"Online tutoring has worked really well in the UK and Ireland, " said Aditya Singhal, director of Trans webtutors. com, which has recently expanded its market to include Junior and Leaving Cert students.

"Although we only started working in Ireland in this session, we already work with 50 kids and we hope to take this number to 200 in the next session. The online tutoring market is set to increase 10 times in the next five years and it's easy to see why."

For approximately 70 a month, students can receive year-round help from online tutors in specific subject areas. Students are taught in virtual classrooms which have text chat, audio chat and a shared whiteboard for working problems out. "This is the most exciting part of the whole application, " said Singhal. "It is just like a real class whiteboard which is visible to both teacher and student at the same time."

Exam preparation is also available to students at a rate of 15 per hour. "Most of our tutors have either B.Techs or Masters in their respective fields to ensure the best quality of services, " said Singhal.

"We tend to teach mostly maths and science to our students in the UK and Ireland, as we have found there is often a shortage of qualified teachers in these subjects."

Transwebtutors is not about replacing the classroom, Singhal emphasised.

Instead, it is a method of giving extra teaching support to students who might not afford it otherwise. "Personal tuition used to be only for the rich, but this is accessible to everyone, " said Singhal.

"With exam preparation classes from 15, now everyone can afford to get one-onone support."