A spark for learning

For Mital Thanki, founder of tuition provider Spark Academy, learning and achieving is far more than the grades you get – here, she tells us what learning really means to her

WORDS BY EMILY MILLER

Starting out as a tutor at the age of 25, Mital Thanki has always believed that education should be equal for all. With a desire to make her mark on this world, Mital is growing a business with the sole intention of providing an opportunity for learning to young people everywhere.

“My motivation for starting Spark Academy has never been about making money of course I have to earn a living, but it’s always been about helping people access tuition to help them flourish in life – that’s where I get my fulfilment from,” she says.

And flourish they do, with students aged between nine and 18 enjoying lessons in maths, science and English to boost their traditional schoolwork. Their students achieve more with the tailored help that the trained teachers at Spark provide.

Led by Mital, whose enthusiasm for learning is infectious, the tuition school sees hundreds of students pass through the doors each year.

Word has spread and Spark is now renowned for providing extra tuition that students not only get results from, but that they love too. The ‘Spark way’ incorporates cutting-edge scientific and educational research. These include things like metacognition, the language used with the classroom, motivational techniques, wellbeing, and mindfulness.

Spark Academy has developed a specific model for learning called SQ5RE which aims to help students become better learners and better versions of themselves. Mital will launch a book on the topic this year. She also used this model to achieve a distinction in her MBA and gain global recognition with MBA Student of the Year 2021 at the AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards.

“Our students thrive when their confidence grows. It’s not about robotic results – it’s about teaching them in a way that doesn’t feel like it’s about that at least.

“There are lots of pressures on young people today that mean they want to achieve the best grades possible – and of course we help them with that. But also we work to help them prepare and understand a bit more about the way their further education and workplaces might be for them. We support them emotionally as well as academically at a time when pressures are high,” Mital explains.

Keen to ensure she is practising what she preaches, after a three-year course she had to apply herself in a way that she teaches her students and stepped up to the challenge.

“I am still achieving things myself I didn’t believe I was good enough for. Growing my confidence culminated in me winning a Global MBA Student of the Year this year; working towards this made me truly fall in love with learning again!”

Our chat leaves me reaching for the course brochure. Keen to feel part of the infectious learning Mital shares, I sign up for that course I’ve told myself I don’t have time for.

Discover the power of the right kind of support for your child’s learning at spark-academy. co.uk or call 0330 174 1760.

OUR STUDENTS THRIVE WHEN THEIR CONFIDENCE GROWS