Becoming a private tutor- all questions here

tomstickland

I was talking to a friend from university the other day. He's charging £30 per hour for maths and physics and does about 10 hours per week.

I'm seriously looking into doing some. We've reduced to a 4 day week and I reckon it's going to go lower than that before we bottom out.

therivierakid

I sometimes wondering if I'm undercharging... but with 12 students on the go and a full time job to keep I don't think it matters too much.

tucbiscuit

badkitti wrote: »

Anyone know if it is worth doing physics and maths tuition, say up to GCSE? I've a doctorate and a PGCE- do you think that means I could charge more? (Always worth asking )

apparently maths tuition for gcse and a-level is much in demand, not sure about physics

wheel_on_fire

suzie_wong wrote: »

Both! It depends very much on what the parents want. Sometimes the tuition will be short term how help a pupil prepare for a specific exam. Others will be long term, where you need to really build up the confidence of the child, maybe by reinforcing what they are doing at school, helping with homework, and working on any particular areas of weakness.

As a secondary maths teacher, this really infuriates me!
I tutored maths before becoming a qualified teacher, but I at least went through the effort of sourcing relevant extra material to use during tutoring sessions. I suggest that those of you considering going into tutoring, do the same.
Tutoring is not just a way of making a fast buck, it has serious implications on a child's learning, and this is another consideration for those of you who want to go into it. It really angers me when I think about the amount of time that I have had to use, unneccesarily, to remediate misunderstandings that have been caused by "maths tutors", especially those who have no maths qualifications beyond A-level.
I know that there are some good tutors out there, but in the main (in my experience) they are people who remember being good at maths at school and so believe that this equates to being a good maths tutor. These people end up doing more damage than good - especially to low ability pupils who get confused easily.
I don't mean to rain on anyone's parade, but all the tutors that I have recommended have been qualified maths teachers. They know the new methods and relevant syllabuses, they also understand why it is important (for the pupils' future learning) not to use these so-called easier methods. These may be okay for your agenda - getting them a good result in their current exam - but they mess up the child's learning and the teacher's teaching further down the line.

keckydelhi

I think you need to distinguish between revision tutoring (where the school system has failed them for whatever reason) and teaching - big difference.

I am interested in tutoring and have helped a few family members with maths - but I would never consider teaching. (although it was clear that my explanation in one case was far superior to the teachers)

BTW what are new 'methods' for maths. I'm pretty sure maths has been the same for ever - and it's either right or wrong. It's not subjective.

And getting them the grades is not 'our' agenda - it's usually much more important to get a passing grade now. Jobs applications etc ask for grades - not method of getting them. If a tutor is needed for seriously remedial student then chances are the advanced stuff is beyond them - so why the focus on the future?

(understand you have probably encountered the other kind - but still think you're tarring every one with the same brush here)

Mezzo_Bill

I have a Bsc. in Chemical Physics and was a software engineer for 22 or so years until the demand ground to a halt in 2002. I started working as a science and maths tutor in 2003 as a stopgap, still thinking I could back into the IT industry if I gave it more time. When it became clear my IT skills were obsolete and unwanted, I began to see tutoring as a way into a teaching or lecturing job and took some teaching courses. Finally, I came to realise that tutoring on a self-employed basis was my best way of earning a living in its own right, given that I lacked the strength of personality to handle the classroom management (riot control?:eek: ) aspect of school teaching and roles teaching adults in further or higher education were impossible to come by. Higher education requires a higher degree and further education is about teaching ‘basic skills’ to teenagers on EMAs who, understandably enough, don’t want to be there. This I discovered, unfortunately, only when tackling a post-compulsory sector PGCE.
Tutoring is more interesting, rewarding and enjoyable than conventional employment and it pays a lot better per hour than the ‘macJobs’ or stressful customer service jobs (call centres) I would otherwise have to do. I think this also brings with it the obligation to take tutoring seriously. Since 2003, I have invested in about 90 textbooks, revision guides and workbooks for the various subjects, exam boards and syllabus variants I tutor. I have also made my own maths teaching aids in painted wood and thick cardboard. My laser and inkjet printers have been worked hard printing specifications, guides, teaching schemes, background information, innumerable worksheets and past papers which I organise by filing in punched pocked in labelled ring binders. I have also set up databases for the students and the agencies I have registered or had dealings with and spreadsheets for my accounts and agency fees. Maybe for some people, this level of preparation and organisation would not be necessary but for me I find unless I keep well-organised, things very quickly go haywire.
I have found that the job always remains a challenge, it never really becomes easier; each student’s requirements are different, syllabuses change every year, there is always more downloading, more scanning, more printing and more reading to do. Despite the various courses I have taken (or in the case of the PGCE, part taken), I find I am still learning how to try and do the teaching part of tutoring better. The main difficulty I have found is that there is almost never enough work to really keep me on an even keel financially - it comes close for parts of the year, but those holidays are a killer. To fill in the money gap, I have worked as a summer ESOL teacher (I qualified to do that in 2005), but almost never enjoyed that work: it is always teaching from small up to large classes of teenagers who expect to be on holiday in England, not sitting in a classroom learning English like they have to do in their own countries for the rest of the year, who consequently act up accordingly. I would prefer to do some exam marking or invigilation this summer if I can get it.

tomstickland

I advertised on google maps a few weeks ago (this is free). We've all taken a pay cut at work and I saw this as a way of clawing back some income. Trouble is, I can live quite comfortably on the reduced income.....

