Escape Teaching and work from home

Home

STEP 4
Private Tuition

STEP 5 Go Part-Time

STEP 6 Early Retirement

STEP 7 Buy a Franchise

STEP 8 Find Another Job

Sitemap

Private Tuition is the best way I know to earn a legal, respectable income while you are still teaching.

Will it Affect Your Teaching?

YES.

The standard of your teaching will improve because your own understanding of your subject improves by teaching one to one.

Difficult issues cannot be dodged. You are also often working with very able students who ask questions that students in a class situation never ask.

How do I Find Students to Tutor?

Advertise.

Small ads in the local newspaper are the best way of finding parents who are looking for private tuition. Your ad should look something like the one below.

Chemistry A2, AS, GCSE. Experienced teacher, examiner. Tel 07980 863434

Keep it short, words cost money, punctuation is free.

Put cards with a similar message in local newsagents' windows as well.

When Should I Advertise?

Most students wait until the last minute before telling parents taht they need extra help. April to June is frantic and you could charge double your normal rate for new students at this time of year.

If you pay to have your ad inserted in local free newspapers alternate weeks for 6 insertions that should give you a good start. Alternate weeks give the best value for money because most people look in two weeks papers for tutors.

Modular exams mean that exam fever now stretches through the whole year.

Are Tuition Agencies Worthwhile?

You will earn much less an hour for an agency students than with students that you find yourself. The agency hourly rates are lower than the market rates and you will have to pay the agency up to £6 for every hour that you work with one of their students.

When you first start giving tuition working for agencies is a quick way to fill your diary, but it is hardly worthwhile for what you have left after agency fees, petrol and tax.

When Will I Give Tuition?

evenings

Early evening is the most popular time, but I used to tutor from 4pm until 10pm 5 days a week, and Sunday afternoon and evening until 8pm. All things are possible.

Why will parents choose ME?

Because you are the BEST

When anyone phones to enquire about tuition make sure that you tell them about your years of teaching, and examining experience, including where you teach if posiible.

Ask which school the student attends. Be cynical, if the parent is paying for education at a public school then you can charge more.

Parents often want to check on your credentials, and the easiest way to do this is to ring your school to check that you really are a teacher.

How Much Do I Charge an Hour?

As much as you can get

It is a free market. Your time is limited and you must sell it as expensively as possible.

If a parents asks how much then find out where they live, especially if you are travelling to see the student at home. Factor travelling time into your hourly rate. You should start at £25 an hour for GCSE students and £30 an hour for AS or A2 tuition.

Once your diary fills up you can raise your hourly rate for any new students.

What About Tax?

Find an accountant

You pay the tax man roughly half of your profits. You will need to contact the Inland Revenue about your tuition income when you first start.

An accountant can prepare your tax return for a few hundred pounds. This saves you a lot of stress and helps you pay less tax, because accountants know what allowances you can claim.

Can I Tutor Children From My School?

It Depends

You cannot really tutor children who you teach yourself. There is less of a professional minefield tutoring other children though, but sound out the teacher who the child has lessons with to gauge his or her reaction before commiting yourself.

What About Safety Issues?

Be Careful

Both you and the student need to feel comfortable with each other. If you are uncomfortable, the easiest way out is to be taken ill, or not turn up for the next lesson.

Make sure parents stay around for a few weeks until you are more sure of your ground. Never touch any student you work with, in any way. Leave the room door open while you are working.

Even an unjustified accusation of inappropriate behaviour could mean you losing your teaching job sooner rather than later.

Privacy Policy

This website does NOT collect any data that identifies individual users. You will not be asked for names, email addresses or phone numbers.

Spam policy

We loathe spam, unsolicited email, as much as you do. We regard email marketing as a form of spam and will never send unsolicited emails.

Legal Necessity

The advice on this site is the opinion of the owner. The success of the strategies outlined here will depend on the abilities and efforts of the individual. No responsibility can be accepted for any loss, financial or otherwise, that may arise from individuals following this advice.