Can a tutor help with A-Level coursework (NEA)?

Yes, a tutor can legitimately help with A-Level coursework and Non-Exam Assessment (NEA) components, though the support needs to stay within what exam boards permit — guidance and feedback rather than doing the work itself.

What a tutor can appropriately help with:

• Explaining the assessment criteria and what examiners are looking for at each grade band
• Reviewing a draft and giving feedback on structure, argument or method, without rewriting sections for the student
• Supporting research skills — how to find, evaluate and reference sources appropriately for subjects like Geography's Independent Investigation or English Literature's NEA
• Helping with statistical analysis techniques for data-based coursework (common in Geography, Psychology and Sciences)
• General study skills — time management, structuring a long-form piece of work, breaking a large project into stages

What crosses the line into malpractice:

• Writing or substantially rewriting sections of the coursework itself
• Providing content that the student then submits as entirely their own original work without genuine understanding

Exam boards require NEA and coursework to be the student's own authenticated work, with any support from a tutor, teacher or parent limited to general guidance rather than direct content contribution. A good tutor will be explicit about this distinction and will focus on teaching the skills and understanding needed for the student to do the work themselves, which is both the legitimate and the most educationally valuable form of support. On TutorLab, tutors who support coursework and NEA projects describe their approach on their profiles.