Working as a private tutor can be rewarding and fulfilling, as you are able to make a real difference to students’ lives. In this article, we'll cover:
What is a private tutor?
Private tutors specialise in a specific subject and use their knowledge and experience to teach students. They'll have a strong knowledge base within the subject area they are tutoring. This will often come from qualifications they have undertaken to support themselves.
Tutors can generally work with students of varying age groups and educational needs. Some tutors may specialise in specific areas or with age groups based on their experience and skillset.
Private tutors are normally self-employed, and usually either work with an agency or by themselves. Each have their own benefits - for example, being self-employed allows you to set your own rates and be more flexible. Whereas working for an agency means they can find students for you.
What does a private tutor do?
A private tutor offers additional teaching support to students outside of school lessons on a one-to-one or group basis. This is normally to prepare students for formal examinations like the 11 plus entrance exam, GCSEs, or A Levels.
This can take place in-person at home, in a centre, public places or most popularly online. Being online, tutors mostly find work through agencies, online tutoring platforms or through personal advertising.
Why become a private tutor?
- You can set your own fees, which gives you a way of supplementing your income. You could also set up your own tutoring company.
- It can offer valuable experience to support your journey to becoming a teacher.
- You can work from home if you operate online which can save travel time in between sessions.
- You can set your own hours, which gives you more flexibility in deciding when you want to work.
How to become a tutor
What do I need to become a tutor?
How much does a private tutor get paid?
Your earnings can vary depending on the type of tutor you become. This also depends on experience, subject, level of education and how you operate as a tutor. Some tutors may not earn a salary, but are paid by the hour instead.
What hours do private tutors work?
- Being a self-employed or agency tutor is incredibly flexible as you can schedule sessions for students in based on how much free time you have. As such, you can work as many hours as you'd like. However, in some circumstances, the role can require you to be available on weekends, evenings and school holidays as this tends to be when school students are most free.
- Most sessions are an hour long, although some situations can require sessions to be a bit longer.
In summary, being a tutor is an excellent and flexible career choice which can allow you to make a difference to students' lives.
Where next?
- Subject
Education
- Course
Education, BA (Hons)
