can create the exact problem you were trying to solve: less time to study independently and more pressure to perform, which can lead to exam anxiety.
So, let’s be selective. Look at where your child genuinely needs help and start there. If Maths is costing them marks every test, tackle Maths. If they’re flying in Biology, they probably don’t need Biology grinds just because their friends are doing them. The goal isn’t to get as many grinds as possible. Ironically, it’s to need as few as possible.
When Should You Stop Grinds?
There’s a strange assumption that once you start grinds in September, you have to commit all the way until the exams in June.
Go back to the reason you started in the first place. Maybe your child had fallen behind in algebra. Maybe they were struggling to stay at Higher Level. Maybe their test results had been dropping and they needed more structure. If that problem has been fixed, that’s a good thing.
If their results have improved, the gaps have closed and they can now sit down with a Maths question and work through it independently, the grinds have done their job. They may still benefit from continuing, particularly in an exam year, but you shouldn’t keep paying simply because stopping feels risky.
However, if nothing is changing, question the grinds.
If three months have passed and the same gaps are there, the same mistakes are appearing and the results haven’t moved, don’t assume the answer is another three months of the exact same thing.
Talk to the tutor. Find out what they think is going wrong. It might be the teaching style. It might be the format of the grind. Your child might need more practice rather than more explanation. Or the real issue might be the amount of work happening between classes. A good tutor should ultimately want your child to become less dependent on them. They would recognise that the real win is a student who can eventually do the work and the exams without one.
How to tell whether a grind is actually of value?
Ask yourself these questions:
☐ Is your child actually answering questions, or mostly watching someone else do it?
☐ Are they getting opportunities to answer questions and apply what they’ve learned?
☐ Is the grind actually targeting the areas they need help with?
☐ Can they revisit material they didn’t understand?
☐ Is the teaching aligned with their year, level and exam?
☐ Are they becoming more independent outside the grind?
☐ After 6–8 weeks, can you see a measurable improvement?
☐ If you stopped paying tomorrow, could you clearly explain what your child had gained from it?
What We Do Differently at Breakthrough Maths
We obviously have a horse in this race: we provide grinds ourselves.
I’ve built Breakthrough Maths around many of the problems we’ve mentioned above. We don’t want a student sitting there for an hour watching a tutor talk. Students are tested throughout classes, we track their results, and class recordings mean they can go back over something that didn’t click the first time.
For €149 per month, students can attend up to 16 live classes, rather than paying around €50 each time they need help. Breakthrough Maths gives them enough support, practice and structure to actually improve, while encouraging accountability to attend and revisit classes of their choice.
The same rules apply to us. If your child joins Breakthrough Maths, keep an eye on whether it’s actually working for them. Are they attending? Are they using the recordings? Are their results improving? Are they getting more comfortable working independently? If not, talk to us. You should expect value from your grinds regardless of whose name is on them.
Read my article: Is Breakthrough Maths Worth It?
So, are grinds worth it?
Yes, if they’re solving the right problem.
Grinds can be hugely valuable for a student who has fallen behind, has gaps in their understanding or needs extra support to get where they want to go. But they shouldn’t be something you pay for simply because everyone else is doing the same.
Start with the problem. Decide whether it can be fixed at home, with more independent study or with help from their teacher. And once they start grinds, keep asking whether they’re working.
The cheapest grind that achieves nothing is still a waste of money. A good grind should eventually show up in your child’s understanding, independence and results.
Free Resources For Independent Study
I’d encourage you to make the most of our free resources already available. Whether your child needs help understanding a topic or simply wants more practice, these resources can be worked through at their own pace and revisited whenever needed.
