The properties of bad tutors are, not surprisingly, the antitheses of those outlined above for good tutors.  

·        Bad tutors make poor use of students' time.  They arrive late, or don't turn up at all.  They tutor with one eye on the clock, and waste class time chatting or socializing.  They focus most of their attention on one small group of `pet' students.  

·        Bad tutors come unprepared.  They give rambling, off-the-cuff explanations that are more confusing than enlightening.  Because they are not prepared, they may prefer to waste time on easy exercises to avoid tackling the more difficult ones in front of the class.  

·        Bad tutors often appear to be bored with the course, and let the students know that they find the material completely irrelevant.  They would rather be somewhere else, working on their own important research.  

·        Bad tutors are not interested in students' problems.  They give the correct answers, but do not explore how or why a student came up with a wrong answer.  They feel `above' the students, and will express this by gleefully writing sarcastic remarks on programs or assignments submitted for marking.

·        Bad tutors try to conceal their ignorance and gloss over difficult questions (either given on the tute sheet or asked by a student).  Students pick up on this very quickly, and lose interest in, and respect for, the tutor.

Of course, there is no tutor that displays all of these bad qualities, just as there is no perfect tutor.  We would all recognize at least some of the good and bad qualities in ourselves; an exceptional tutor is one who is willing to put in time and effort to improve his or her performance.