GATE / ASET · CHOOSING A FORMAT
A small group is a fixed weekly class with a set program.
Structure. The term covers all four sections of the test in a planned order, so nothing gets skipped because a child dislikes it.
Pace. Children watch other children solve the same problem, and find out whether they are slow, fast, or finished too early.
Exam habits. Working beside other students under a timer is closer to test day than the kitchen table.
Written work is marked by a person each week, and the child hears how others answered the same prompt.
Cost. One tutor’s time is shared, so the price per hour of class is lower.
The weakness is the mirror image. The program moves at the group’s pace, so a child with one specific gap sits through content they already hold.
A private tutor sells one thing a group cannot: every minute belongs to one child.
Nothing is taught that the child already knows. The session starts where they are.
The timetable bends around the family, not around a fixed slot.
A child who freezes in a room of peers, or who will not ask a question in front of others, gets to ask.
The tutor can go back three steps to fix a foundation, which a class cannot do for one child without stalling the others.
The weakness is the missing room. A child never sees how they sit against others until test day, and quality rests on one person with nobody else checking the work.
Compare by hours of attention, not by the sticker price.
Small group, using ELG’s Term 4 2026 classes as the example:
TERM 4 FEES
$600 for the 10 week term at the standard price. $550 if you pay by Friday 2 October 2026. $500 when two families enrol together, and both pay $500.
2 hours a week for 10 weeks, so 20 hours of class time. At the standard price that is $30 an hour of class.
Average ratio of 5 students to 1 tutor, with two tutors in the room. Your child shares each tutor’s attention with about four others.
Included: weekly homework, a full practice exam and access to the learning platform.
Private tutoring is normally sold by the hour, and the hourly rate sits well above the hourly cost of a group place, because one person’s time is not shared. We do not quote private rates. They vary widely by tutor and experience, and any figure we picked would be a guess.
The trade: a group buys more hours of teaching per dollar, shared across children. Private buys fewer hours, all aimed at one child. Better value depends on what your child needs from those hours.
If your child fits this list, a group is the wrong purchase.
One specific gap. The child is strong in three sections and weak in one. A group program splits its hours across all four sections. A private tutor spends all of them on the gap.
The child freezes in a group. Some children go quiet in a room of peers and never put a hand up. A private tutor removes the audience.
Well behind or well ahead. If a child is a long way from the group’s level in either direction, the pace will not fit.
The timetable cannot hold a fixed slot. Weekend sport, shared care, shift work. A class missed is a class paid for.
A group term is done and one section still lags. A short block of private sessions on that section is cheaper than a second full term.
ELG runs groups. If this list describes your child, we would rather you found a good private tutor than paid for a class that covers what they already know. Our guide to how to choose a GATE tutor has the questions to ask before you pay.
Motivation. Most children work harder when peers are working beside them. Homework comes back when a class is expecting it.
Pace. Watching another child reach an answer is a second method for free. In abstract reasoning, where there is often more than one route, that matters.
Seeing where they sit. A child in a group learns each week whether their speed and accuracy are near the room or behind it. A privately tutored child learns it on test day.
Written expression. Communicating Ideas in Writing is one 25 minute task, from a prompt the child has not seen. Hearing five other openings to the same prompt teaches more than one tutor’s model answer.
Exam conditions. A full practice paper sat in a room of students, under the clock, is the nearest thing to the real sitting.
Two tutors in the room also add a second pair of eyes on each child’s work. Your child suits a group if they are on track at school, have not met abstract reasoning before, and need a program more than a rescue.
Most Year 4 and 5 children who are on track at school: a small group first. It covers the whole test, builds the timed habit, and shows you where they sit. Then decide whether anything needs private attention.
A child with one clear weak section and three strong ones: private, aimed at that section. Do not pay for the other three.
A child who freezes in groups: private, or a very small group where you have met the tutor first.
Not sure which describes your child: sit them down with the free sample ASET questions under a timer, or book a free GATE mock exam in Perth. The section scores tell you whether the problem is one gap or the whole test.
Whichever format you choose, ask who marks the written work and how quickly it comes back.
Pay by Friday 2 October 2026 for the $550 early bird price, or enrol with a friend and both families pay $500. You choose your class time at checkout.
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