To ask how much you spend on private tutoring

[inneedofgoodideas]

Hi
My boyfriend wants to start tutoring maths and science. He's currently doing a PhD at a prestigious university and is very good with people but has no formal teaching experience.
It would be really handy to know how much you pay for a tutor, and if you would be willing to employ someone with no teaching experience (perhaps for a cheaper rate?). We are SW London based.
Thanks!

Check out some tutoring sites like firsttutors.com to get an idea of prices for your BF's level and your area

The prices charged depend on your location and also depend what level you are teaching - you can usually charge more for A level tutoring , a bit less for GCSE and a bit less again for KS3. You can probably charge quite a lot in London. You don't need teaching experience but it usually helps to have a DBS and some sites want a couple of references (can be academic supervisor etc someone who knows you) to register with them.

We pay£28 an hour for year 5 maths tutor who comes to our house. She is a qualified teacher. I wouldn't employ a tutor who wasn't a qualified teacher for a primary child as 90% of her value to me is that she knows what level DD should be working at, knows how to encourage DD when she thinks she isn't very good at it, is very familiar with the curriculum and teaching methods, etc. The maths itself isn't that difficult. If I had a teenager studying maths I would possibly consider someone like your partner, but would probably still prefer a qualified teacher who was very familiar with teaching for A Levels, etc.

We paid £30 for both GCSE science and maths tutors. They were both qualified secondary teachers still working in a school as well.

£40 an hour is a fair price for a qualified Science or Maths tutor. A little less for English or MFL. Classics tutors can earn a bit more.

We (I'm management at school) would certainly never suggest a parent employ a tutor without teaching experience* and would advise against it. Subject knowledge is a small aspect of teaching. Knowledge of any subject to a PhD level is likely to be of more use to an undergrad.

What's the subject? DH (a tech geek) used to earn £150 in his lunch break helping undergrads cheat perfect their coursework on sites like Freelancer.

*In fact, we take a child needing a tutor as us failing but that's besides the point.

@freckles he did biology at degree level, then a MSc in conservation and ecology and his PhD is focusing on ecology (mainly to do with insects). He's really clever and is good at explaining things, and I'm trying to help him find a way to earn a little bit extra as the PhD stipend sadly does not stretch very far in London. We thought tutoring would be a good idea and beneficial all round but struggling to know where to begin with it!
Thanks for your help - I will check out freelancer :)

I'd imagine there's a Freelancer-esque need for his skills although they'll likely be a little less profitable than maths / IT.

Has he advertised at his uni? Undergrads might not have the disposable income (they may, you said it was prestigious) but if he gets a group then he's quids in!

Just because I would advise against employing him as a tutor (no offense) doesn't mean he won't get work. I suspect he only wants 5-10 students a week.

He might be very clever but he doesn't understand exam specifications for all the boards at each level, or how other people learn.

That's why tutors tend to be qualified teachers.

The campus he is based at is unfortunately postgrad only, which makes things a bit trickier.

Even a couple of students per week would be OK - it's just so he can have a little disposable income/put more towards savings. We will continue to investigate!

I spend £30ph on tutors for my primary aged kids, but I would not employ someone who was not a qualified teacher I’m afraid.

When I was teaching, I earned £40p/h for A Level Science tutoring.