Becoming a private tutor- all questions here

regerton

I've generally found that price isn't an object to keen parents: it's all about trust and confidence. My lowest rate is £30 per hour for online tuition and this is a legacy price: new clients are £36 and £45. I market myself from a studyvault.com tutor website which gives you themeing, Paypal integration and assignment management. Good luck to you and all aspiring tutors: Unlock Your Knowledge!

freelancegal

I'd be really interested in becoming a tutor. I've thought about teaching on and off over the years but decided I just wouldn't want to work full time in that way. I've done bits and pieces of lecturing work (on a very small scale) but not in anything relevant to tutoring. I really like the idea of being an online tutor. I just worry about the fact that I'm not a qualified teacher, do non qualified teachers have much success within tutoring? I'm not quite sure where I would start but I'll get researching.

Gazing_On_Sunsets

Freelancegal, all my students have asked me if I'm qualified. Though I teach 1 day a week in FE now, I trained in Secondary and the fact I taught in schools seems to be important to them. It means I know about how to structure a lesson, different teaching methods, Key Stages, NC references and so on. I am sure some unqualified teachers do very well, but with kids there can be more to it than just explaining some fractions. The parents want to know what their kids' reports mean, and so on.

That said, it will depend on the age group and subject you want to tutor. If you're an experienced engineer and you are going to tutor local college and uni students, then that's a different story. Your lecturing work you've done might be very relevant.

freelancegal

Thanks Gazing on Sunsets. That's the worry and I think that's what held me back thus far. I'd want to do a really good job, and whilst I'm sure I'd do that in many respects, the fact I don't have school teaching experience and all that goes with it concerns me a little. That said, there do seem to be a lot of tutors out there who aren't teachers, so I'm not sure. No, unfortunately my lecturing wouldn't be relevant as it isn't in a related school subject and I wouldn't want to tutor at uni level.

elfen

I haven't taught in schools previously but I mainly teach pre-school to 11 year olds, so it's not too much of a barrier, especially as I work with different abilities and this non-teaching hsn't held me back with the children I tutor.

It is a slog to do it every week (mainly paperwork and tax related, not student wise), but I mainly get my business through word of mouth, and because I pitch my prices at the areas I teach and try to reach those who don't have a lot of money but want their children to do better and this works for me.
I am CRB checked and registered self-employed, all my parents know what my qualifications are and what I'm working towards, and I keep them updated in regards to this. I also ensure at least one parent/responsible adult is in the house for the whole session and don't mind little interruptions as it helps with peace of mind. Luckily I've got a good base of a wide range of abilities.

Yep, it's bloody hard, and I work 6 days a week between 8am-6pm (not all everyday) but even the little achievements give me a massive sense of satisfaction and I genuinely enjoy working with the children. It's usually best to have at least a degree in the subject you want ot teach and to be prepared to do a lot of paperwork.

therivierakid

Yes, it was called Elluminate. If you go to https://www.wecollaborate.com and look down the right hand side of the page, you'll see it says Get a Free Virtual Room. This is what I have been using, all for free. I don't think I've received any spammy mails asking me to sign up for the full version. Definitely worth trying at least. I could even give you a bit of a demo if you want: PM me.

I use a little graphics tablet (Trust Ultra Thin Flex Design) if that's what you mean by digital sketchpad. Using a pen is a must, especially with a subject like maths.

bubbleoflife wrote: »

Yes, advance bank transfer for block of sessions seems the practical way to go.
Can you tell me more about Blackboard Collaborate? Is that the same as Elluminate which I've used in the past as a student?
Do you use a digital sketchpad?
I looked at both Blackboard Collaborate & Elluminate but I don't seem to find their single use price.

therivierakid

elfen, Why is the paperwork such a slog? I have 29 students at the moment but managing things isn't too much of a chore. I keep a database of all the sessions I've delivered and how much I've charged (plus other info) and I use Quickbooks to keep track of expenses and to help me do my self-assessment tax return. It's not really that much effort keeping it up to date.

You said you start at 8am... do you have many pupils during the day? I only have 3 students on weekday afternoons (I'm looking for more!) but my evenings are always busy - I work till 20:30 most days. I also work Saturday mornings and all of Sunday (I did 8 hours last weekend)

therivierakid

freelancegal, I started tutoring over 4 years ago without any teaching qualification and have been very successful in that time. I did try and qualify as a teacher last year but I wasn't up for the constant battle of trying to discipline the kids in the classroom and I didn't have the creativity to come up with whizz-bang lessons all the time. One thing that I was praised for during my teacher training though was how good I was working one-to-one with the kids, obviously something I've got from the tutoring.

I don't want my lessons to be like school lessons. I like to give them some ownership of their own learning. That means I have to be flexible and so planning every lesson would be a waste of time. It also means I have to know my subject and the syllabi inside out. Working one to one with kids means you have their attention the whole time and you can really practice lots of skills and questions without the other pressures of a classroom environment. Also, clear communication, patience and empathy are all vital components of a good tutor IMO.

Qualified teachers would obviously have all this but I don't see that a teaching qualification is essential to being a good tutor.

MELLA_2

We have used private tutors a lot (kids went to a rubbish school). Its quite hard to do checks to find out if qualified - to be honest we just checked via the facebook and linked in route the history. However it really is about liking the person and trusting and what the kids say after the first session. Depends what is being taught and what age. We started using them when kids were about 14-15 in build up to exams. We paid about £30 per hour for face to face tuition. Definitely the maths tutor and physics tutor got the kids high results. Private tutors are great because the kids are in their own home, they are more comfortable and relaxed and the one to one means they ask all sorts of questions they would get picked on at school for asking. I have never had a privat tutor leaflet through door and we always had to go and search for them. I believe if leaflets are put through the correct doors then business would come from it. However it would have to be a well printed leaflet. One of the tutors we got from yellow pages and the other from an online tutor site. However as kids dont like to say they have a private tutor the avenue of recommendations is low, although once the tutoring stage has passed then I found i did recommend. Perhaps a facebook page and use the power of the social media. If you know of businesses then get them to link to you, anyone who is of an upstanding character link back and forth. Facebook I find I am using more and more to find businesses, it gives more of a feel of the person and the personality comes through. If you do run your own website (just a cheap one) then remember to get as many links in as possible and content and link to facebook. also make sure your title tag (click view then source on a webpage and you will see this) is correct. Look at competitors pages from around the country then go on www.alexa.com to look at the stats and the links they have. Anyhow hope this helps anyone.

MELLA_2

forgot to say. Also remember there are lots of people in uni who offer tutoring services to the younger students - these people obviously arent qualified teachers. Its all about knowing and loving the subject, it comes across.