I've just got my first enquiry and I'm feeling lazy. Maybe it's because I'm tired. On the other hand, the money would be handy.

Just looking for some encouragement I think.

I'm wondering what to charge. A friend of mine charges £30 per hour, but because I'm newly back to this I'm thinking £20. Then again, if I said £25 it might make it worth my while. It's that classic where I don't want to charge less than my time is worth to me.

Mezzo_Bill

wheel_on_fire wrote: »

As a secondary maths teacher, this really infuriates me!
I tutored maths before becoming a qualified teacher, but I at least went through the effort of sourcing relevant extra material to use during tutoring sessions. I suggest that those of you considering going into tutoring, do the same.
Tutoring is not just a way of making a fast buck, it has serious implications on a child's learning, and this is another consideration for those of you who want to go into it. It really angers me when I think about the amount of time that I have had to use, unneccesarily, to remediate misunderstandings that have been caused by "maths tutors", especially those who have no maths qualifications beyond A-level.
I know that there are some good tutors out there, but in the main (in my experience) they are people who remember being good at maths at school and so believe that this equates to being a good maths tutor. These people end up doing more damage than good - especially to low ability pupils who get confused easily.
I don't mean to rain on anyone's parade, but all the tutors that I have recommended have been qualified maths teachers. They know the new methods and relevant syllabuses, they also understand why it is important (for the pupils' future learning) not to use these so-called easier methods. These may be okay for your agenda - getting them a good result in their current exam - but they mess up the child's learning and the teacher's teaching further down the line.

I am puzzled by your post. The focus of your ire seems to be unqualified maths tutors. Yet you quote as your example susie wong, who from her earlier posts can be seen to be a qualified teacher or at least someone who worked as a classroom teacher of maths and has experience of school teaching methods.
You claim that bad maths tutors are those who ‘do not have maths qualifications beyond A-level’. Well, my degree was in Chemical Physics, but I did some maths modules beyond A-level at Bristol Uni. The problems most GCSE Maths students I have tutored are with arithmetic and basic algebra. I really do not feel that what I learned at University about vector calculus or integration in the complex plane in any way makes me better at teaching these basics, than from what I learned in O-level or A-level Maths.
You attacked so-called ‘easier methods’, in their stead promoting ‘new methods’ (presumably as opposed to ‘traditional methods’ that ‘bad’ maths tutors learned when they were at school and now confuse their students with). Well, I have current text books and revision guides and spoken to teachers and my students and would say there is no consistency here. I find current textbooks explaining traditional methods of arithmetic rather than any modern methods. I find students confused because they were taught different methods of subtraction at primary school to the method used by their current secondary school teacher. I have been told by one teacher at a local school that they teach their students three methods of long multiplication: traditional, grid and lattice (Napierian); then they tell the students to use and stick with the one they like best. She also told me that traditional long division is no longer taught, yet I still find it the revision guides. Sometimes, I find that for some students, through having had a succession of supply teachers, a particular topic has never been covered at all.
As a tutor I have to deal with these problems sensitively. Where possible, I try to clear away any confusion over the method their current teacher is using and get them to practise that method. They will be in maths classes longer than they will be seeing me so it is easier for them to go with the flow of the method they are being taught there than for me to try and subvert it with another. Sometimes, however, their understanding is so lacking or broken it is easier to start from scratch, working from their school textbook if they have one or from a suitable exam board- and syllabus-specific textbook otherwise. I really do not see what more tutors can be expected to do in these situations.

Steel_2

Could some of you experienced tutors help me with a question. I have a degree in Molecular Biology and PhD in cancer genetics and for the last 7 years have been a scientific copywriter.

I've been considering personal tutoring in biology or science for some time, but currently a) live in a reasonably remote village and cannot drive (and don't have a great deal of money to learn after losing a lot of money recently) and b) am self employed.

I wouldn't like to tutor in my home as it is being extensively renovated and is a brick-dust covered horror.

The obvious answer would be to tutor some of the children in my village. However, I would like to get a CRB check to reassure parents, but being self-employed cannot do it myself. If I join an agency who will do the CRB check, I may not be able to accept any work because it is difficult for me to travel.

Any suggestions?

Also, does anyone tutor at sites outside of the child's home?

therivierakid

tomstickland wrote: »

I advertised on google maps a few weeks ago (this is free). We've all taken a pay cut at work and I saw this as a way of clawing back some income. Trouble is, I can live quite comfortably on the reduced income.....

I've just got my first enquiry and I'm feeling lazy. Maybe it's because I'm tired. On the other hand, the money would be handy.

Just looking for some encouragement I think.

I'm wondering what to charge. A friend of mine charges £30 per hour, but because I'm newly back to this I'm thinking £20. Then again, if I said £25 it might make it worth my while. It's that classic where I don't want to charge less than my time is worth to me.

It doesn't sound like your heart is in it, TBH.

I tutor for a variety of reasons: the main one being that I really enjoy it! The sense of achievement when a student remembers something you taught them is fantastic. The money is secondary.

If you really need some encouragement for your FIRST student then I suggest you don't bother. Are you really going to show any enthusiasm for your subject when you're tutoring?