Becoming a private tutor- all questions here

geek84

Hi Folks

I have been requested by an agency if I can teach a child GCSE maths - the student lives 10 miles away from me. How much do you think I should charge for travelling costs, i.e. petrol?

Many Thanks

Tutor

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone out there has ever set up their own tutoring website, advertising the services of other tutors?

I'd be interested to know how successful this might be i.e. how many tutors do you think you could have registered per year?

Any feedback would be much appreciated.

Mrs_Money

geek84 wrote: »

Hi Folks

I have been requested by an agency if I can teach a child GCSE maths - the student lives 10 miles away from me. How much do you think I should charge for travelling costs, i.e. petrol?

Many Thanks

A rough guide would probably be 40p a mile - I believe that's what HMRC would allow you in your tax allowance.
So your round trip charge would be £8 - unless you have other students in the vicinity that you would tutor before/afterwards, then, I suppose, you could share your return costs between them.

Mrs_Money

Tutor wrote: »

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if anyone out there has ever set up their own tutoring website, advertising the services of other tutors?

I'd be interested to know how successful this might be i.e. how many tutors do you think you could have registered per year?

Any feedback would be much appreciated.

Well, if you Google "tutor agencies" you'll get enough results to stretch round the world twice!:rotfl:
I think it's been well and truly done (well and badly) by loads of people. The trick I suppose would be to do it better/differently - difficult.

Simon8783

Hi All

This is my first post so be patient with me !

Just some quick advice from the more experienced on this forum. I am seriously thinking about becoming a tutor. I have a BSc in Sociology and Politics and an MA in Religion and Politics. Obviously I'm focussing on tutoring in sociology/politics/Citizenship at GCSE but am also considering GCSE history primarily due to the module content of my MA. Whilst nothing in my qualifications says the words 'history' I do believe I am fairly well qualified to tutor in the subject.

Are there any views about me undertaking history as an additional subject.

Secondly I have and HNC (BTEC) in medical science and applied biology from 28 years ago (and appropriate science A levels). I am still very knowledgeable in this area but does anyone think I will be qualified to tutor to GCSE level after such a long time?

Thirdly (sorry), I have an NVQ 7303 (Certificate in Delivering Learning) and experience of teaching but not in a formal education setting - will this be a hurdle?

Thanks for your advice

stardust09

I have been approached to do some tutoring but have no experience of it and am not sure I feel confident enough. I've got a PhD in psychology. However, I've never tutored before. Can anyone describe what they do? E.g. do you plan the sessions or does the pupil lead you in terms of what they want to cover and then you plan materials to support them with this? I presume you're only going over what they've learnt already or are expanding their knownledge, or am I wrong?

stardust09

prodebtadvisor wrote: »

If you don't feel confident enough to do it then it definitely is not for you. It wouldn't be fair on the students you tutor to screw up but still be paid in return.

I feel confident about my knowledge and how to help people to learn. I've also worked a lot with young people and think I'd be a good tutor. The bit I'm not confident about is not knowing what happens in a tutoring session - e.g. whether I have to plan a lesson, help with revision, wait for the pupil to tell me what they want help with, etc.

suzie_wong

I have tutored (mostly maths, but also some science) for 13 years. What I do with pupils varies from one to another. Some that are really weak need constant reinforcement of whatever they have been doing in school that week, as well as perhaps help with homework. Others are preparing for GCSE modules in which case I teach them whatever they need for that module, whilst helping with anything that they are not understanding from school. Then there are those that may need a little reinforcement, but also need to learn to apply their understanding, or need extension work.
What I am saying really is that there is no general formula that you can apply to all pupils. You need to find out what the parent wants/ expects from you, and also assess the child to see what level they are working at. You need to be familiar with the National Curriculum and if the pupil is working towards GCSEs you need to find out what the examining board is and the course number, and make sure that you are working on appropriate material. Then find or prepare suitable resources to take with you.
Do not think that you can just turn up without doing any preparation. I put as much time into preparing tuition lessons as I do school lessons. However, what makes it easier for me is the fact that I have taught every year group from KS1,2,3 and 4, so I have resources on just about everything. If you don't already teach this will take you some time to build up.

I hope this helps. I am not trying to put you off tutoring in any way. It is important though that you have a realistic idea of what it involves if you want to do it well.

Tutor

Hi everyone,

I was wondering how you all advertise your services as tutors? I'd imagine that word of mouth is probably the most effective means of getting your name out there if you're based in one area.

Does anyone use tutoring websites? If so, how many different sites do you use? I've only used one in the past but I've found it creates more than enough enquiries, especially after January.

bubbleoflife_2

Tutor wrote: »

Hi everyone,

I was wondering how you all advertise your services as tutors? I'd imagine that word of mouth is probably the most effective means of getting your name out there if you're based in one area.

Does anyone use tutoring websites? If so, how many different sites do you use? I've only used one in the past but I've found it creates more than enough enquiries, especially after January.

I've placed ads in my central library and have only received one response so far (I've kept asking price down to £10 as I don't have a degree yet, but working towards BSc Life Sciences focused on Astronomy). I would like to teach Maths at GCSE level (I successfully completed PTLLS and Cert High in Maths and soon will be getting the Cert High in Physics & Maths too ).
Last year my daughter's former Physics teacher asked me to volunteer for 3 hours at his GCSE 16+ Maths class and it worked well, and I was not required to have a CBR check.

I too would like to know where else to find prospective students to tutor.