About becoming a private tutor

Why become a tutor?

There are some fantastic advantages of becoming a tutor. First and foremost, the role enables you to develop your communication, interpersonal, leadership, and resilience skills, which can help you in your personal life and professional career too.

Becoming a private tutor is also highly flexible, allowing you to adjust your workload according to your priorities and deciding when and where to work, on your own terms. Being self-employed also comes with a range of financial benefits too, such as being able to choose an hourly-rate that suits you based upon your experience, your location,

There are also a range of financial benefits to becoming a tutor, such as being able to choose your hourly rate to suit you, with the rate depending on your experience, location and the content or level you teach.

Not to mention that tutoring is an incredibly rewarding experience, since you are able to encourage, watch and help others grow and excel in their knowledge and confidence.

Can anyone become a tutor?

Within the UK, anyone can become a private tutor since the industry lacks strict regulation. In fact, despite many people asking which qualifications are necessary to be a private tutor, the answer is none. Technically speaking, there is no formalised accreditation for private tuition, nor are there any requisite exams. The best and most reputable tutors are sourced instead through private tutoring agencies that boast an excellent reputation.

It might, of course, be beneficial to hold a degree or qualification of some kind in the course or subject that you wish to tutor in, but this is not a strict requirement. Every tutor will start somewhere and the best indication of how qualified you are to act as a tutor is your passion and a proven track record as your experience tallies.

Some people also ask whether you need any specific checks before becoming a tutor, such as a DBS check. As it stands, you do not currently need any safeguarding checks in order to become a tutor, although some parents may find this advantageous when hiring a tutor for their children, so it is up to you whether or not you wish to source a tutor with one of these. At Revision Centre, our tutors are advised to have a DBS check (which will be checked by our team) and this will be listed on their profile so that you can clearly see whether a tutor is suitable for you.

Photo credit: fizkes / Shutterstock

Misconceptions about tutoring

One common misconception about tutoring is that the work can be far and few between. However, this is not strictly true. Education is consistent and so is the need for private tutors as a result. So long as you pair up with a reputable tutoring website or an agency with a large body of clientele, you will often find that there is a steady and secure amount of work for you to accept, making it perfect for those that are both unemployed and those looking for extra cash. As long as you make your tutoring sessions worthwhile, you will often find that you can maintain long term relationships with your students and their parents.

Another misconception about tutoring that puts many prospective tutors off of the role is that the children that need tutoring are difficult to work with, or struggling badly. This can be intimidating for new tutors especially. However, the truth is that both capable students and those struggling require tutoring, and they have hired a tutor because they are eager to progress and improve their understanding of a topic. This makes the workload varied and exciting, and you will be working alongside students that want to excel.

Some people are deterred from becoming a tutor because they think they need to be an expert in the subject they teach. Technically speaking, you don’t need to have even passed the subject to offer tutoring services. Most tutors will often find that the content that they learned when they were in school is substantially different to the content being taught to students today, so you don’t need to be an expert to be a tutor at all. More often than not, a strong understanding of the syllabus, an understanding of where a student is struggling and some preparatory research online is sufficient enough to tutor a student in the UK. But what really matters are the transferable skills that make someone a fantastic tutor.

Would I be a good tutor?

More often than not, it is the transferable skills that make someone a fantastic tutor. To help you decide whether you would be a good fit for tutoring, we have compiled a list of skills that make a good tutor:

• ● A willingness to listen and learn yourself
• ● Patience and enthusiasm towards others
• ● A keen interest in the topics you teach
• ● Strong organisation skills
• ● Excellent interpersonal skills
• ● A dedication to teach
• ● An ability to recognise others’ strengths and weaknesses
• ● Engaging tone and attitude
• ●An ability to adapt to others

Photo credit: Alexander_Safonov / Shutterstock

How much money can you make by tutoring?

The average income and rate for online tutoring in the UK varies considerably depending on experience, the content taught, and your location. When you become an online tutor, you can outline your expectations through adverts or your tutor profile on which you are partnered.

For some further advice about how best to price your hourly rate, here are some rough guidelines and averages:

Where can I find online tutoring jobs?

There are a few different ways to go about becoming a tutor, but online tutoring jobs are typically found either privately on forums, or through online adverts or by pairing up with a tutoring website like Revision Centre. However, for those starting out as tutors, joining an online tutoring site is likely your best bet since it can provide you with much needed clientele to get off of the ground.

After all, not only do tutor agencies attract more students due to their polished and professional nature, but they also keep them by offering a quick and easy way to book tutoring sessions and find a tutor that is right for them.

Other ways to tutor include:

• ● Private tutoring (better known as personal tutoring or home tutoring) where private tutors attend a student’s home to teach them.
• ● Tuition Centre roles whereby some tutoring firms can train you to become a tutor and then ask you to tutor either small groups or individuals in literacy or numeracy based subjects at their site.

