Is it cheeky to ask to be paid over the holidays?

This is great advice above.

Following also occured to me.
Could you set up some kind of calendar/text reminder system.. setting out which weeks you are expecting to teach... with cancellation fees in your Ts and Cs? (obviously I'm guessing you'd have to be flexible for emergencies) but it would remind them that they have to give you notice of any changes.

You might also google the websites of other tutors and see what their terms /contacts are...

You could set up your own website and spell out your own terms and conditions then so its crystal clear up front. Also its a good advert of your capability and way for future clients to find you. (apologies if you've already got one)

And those retake revision classes businesses might have some summer work.
I'd also advertise on whatever the local sixth form college uses for a notice board these days or email them - especially if you have a specialist subject. Or put leaflets in cafes near the schools/sixth forms... (and ask your existing clients who are staying on if they can recommend you to any new clients? )

We have a local area facebook group and I am always seeing mums asking for tutors to help their DC up their grades. I'm sure there's a demand. Especially if the little darlings have a tough time in the end of year exams.

Best of luck.

Going forward you need a contract it should state-
pay
how to pay
day of payment
notice of end of contract
any time they don’t pay ie bank hols, your sickness/holidays

with this client I would say you are reviewing your policies and decided to take a retainer for anyone who wants to tackle a break from tutoring. The retainer Wil be 75% of the usual fee. If the clients do not want to pay you will open up the space to other students.

I wouldn’t pay you while you are not rendering a service. What you need to do is examine your business practices and take on additional clients- or - get a normal job over the summer to cover your wages.

Really depends. I used to tutor and got paid hourly for hours I tutored - this was for kind of average middle class families. I know someone who tutors the children of the super rich - Russian oligarchs, billionaires, celebrities etc - and he is paid year round, but also has to be ‘on call’ e.g. fly out to their annual holiday at a moments notice because a child needs some extra tutoring or whatever. If you are being employed by very rich people explain that you would love to work with them come Sept but will need a retainer to guarantee that.

DD got tutored in primary, Y5+6 as she was the typical middle child, quite, nice but lost in lessons.
The schools are just not equipped to really see all the children, too much focus is on either the high achievers or the bottom group.

In seondary she got tutoring because Covid lessons online in science and maths just didn't work for her and she had serious gaps by the time she went back to physical lessons and parents aren't teachers to help catching up at that age.

With future clients be upfront about what happens in holidays. You need to build this into your pricing. With this family given they want so much of your time when they want you I would have a discussion about them paying a retainer when they don’t want you. Explain that you can’t give them every hour god sends unless they are going to guarantee a base level of pay.

I tutor - and I expect to tutor in the holidays. So I reckon on tutoring 2 of the half terms, half the Easter holidays and half the summer holidays roughly. If people don’t want that then they don’t keep their slot (but I will obvs try and fit them in).

I tutor older children so they usually want to work in the holidays so it is less of an issue for me.

The child telling you they have enough and the parents being ok with that is very disrespectful if they do not continue to pay you.

You need to harden up.
They need to pay until the end of term at least.
Then you need to ask do they wish to retain you for September and pay for it?

If not, get other work and move on.
You need to formalise your agreement and factor in the summer months in your rate if you prefer not to broach a retainer fee.

This is your livelihood.
No place for shyness.

It seems clear from the way you have avoided any question about your contract that you don't have a contract. In that case I don't think you can expect to be paid when you're not working.

How busy are you? I would be rather miffed if a tutor we have had for years suddenly demanded I pay over the summer or risk losing my slots. Depending an how good I feel they are I may look elsewhere for a tutor. At minimum it would spoil the relationship and I wouldn’t be quick to recommend them. If I was paying over the summer I would also expect you to be there the whole summer, not take any holidays yourself.

I take it you don't have a proper formal contract (you don't want to pay taxes) which is your choice, but you must realise, surely, that it is a double-edged sword?

@Dogswimmingcompetition I'm amazed at the amount of tutoring that goes on that doesn't cover 11+, GCSE or A-level from reading on here and your experience.

May I ask, is this mainly kids from certain cultural backgrounds? I have seen the intense pressure some kids are under. Not sure it results in the best doctors, engineers etc if these kids have been tutored to an inch and perhaps way beyond their natural ability.

It's quite sad but obviously I have noted that tutoring more broadly even at A-level/GCSEs have mushroomed.

I wouldn't tutor without a contract - what happens if the child is sick, the child is unavailable, you are sick/unavailable? How much notice either side? Holiday retainer? What if you tutor on a Monday and it's a bank holiday, etc. You can't retrospectively ask them for something different, you need to be clear at the outset. Get a contract in place for the next academic year.

Unless it's agreed upfront I don't think you can suddenly expect to be paid.

DD had tutors and we paid per session with one and with another we paid monthly in advance the number of sessions per month. The one we paid monthly didn't cover school holidays unless we agreed prior like to cover upcoming mocks for example.

I assumed that the tutor took holidays into account when pricing the sessions like most self-employed people do.

Before the summer holidays the tutor would check if we would like to continue and we did a deposit payment of 1/2 of the September invoice.

IMO, if you find a really good tutor, it is worth paying them for holidays. My DC has a tutor that has an astronomical hourly rate.

She picks her hours. We fit in with her. If she wanted holiday pay, I'd pay it. DC has SEN and she is one of the only teachers that's been about to help them, so I'll do whatever it takes to keep her. She's worth her weight in gold.

Reminds me of the thread last week when the IP got berated for having a moan for being charged nursery fees on a bank holiday when they are closed. Why should the parents pay you from their income just because they can likely afford to? Get a summer job or sort your business model out!!

The alternative is that your term-time rate reflects the need for enough income to carry you over the summer.

But this is exactly why you need a contract that says you are paid every week of term time or 52 weeks of the year otherwise your cash flow is dependent on the whim of a small child!

When we lived overseas I used to bring the DC back to UK for 2 months every summer during the long school break. I would pay my DD's violin tutor a retainer fee during our absence because I did not want to lose him (he was very good) but I can't remember whether this was the full amount or a reduced rate as he wasn't actually having to come to the house & teach her

Perhaps sort out your bullet points before you get arsy with others about punctuation.

If you want to keep certain families as ongoing customers then surely you need to have contracts in place clearly outlining your services and their payment responsibilities……….unless, of course you’re tutoring ‘on the side’ and NOT declaring the income in which case…………you should be

You aren’t entitled to be paid. I wouldn’t be paying for a service I did not want or use. You can tell them you will be looking for other clients but realistically very few people are going to want a tutor over the summer. Harsh but this is poor planning by you.

@Dogswimmingcompetition its unreasonable to expect pay for work you don’t perform. I wouldn’t pay (and don’t pay my kids tutor) during the holiday. You need to adjust your hourly rate to account for the families that won’t use you during the summer

I‘m sure others have had similar, but you need a standard contract for all clients. Mine, when self-employed, covered

• a high hourly rate which also covered social security contributions, 10% extra for holiday pay, 5% for sickness pay and extra on top of all that as had to buy resources.
• A cancellation period for individual sessions and the contract as a whole.

Cancellations had to be in writing (time-stamped email)

• payment conditions
• travel money
• equipment I needed on premises

I also had a couple of related things I could do during known quiet times of the year. Would getting TEFL certification and doing language Summer camps/ other educational camps be an option for you?

It’s cheeky to ask for paid holidays but I would be asking for upfront payment and not refunding it all if someone cancelled last minute:
.