How To Become A Private Tutor

Working as a private tutor can be incredibly rewarding, whilst giving you the freedom to work to your own schedule. If you’re passionate about passing on your knowledge, tutoring might be just the job you’re looking for, either as a side hustle or full-time career.

In this article, we’ll look at what you need to do to become a private tutor, from finding students to what qualifications you need.

Research published in March 2023 by the Sutton Trust found that 30% of 11-16 year olds had received some form of private tuition, so there’s certainly plenty of demand.

If you’re interested in the flexibility and freedom that can be offered by becoming a private tutor, read on.

What Is a Private Tutor?

Private tutors generally specialise in teaching students about a specific subject, or perhaps a few different subjects. They enhance their students’ understanding, improve engagement and enthusiasm, give advice on effective studying, and prepare their students for exams.

Many lessons take place in a home setting, either at the student’s house or the tutor’s, but online tutoring is also very popular.

Private tutors generally give one-to-one lessons, but will also sometimes teach small groups. Many will specialise in teaching a particular age group, for example, Key Stage 1, 2, or 3, GCSE, A-Level, or degree level.

What Qualifications Do You Need?

Formal qualifications aren’t strictly necessary for private tutors. However, being qualified at a high level in your chosen subject can inspire confidence in what you can offer to students and increase your earning potential.

Although this isn’t always the case, tutors are often educated to degree level or beyond and many are qualified teachers. Depending on your subject, if you're currently a university student yourself you may be the ideal person to offer tutoring in your subject.

Most importantly, it’s vital to have a solid grasp of what you’re teaching and an ability to adapt your to fit the needs of your students. This ensures they make great progress and are keen for you to keep returning for more lessons.

Do Tutors Need a DBS Certificate?

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is a government agency that processes and issues DBS checks for England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

A DBS check contains details of criminal convictions and conditional cautions and helps employers decide on a potential employee’s suitability for a role. The check results in a certificate being issued to the individual applying for it.

Although DBS certificates aren’t a legal requirement for tutors, they can offer reassurance to tutees and their parents. Some tutoring agencies also require a DBS Certificate for all their tutors.

A Basic DBS Check currently costs £21.50.

Important Skills for Tutors

Tutors need a range of skills to provide effective tuition, including the following:

• Great communication skills

• Patience

• Thorough knowledge and understanding of their subject area

• A passion for the subject

• Effective planning and preparation skills

• Adaptability

• Punctual

• An ability to inspire and motivate your students

• Giving effective feedback

The careful use of humour and endeavouring to add excitement to lessons, where possible, can also be highly effective ways to deliver great lessons.

How to Start a Tutoring Business

What Will You Teach?

An early step in starting a tutoring business is to decide when you want to work and the subject and level you’re going to specialise in. This might be an obvious choice for you, based on your qualifications and experience.

You might decide that your area of expertise is helping young children develop their skills in reading, writing, and speech, and perhaps helping them prepare for Key Stage exams. At the other end of the scale, if you have a degree in a subject, you might choose to specialise in teaching this to A-level students.

Gaining relevant experience and qualifications in your chosen area is a great way to prove your capabilities to prospective students and their parents.

Finding Students

To have a successful tutoring business, it goes without saying you’ll need some students to teach!

Word-of-mouth is a great way to build a customer base once you have a few students, which is why it’s so important to give your all into every lesson. You could also offer a discount of perhaps 10% to current students if they refer you and you gain a new client as a result.

Before this happens though, you’ll need to promote yourself in some way, and there are many options to do this:

• Create flyers and leaflets and distribute them in your local area

• Put up an advert in a local newspaper, community newsletter, or local advertising publication

• Post your services on social media groups

• Make your services known to friends, family members, and acquaintances, who can spread the word to people looking for tutors

Tutoring Agencies

Another option is to sign up with a tutoring agency, which will advertise your services, usually for a percentage of your fees. This could make it much easier for students to find you.

There are plenty of tutoring agencies, with a few listed below:

• superprof

• MyTutor

• FindTutors

• FirstTutors

• Tutorhunt

You’ll need to write a profile for the site, including details about your skills, experience, and what you can offer. Most of these websites will feature tutor reviews and give a rating, often a star rating up to 5 stars, to help prospective clients choose a tutor.

How Much Do Tutors Charge?

The amount charged by private tutors varies hugely and depends on a range of factors like location, experience, qualifications, the subject and level taught, and reputation.

To give an example of the range, there are tutors on the superprof website charging anything from £10 per hour to over £200 per hour in one case. Typical rates are around £30 - £60 per hour.

On the MyTutor website, it states that most of their tutors charge from £25 - £32, although the tutors will probably make less than this due to the site taking a cut.

Many tutors offer their first lesson for free, which is a great way to encourage potential customers to choose you.

What Do Private Tutors Do?

As a private tutor, you’ll need to be versatile, applying a wide range of skills and undertaking many different types of tasks. Here are some of the activities you can expect to be doing:

• Preparing and producing lesson plans

• Doing further study and research to to make sure you can answer any questions your student might ask about the topic being covered

• Buying textbooks to support your student and ensuring you have a thorough understanding of the work you’ll be covering in your lessons

• Travelling to students’ houses, unless you do all of your tutoring online or at their house

• Providing feedback to your students

• Offering advice on exam technique and effective study

• Seeking the support and advice of other tutors

• Purchasing various materials to support your teaching

Setting Yourself up as a Freelance Tutor

If you’re working for yourself, you’ll need to register as being self-employed with HMRC. You can set yourself up as a sole trader, which is the easiest option, or set up a limited company.

If you earn more than the tax-free Personal Allowance (£12,570 for the 2024/25 tax year), you’ll need to pay tax on your earnings.

Conclusion

Becoming a private tutor gives you the chance to use your knowledge and passion for a subject to help others. It can be a highly rewarding choice as either a side hustle, part-time or full-time career.

One of the most appealing features of tutoring for many people is the flexibility it offers, as you can fit in the work around your schedule. You can also set your own rates of pay, potentially charging more as your experience, confidence, and reputation grow.