Private tutor cost

[Jdeah]

Hi I am a private tutor looking at my rates. I tutor from ks1 up to iGCSE. All pupils word of mouth. I travel to pupils, from 10 -25 mins each way at present. Superb feedback and results. Many pupils at excellent private schools and/or heading to top private schools (have included Eton, uppingham, king’s Canterbury). Also have pupils at local state primary and secondaries. Very important that I have a good relationship with clients so I wouldn’t want fees too high. But I do require the income and don’t want to undersell myself. Have tutored for 4 years, science degree from top UK university. Classroom teaching experience (private) but not a pgce.

[ReservoirDogs]

Would be about £30 an hour in Cambridge

[GHGN]

It depends on location and subject.

I would do 11+ exam for around £40/hour not including travel if I am desperate.

[thesandwich]

Check out website for people near you ie first tutor/ tutor pages and check out the competition😉😉

[Jdeah]

Thank you rates vary hugely. Top University city. Some charge as low as £15ph. Highest I’ve found £150ph (!) for Latin. Most of the tutors don’t travel to pupils though. What would parents here be willing to pay?

[Jdeah]

Do you teach @GHGN? I am wondering how much to add on for travel since most pupils are 20mins drive (rural)

[Jdeah]

Hi @ReservoirDogs. Does that include travel? I usually spend as much time travelling and running over what we’ve done with the parent. Therefore an hour tutoring session is invariably more than 2 hours of my time.

[Jdeah]

(Subjects mostly maths and sciences; up to ks3 English and anything else I’m asked to teach besides languages)

[MitchDash]

I paid £20 ph for my sons tutor for his maths GCSE about 3 years ago.

I stopped paying my water bill to cover it as I was on carers for my other son who has a disability so had no money for it really. The tutor was local and travelled to my house. My son has severe dyslexia but passed after his tutoring and is at Uni studying politics now.

[GHGN]

I teach in selective secondary schools so I tutor in my subject at GCSE and A Level mainly. I rarely tutor for 11+ unless for special cases. I ask parents to bring the pupils to me since I find the travelling can be another hour of my time, which makes it almost pointless. I used to travel to pupils’ house and added £10 to the fee but not worth the time and effort.

[PatchworkGirl]

I charged £20-25 a few years ago - it was about the lowest I'd consider acceptable but I was restricted in area. I would think £20-50, depending on where you are. If you find youself with a waiting list, raise your prices.

[PatchworkGirl]

Sorry, I meant £30-50.

[Jdeah]

Thank you. Unfortunately I don’t have the space at home (three children under 6 often at home with Daddy or a babysitter). My dream would be space at home! Therefore I guess I attract wealthier parents who can afford for me to travel to them. Most already pay private school fees and have expensive houses (worth hundreds of thousands more than ours). Unfortunately I do have to keep rates above £20ph but I would love to be able to keep them very low. I do feel that every child deserves a good education. I fell into tutoring by accident and need to determine whether it is financially feasible to continue for much longer. I started out with tutor doctor (I received £18 ph), then charged £30 ph including the travel. Now I am more experienced and regularly discuss school choices with parents too.

[preggersteach]

I would be saying that the fact you aren't trained as a teacher and I assume (possibly wrongly?!) you don't know the ins and outs of the specs and the way in which the exam board questions are done and how marks are given then this would put a cap on what you can charge? I'm in Manchester and most tuition is around 25-30 mark but that is charged by teachers who know those things inside out

[Jdeah]

Thank you @PatchworkGirl. I am at capacity (limited at present with children of my own) including one child I teach at his school (I could teach more in school hours if demand). I do tend to try to move heaven and earth to fit in everyone who asks, and I’m very flexible with families’ needs (I don’t request a fee upfront, offer flexible holiday tuition etc.).

[Jdeah]

@preggersteach. For GCSE I work almost exclusively with exam material (various boards) so although not teacher trained, I have lots of exam experience. I find class teaching and private tutoring very different. I haven’t enjoyed classroom teaching but I really enjoy one to one.

[LEMtheoriginal]

I pay £40/hr in south east however that is for a highly qualified dyslexia specialist ex head of SENCO. We go to her and i assume she has to pay for use of the centre.

People teally tutor their kids in latin???

[Jdeah]

Thank you @LEMtheoriginal. She sounds great. I tutor quite a few dyslexic students and although I’ve done my own research I’d like some professional training.

[Plural]

I charge 60-65 for primary tuition in London. I will travel to their houses but I never take on anybody more than 5 minutes travel time away from me

[Jdeah]

@Plural what is your background please?

[Jdeah]

@LEMtheoriginal I could tutor in Latin up to ks3 (never been asked) but wouldn’t dream of charging that much. I think he was doing a classic degree...

[Plural]

@Jdeah sorry forgot to say. I'm a primary trained teacher,with private school entry experience. Competition for North London private schools at 7 and 11 plus is fierce and the standards required are high. Some children I tutor in preparation start in y3 for the 11 plus, although for the first few years the focus is not on the exam but normally across the board academic tuition.

Over the past 10 years or so the demand does seem to have grown. I could definitely charge more.

[Plural]

You definitely shouldn't undersell yourself but you should also consider your market. Personally I'd rather tutor one set of kids for a higher rate and give a much reduced rate to those that would struggle otherwise. Same average rate overall.

[lillylollylandy]

We pay £50 an hour in SE London, and we travel to the tutor.

[RhythmStix]

A lev: 45ph
GCSE: 42ph
11plus: 45ph
Trained with loads of classroom exp. Work from home.
N London.

[Jdeah]

Thank you I have private school entry experience and I’ve teaching experience of common entrance and entrance exams in a prep school. I took them myself years ago and earned a top scholarship, although realise that doesn’t make me qualified to teach. I’m south east so was considering £40-£50 ph which seems reasonable given what some have said here. Some of my pupils are extremely wealthy (landed gentry) and it’s a difficult balance working out how much to charge/enjoying visiting their gorgeous home and drinking cups of tea without a toddler hanging off me (sometimes I feel I ought to pay them for freeing me from my children for a few hours.). My children are in the state sector and we cannot afford private fees so sometimes it feels a bit ironic, but I am fortunate to have some lovely children to teach.