But if you are looking to become an online tutor or join an online tutoring community, our advice varies depending on who you are. Read on to find out how to become a tutor if you’re unemployed, a university student, under 16, or alongside another job.

How to become a tutor if you are unemployed

Photo credit: Freedomz / Shutterstock

If you are without a job, it may be a good idea to commit your time to becoming a private tutor. If you put enough time and energy into tuition, you might find that you quickly establish a consistent set of clients. In fact, one of the biggest benefits of becoming a tutor if you are unemployed is that you can spend more time and energy building up your experience and portfolio - and you may be self-employed too, allowing you to work on your own terms.

Spend your free time wisely

If you are pursuing a role as a self-employed tutor, it is possible that you will have a lot of time on your hands to start without another job weighing you down. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to utilise this time and prepare for your role as a tutor. For example, you might want to:

• ● Prepare resources for tutees to use during sessions
• ● Devise marketing materials and advertise your profile on social media to gain more attention and clients
• ● Complete some online courses on the subject you want to tutor in or push yourself to be able to tutor in new subjects too, that way you are opening yourself up to more clients and opportunities
• ● Build a strong and detailed profile on a tutor site or agency
• ● Seek references from jobs where you exhibited similar skills previously
• ● Gain qualifications where you can - although not necessary, these can set you apart from other tutors
• ● Build your own confidence

How to establish yourself

• 1. Join a reputable and trusted tutoring community with plenty of students and tutors already on the site. As the UK’s fastest growing tutoring platform, Revision Centre are always accepting new tutors. All you need to do is sign up today - it’s quick and easy.
• 2. Promote yourself and your profile on social media networks, relevant forums, and to those in the local area.
• 3. Create a detailed and comprehensive profile on tutoring sites, as well as a great CV.
• 4. Price yourself right. One of the biggest factors to building up a body of experience and clientele is by offering great services at reasonable and competitive prices. This is something to consider carefully when starting out.
• 5. Ask for references.

How much do I charge as a tutor?

As someone that is self-employed, it is likely that this will be one of your only incomes to begin with. Fortunately, being a tutor pays well and whilst the job might initially offer less hours than a more traditional role, it is often better paid, with rates varying between £15 - 25, on average, for those starting out. However, this rate will increase as you gain more experience.

Can tutoring help me get another job?

Becoming a tutor is without doubt a good way to build up your CV, since you can learn plenty of valuable and transferable skills as a tutor. From time management skills to leadership and social skills, tutoring will inevitably put you in a better position when applying for jobs.

Register as Self-Employed

When starting out as a private tutor, you may need to register as self employed. More often than not, this needs to be completed within the first 3 months of starting out as a tutor because application processing can take some time, with fines being incurred for late notification.

For more information about becoming self employed, see the Gov.uk website.

Can I be taxed?

Adults can earn up to £12,500 in a financial year before being required to pay income tax. If you are starting out independently or joining a site as an independent tutor rather than working for an agency, you may have to declare your earnings in a self assessment tax return. This is easy to fill out online.

How to become a tutor alongside another job

Photo credit: Tatyana Soares / Shutterstock

Having another role doesn’t have to stop you from becoming a tutor if you feel passionate enough - all it requires is good time management skills and a willingness to teach. In fact, the flexible nature of being a tutor means that you don’t have to make the choice between the two and you can earn some extra cash and gain valuable experience alongside your ordinary job.

Can I be a tutor and have another job?

There is no good reason why you cannot become a tutor and have another job, since most working hours cover the same time that a student is at school and therefore the best hours to provide tuition in are evenings and weekends, where you might be available too. So long as you can maintain a high level of energy and can commit to your tutoring sessions, it is perfectly possible to become a tutor alongside your day job.

You would, however, be best suited to a part-time tutoring role. It is always a good idea to outline your availability and understand your workload before committing to becoming a tutor.

How to establish yourself

It can often be difficult as a new tutor to establish yourself and gain clients, especially when another job is taking up a lot of your other time that could be spent marketing and selling your tuition services. Fortunately, sites like Revision Centre are perfect for busy people that want to become a tutor since we do most of the heavy lifting and connecting for you, saving you valuable time. All you really need to do is add details to your profile about what you wish to tutor in and at which levels, and we display your profile to hundreds of students looking for tutors just like you.

What jobs fit well with being a tutor?

Any job that demonstrates experience either as a teacher, mentor or a trainer could help you if you are looking to become a tutor, so you should see a second job as an advantage - not a weakness!

How much do I charge as a tutor?

If you don’t have a formal teaching qualification and are an inexperienced tutor, you might expect to charge anything in the range of £14 to £19 per hour as a tutor. However, if you have a teaching qualification you might expect anything from £20 - £30 an hour for your time.

