Your Personal AI Tutor

One of the most challenging things I have found as a parent is being available whenever my son need help. While I would love to be there whenever my son asks for help with his schoolwork, work and other commitments don’t always make that possible.

I often find it difficult to ask him to wait when he comes to me for help, particularly when he is motivated and wants to learn something in that moment. And I am sure that, at times, having to wait has also made him a little less motivated.

Of course, a parent’s guidance and support cannot truly be replaced by anything or anyone else. But I often wondered whether there could be something available to help him in those moments when I wasn’t.

This is particularly relevant for subjects such as writing, where having immediate feedback can make a big difference. It would be incredibly useful if he could receive guidance on his work and, importantly, see an example of what a strong or ideal answer could look like.

That was the idea behind ScholTutor.

The goal is to build a personal AI tutor that can help my son with his schoolwork, particularly with reading and writing tasks. The tutor can provide feedback on his work, explain where he went wrong, demonstrate how a high-quality answer could be structured, and provide additional resources and exercises to help him progressively improve his skills.

I also found the idea particularly useful when preparing for exams that are part of the Australian education system. Assessments such as NAPLAN and ICAS, as well as more challenging scholarship-style assessments such as ACER, provide a good opportunity to challenge students and help them understand what to expect at different stages of their schooling.

How ScholTutor Works

ScholTutor consists of a React frontend and a FastAPI/Python backend.

The frontend provides two different types of login: Parent and Student.

The parent can create tests for the student, monitor their progress, and review their work. The student can log in independently, complete the assigned tests, and receive feedback from the AI tutor.

The process starts with something as simple as the parent specifying a test, for example:

“NAPLAN Grade 5”

ScholTutor then researches the assessment to understand its structure, including the different test components, question types, time limits, and number of questions.

Based on this information, the system generates sample tests that reflect the different components of the assessment.

I have also incorporated Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) for the question-generation process. This allows the system to retrieve relevant examples from question banks and use them as additional context when generating practice questions. The aim is to make the generated questions more representative of the type and difficulty of questions the student is likely to encounter.

Once a test has been created, the student can log in through the student portal and complete it.

After the test, the AI tutor analyses the student’s responses and provides feedback, including:

• Which questions were answered correctly
• Which questions were answered incorrectly
• Explanations of the mistakes
• Areas where the student needs improvement
• Additional practice questions targeting those areas

One of the features I particularly wanted was progressive learning.

Rather than simply telling the student that an answer is wrong, ScholTutor identifies the underlying skill that needs improvement and generates similar questions for additional practice. As the student improves, the system can progressively introduce more challenging questions.

For writing tasks, the process is slightly different. The AI tutor evaluates the student’s writing, provides structured feedback, identifies areas for improvement, and explains how the response could be strengthened. It can also provide an example of what a high-quality answer might look like, giving the student a concrete reference point for improving their own writing.

The parent can then review the student’s performance and track their progress over time.

The broader idea behind ScholTutor is not to replace a parent or teacher. Instead, it is to provide an additional layer of support that is available whenever the student needs it.

For me, that is the most interesting aspect of the project. As a parent, I may not always be available at the exact moment my son needs help. But if I can build something that gives him useful guidance, encourages him to keep learning, and helps him practise independently until I am available, then AI becomes more than just a technology experiment—it becomes a practical tool for supporting his learning.

Screenshots

How It Works

– WIP, watch this space, I will add the details in coming days –