Becoming a private tutor- all questions here

Wendy3

Thanks Simon. Sounds like good advice - my son is a web developer so he should be able to help me with SEO etc as well as site. I will also put myself in the free tutor websites, as you suggest - I guess I can't really go wrong if it costs nothing.

larpo

hey - you might find this site useful for all kinds of private tutoring: profr.org

roddy1972

If youre in Scotland, I'd recommend that you register with Home Tuition Scotland as they only work with GTC Scotland registered tutors and I think theyre the biggest.

ButlerT

Since you have the proper degrees to support your background i don't think you need any additional verification. The only thing you have to worry is to find ways to cover the material your perspective students do.
If you want to be competitive you probably have to lower the average cost, since you are new in the field. Gradually based on your experience the price will go up!
For your online advertizement I would recommend gumtree.

Brighthopefortomorrow

I have A levels in Maths, Physics and Chemistry, a few years ago now but am still quite familiar with a lot of it, e.g. can still remember how to do basic calculus, would it be worth me having a look at tutoring as a way to earn extra money do you think? Would it matter that I don't have a teaching qualification?

Sorry if this is covered somewhere, haven't got through the whole thread.

savemoney

Post 579 reported for :spam: and username contains a url which is against rules

also post 578 is promoting there web site too

Ohgosh

I've been a private tutor for 3 years and charge £20- £25 an hour - when I started I didn't have much work, but as soon as my students were happy with their progress, they were happy to recommend me to others and luckily it's kept me in a (not completely steady but..) stream of additional work. I've found that I've needed to have a portfolio of income streams for the last few years as bills are getting higher etc. Tutoring is a lot of effort. For every hour I tutor, I spend at least 30 minutes preparing, I have to pay my travel and spend time going to people's houses etc, so £25 an hour isn't really as much as it sounds - its more like £25 for 3 hours. I get offered other work for less, but don't take it unless I am really strapped for cash. The holidays are the worst usually as people are away and therefore you have no income from that during that time. I also do online surveys and teach part time in a college to keep my income steady

bubbleoflife_2

Ohgosh wrote: »

...... Tutoring is a lot of effort. For every hour I tutor, I spend at least 30 minutes preparing, I have to pay my travel and spend time going to people's houses etc, so £25 an hour isn't really as much as it sounds - its more like £25 for 3 hours.....

Same here. I charge £20-£25 per hour but typing out homework, sending emails, texts and getting to pupils' homes takes time.
After spending my first Summer with not a lot of work due to students being away on holiday, it taught me the important lesson of filling up my week after school hours, to make up for the shortfall during Christmas, New Year, Easter and Summer holidays.
But I have also learned the important lesson of not taking a student on if parents are over-anxious, difficult and make my life hell And that goes for the student too.
The good thing about being self-employed is that one can refuse to go to work

jach222

Fantastic thread with excellent advice so thought I would pick your brains.

I have an 'unusual' academic background - GCSEs, diploma in a professional qualification, a couple of degree modules (A grade) and then straight to Post Graduate course in Public Health. I am hoping to complete the masters but at the moment have PG Certificate.
Planning to start a PTLLS course this month.

Basically I would like to start some private tutoring in the post 16+ sector... I have supported some friends initially for free to see how it went and supported them to improve results. I have recently registered as self-employed and charged a student £10ph... again saw improvement in results.

I can't find much information out there specific to this market and I wondered if this is really a viable option for me without a formal teaching qualification and / or teaching experience?
What I have seen is that tutors are charging £30+p/hr for degree support yet I dont think I have the qualifications needed to do this?

This venture really is about earning a low income at the moment - I am a full time carer so my earnings are restricted and I am looking for a career that fits better with family life.

Any ideas on best places to advertise for this market?

Thank you in advance!

Sarah2011

Hi,

this is a great thread, thank you for all the advice. I am hoping to start some private tutoring soon and I'd really appreciate a little advice (and maybe a little reassurance ).

I am a biology graduate with a PhD in Immunology and 4 years experience working in research. I am now taking a short break until my lovely girls start school - I love being at home with them but I miss the science and to be honest we could do with me bringing in a little money. I have done a little informal tutoring in the past, both through university and for a couple of mentoring/befriending schemes. More recently I have developed and presented science workshops and short 'learning sessions' for children (KS2-4) at the university and a couple of science festivals. I have had great feedback and was told I am very good at engaging children and getting concepts/info across. I think I would really enjoy private tutoring and hopefully I would be good at it. I am just a bit nervous about how to start. It is a long time since I did my exams and the A levels in particular have completely changed since I was at school. I'd love some advice on the following points:

• what age should I start with? I was originally thinking anything up to A level but maybe I would be better to stick with GCSE until I get more familiar with the syllabus.
• my main concern is how do you know what to cover? Our local schools follow AQA specifications - I found the GCSE schemes of work on their website (is that the best place to start?) but can't find anything similar for A level. Do you get many requests for tutoring at earlier stages (KS2/KS3)?
• do you use textbooks or get your resources online? Can you recommend any particular books or websites?

I'm sure once I get started this will all become obvious but I want to do a good job.

Thanks!