Register as self-employed

Regardless of whether you are becoming a private tutor through a site or agency, you may be required to register yourself as self-employed in line with Government rules. Usually, this is necessary within the first few months of beginning as a tutor and failure to do so can result in hefty fines.

How will tax work

If you choose to become a tutor alongside another role, it is highly likely that you will be earning over the tax threshold, especially where you work full time. It is vital, therefore, that you fill out self assessment forms for each financial year which accurately declare your income from your self-employed role as a tutor as well as your income from your usual job. You will also need a UK bank account to receive payments.

How to become a tutor as a university student

Photo credit: insta_photos / Shutterstock

Owing to the fact that university students are notoriously short on cash, it is no surprise that many university students are trying their hand at private tuition. There are plenty of private tutor jobs for university students, largely because they tend to have an admirable work ethic, recent experience of the curriculum, and can easily build a rapport with other students due to their age. Not only is it a fantastic way to develop your own skills, but it also looks great on your CV too.

Prepare yourself

The first thing you need to do to become a tutor as a university student is to understand how much tuition your university schedule will allow - especially since uni students typically have fluctuating timetables and large workloads. This will enable you to decide what you can offer as a tutor and for how long, as well as how many students you can take on too.

Tutees can be anyone from primary school children to university students, or even adults who are undertaking a course and require some extra help. It’s also important to consider timings, as some tutees will typically have commitments (such as school or work during the day) so bear this in mind - any time after 5pm will probably work best.

If you are looking to become a virtual tutor or an online tutor in the UK, we recommend that you invest in a trustworthy laptop and a webcam so that you can closely replicate a typical teacher student learning environment. This allows you to explain certain aspects of the content easily and share your screen to demonstrate how to work out a math equation, or mark work together to see how to improve, etc.

How to establish yourself

The more traditional way to become a tutor is by creating a strong CV that appeals not only to other students, but to parents too. This can be advertised on local social media pages or on websites like Revision Centre. However, despite having a higher level of education under your belt, going it alone without teaching experience can often make it difficult to establish yourself as a tutor - particularly when most students and parents turn to established and reputable sites and agencies to source one.

Alternatively, you can join a site and community like ours where you are required to make an account using your basic personal details and request verification. Once you have done so, all you need to do is set up a profile which details your capacity, the content and level you tutor in, and some information about yourself. Having uploaded this, you will be able to receive requests from parents and children for your tutoring services. As soon as you begin to use our platform and are able to build up plenty of references, you will quickly find yourself upgraded to a premium or more experienced tutor.

How much do I charge as a tutor?

Since you are likely to have had no teaching experience, but you do have a wealth of advanced knowledge about your subject, you might be expected to charge rates of around £18 to £24 per hour, depending entirely on the level of content, the subject you are teaching, and where you are teaching from - but this is likely to increase as you gain experience.

Register as Self-Employed

If you are becoming a private tutor, whether it be through a site or agency, you may need to register as self employed. This is typically done within the first 3 months of starting out as a tutor since application processing can take a while and fines can be incurred for late notification.

Registering asself employed is simple and you can do so by filling in the self assessment tax return form online on the Gov.uk website.

How will I be taxed?

Since you will be technically classed as self employed, you will be legally obliged to complete a self assessment tax return at the conclusion of each fiscal year. Fortunately, only those that have a personal allowance over the threshold of £12,500 will be required to pay income tax, so if that is your only income and you only work for a few hours a week, your income as a tutor may not be taxable.

However, once you have submitted your tax return, you will be notified of how much income tax you owe and by what deadline. Note that you will also need a UK bank account to receive payments.

How to become a tutor at 16

Photo credit: fizkes / Shutterstock

Am I old enough to become a tutor?

As people pass their GCSEs and begin to gain qualifications in their chosen tutor topic, they may want to become tutors themselves to teach others that are struggling. Although many people might think 16-year-olds are too young to become a tutor, if they have the knowledge and they are eager to learn from you then this factor is unimportant. In fact, the law entitles individuals to begin part time work aged just 13 depending on the type of work and rules of your local authority so, more often than not, tutoring as a part time job is a good idea.
Some 16-year-olds are concerned that they do not have the right qualifications to become a tutor, but since you don’t need any - aside from a strong knowledge of the subject you wish to teach - this doesn’t matter. In fact, your fresh and relevant knowledge of the curriculum and course content may even set you apart from other tutors.

What grades do I need to be a tutor?

There are no specific grades required in order to become an online tutor in the UK, but the better the grades in the subject you wish to teach, the more likely you are to find students to tutor.

We recommend having GCSE grades that are B or above in order to tutor in a specific subject, since this shows that you are highly knowledgeable in the field.

How to gain trust as a young tutor

There are a few ways in which you can gain trust as a particularly young tutor in order to gain clients. These include:

• ● Partnering up with a reputable tutor website or agency
• ● Offering reduced rates and trials for your first few sessions to establish yourself
• ● Being transparent about your good grades in specific subjects and how you achieved them
• ● Be confident in your own abilities to teach
• ● Request unpaid tutoring or mentoring roles within your school to gain experience
• ● Offer tuition in multiple similar GCSE subjects that you have done well in

Do I have to tell my school or college?

Although there is no reason why you would not want your school or college to know about your role as a tutor, you do not have to tell your school or college that you are tutoring - as long as it is in your spare time. Although, if you do tell your teachers, they may have some tips, resources or advice which you might find useful.

How much should I charge?

As a young and somewhat inexperienced tutor, you might expect to earn anything from £15 an hour to £19 an hour. Although this is fairly low in comparison to other tutoring rates, this is often because a 16-year-old can only teach at GCSE level until they have covered more advanced content themselves. Even still, the rate charged as a tutor is still better paying than many other part time roles.

Bear in mind that you will need a UK bank account to receive payments.

Register as Self-Employed

As a 16-year-old, becoming self-employed can be a daunting task. However, if you choose to become a private tutor, you will need to register as self employed within the first 3 months of starting out. You can do this via the Government website , but it may be worth asking for help.

Can I get taxed?

Like with an adult, children under the age of 18 can earn up to £12,500 in a financial year before being required to pay income tax. If you are starting out independently or joining a site as an independent tutor rather than working for an agency, you may have to declare your earnings in a self assessment form. However, these are relatively easy to fill out online and with the help of an adult can be completed in no time.

How to choose the right online tutoring UK community to join

Photo credit: fizkes / Shutterstock

When deciding which online tutoring community to join, there are a few things to take into consideration:

Firstly, choose a tutoring website that actively helps to connect you with clients - this is especially advantageous if you are a busy student yourself or are tutoring alongside another job. Revision Centre is a great example of a site to use, as it presents tutor profiles to interested students and allows them to choose the tutor that is right for them based on the information available.

You will also want to choose a website with a good reputation, and one that is a popular choice among students with good online visibility. Revision Centre is a popular choice amongst those looking for a tutor, and offers great opportunities to both new and inexperienced tutors.

Furthermore, you will want to choose a tutor site that doesn’t take a large cut of your earnings too. You’ll be pleased to hear that Revision Centre has a low commission rate - we take 0% in the first 3 months, and then 10% per month thereafter - one of the best deals on the market.

Our top tips for becoming a tutor

• 1. When you take on a tutoring role, be sure to establish a strong plan by asking your student and their parents the right questions. It is important to understand exactly which exam board, assessments, and level they are learning at for a start. Likewise, you might want to ask them how they learn best, or what content they wish to cover in the greatest detail.
• 2. Knowing where to access resources, or how to create effective ones, is also something you will want to know when you first become a tutor. By providing useful and effective resources, your tutoring sessions will have greater structure and return better results.
• 3. Understanding what you are worth as a tutor is important too, especially when you are first starting out. It is a good idea to look at the prices that tutors teaching similar grade students in similar subjects expect when they are first starting out and price your services sensibly but competitively. This is something that the team at Revision Centre can aid you with.
• 4. One of the biggest tips we have to offer is that you learn how best to build rapport with individuals of different ages and gain some understanding of how different learners excel. Knowing this prior to registering to be a tutor is the best way to ensure your sessions are as productive as possible.
• 5. Learn how to pitch yourself! Lots of people can be a tutor, but what makes you an especially good tutor? Consider this when advertising and setting up your profile.
• 6. Deciding where to become a tutor is also a difficult decision to make. But if you are looking for a convenient, flexible and supportive place to start your tutoring journey, get in touch with the experts at Revision Centre who will be happy to support you in getting set up on our site.

How to join Revision Centre as a tutor

If you want to join the fastest growing tutor community, sign up to Revision Centre today! The process is quick and easy, taking minutes to complete.

You will need the following details to hand to sign up:

• ● Contact details (e.g. email address and phone number)
• ● Address (for ID verification)
• ● Your passport (for ID verification)
• ● Results of a DBS check
• ● All your qualifications to date

How the sign up process works:

• ● Fill in our sign up form on our website.
• ● You will receive an email asking to verify your account.
• ● Once you have verified your account, you can create your profile.
• ● We will carry out all the necessary checks to ensure our tutees are in safe hands.
• ● Your profile will go live and students will be able to make enquiries about your services.

If you are struggling to set up your account, we can help guide you through the process and build your profile in no time. Find our contact details here.

As you can see, becoming a tutor in the UK is simple. It requires minimal experience and very few qualifications, just a strong understanding of the subject you will be tutoring in, good social skills, and a keen desire to help others learn and improve.