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Original poster

Rise in students being tutors

96 replies

Daisypod · 31/08/2023 16:02

I've noticed recently a rise in people advertising either for themselves or their kids to be tutors when they have just passed their GCSEs as they've done really well. This is for younger children now doing their GCSEs. I have nothing against this but they are charging almost the same as local qualified teachers who do tuition. As well as not being trained to tutor at just 16 they are unlikely to have the skills to teach or the depth of knowledge of their subjects even if they did get grade 8/9.
So
Yabu let them crack on
Yanbu helping out younger kids is great but setting yourself up as a proper tutor is taking the mick

OP posts:
Whichwhatnow · 31/08/2023 18:54

BiscuitsandPuffin · 31/08/2023 17:31

YANBU. If teaching was that easy, we wouldn't need 3+ years of training and supervision to do it. I think there is a place for student tutors but that's not at the £30 an hour payscale (although I suspect the ones advertising at the higher price points aren't getting manyor anystudents). Certainly when I was at sixth form it was voluntary and the high school my children will go to does the same. I know I made a difference but I also know I didn't have the skills or experience to manage the worst of my challenging students.

It's generally understood that you need to be qualified to one full level higher than you intend to teach. These sort of unqualified tutors should charge less as they have fewer qualifications and less experience working with students, and if they do it badly they could turn off a child from learning for life. It's like those people who hothoused their kids through the 11+ then try to charge other people to "teach" them when they don't actually know the meaning of the word "teaching" (clue, it's not filling empty vessels with "knowledge").

But then I also think our education secretaries should actually have had an education and successive governments/shadow cabinets don't seem to agree for some reason.

There's a big difference between classroom teaching and one on one tutoring though. Obviously? I don't think it's helpful for either teachers or tutors to jump to put each other down.

I was homeschooled and would have LOVED a teen tutor on my wavelength with recent experience of the curriculum. It's a completely different skillset than a classroom teacher!

hahahahahah · 31/08/2023 19:57

The £30 per hour may not be the fee the tutor receives. I once worked for a company that charged £30 an hour, but expected me to pay them £15 for each hour for finding the clients.

Pottedpalm · 31/08/2023 20:02

TheLongGloriesOfTheWinterMoon · 31/08/2023 16:21

Yes, there's a really good company which only employs students or very recent graduates to be tutors.

It's brilliant. The tutors are closer in age to the kids and have recently been through the system themselves, their knowledge base is sound (there's a very rigorous interview process checking them) and it looks very good on a CV.

I wouldn’t pay money to an unqualified student so that it would look good on their CV

Pottedpalm · 31/08/2023 20:06

Hufflepods · 31/08/2023 17:00

There’s a sound argument that someone who has recently been through it and excelled at that specific curriculum is at least as good if not better placed to tutor it than someone who did O levels.

Hmmm.. someone who did O levels.. or a fully qualified teacher who went on to do A levels, a degree and PGCE and has successfully taught the subject to exam level for years?

VeloVixen · 31/08/2023 20:09

I thought this the other day. Saw an advert for a 1st year English undergraduate offering English gcse and a level tutoring. I did wonder what knowledge of different exam boards and texts she had as well as her actual ability to explain stuff to someone else.

but she is upfront about where she is in life. I’m sure she’s cheaper than a qualified teacher tutor. People can make an informed choice.

Highdaysandholidays1 · 31/08/2023 20:10

Not to be mean about it, but some teachers do not have great A level grades or even a brilliant degree and aren't great at exam technique. I'd rather be taught by a triple A* student in the relevant grades, on recent exam structures than some teachers. Some older tutors are good, but some of the younger ones are great too- it's all about whether they can set up a rapport with the student, know the exam board and can pull them along.

TheLongGloriesOfTheWinterMoon · 31/08/2023 20:10

Pottedpalm · 31/08/2023 20:06

Hmmm.. someone who did O levels.. or a fully qualified teacher who went on to do A levels, a degree and PGCE and has successfully taught the subject to exam level for years?

Show quote history

Would obviously be paid more.

I often get parents asking me for recommendations for someone to tutor their kids and I often recommend the high achievers in their final year or the ones who are attending university locally. In our school it's invariably the younger kids whose parents are looking for extra lessons anyway.

VeloVixen · 31/08/2023 20:12

I just looked, the one currently advertising on my village fb charges £25 an hour. She got a 7 in her gcse. A at a level. Someone has left a comment saying she’s a good tutor. 🤷‍♀️

TheLongGloriesOfTheWinterMoon · 31/08/2023 20:14

VeloVixen · 31/08/2023 20:09

I thought this the other day. Saw an advert for a 1st year English undergraduate offering English gcse and a level tutoring. I did wonder what knowledge of different exam boards and texts she had as well as her actual ability to explain stuff to someone else.

but she is upfront about where she is in life. I’m sure she’s cheaper than a qualified teacher tutor. People can make an informed choice.

Oh definitely. The girl I know who does a lot of it (second year uni now, and mainly classics, Latin and Greek) charges about £12 a lesson I think. She's not pretending to be something she's not.

MrsBennetsPoorNerves · 31/08/2023 23:21

My dd tutors. She started doing it in Year 12 for my friend's dc and it kind of snowballed from there. Some of the work is via a tutoring company, and they pay her the same as they pay qualified teachers. I was surprised by that, but it's all totally transparent and the parents know what they are paying for so it's their call really. She gets fabulous feedback so I guess they feel that they're getting value for money.

Ultimately, I think people can charge whatever they like. If people think it's too much, they will look elsewhere instead!

Pammela2 · 31/08/2023 23:26

I personally think it’s a bit rich for students to charge as teachers do. I also find it strange when I see tutors describing ‘their’ tutees as achieving a or b or whatever as if it’s their work that has done this…
of course sole dedicated learning time helps but these pupils do have a teacher directing the majority of the course and the learning. A tutor supplements that but certainly isn’t responsible for the grade.
I am a teacher, and I do tutor, but it is clear in our dept when it’s not a teacher tutoring.. the curriculum in my subject is more broad though, so perhaps content specific courses, rather than skills specific, are more suited to this.

grass321 · 01/09/2023 07:32

I personally think it’s a bit rich for students to charge as teachers do.

If my kids were tutoring, I'd encourage them to charge whatever people are willing to pay. If parents don't think they're getting value for money, they'll stop the sessions.

The student I know that tutors got three A stars and is studying medicine at Cambridge. He's also well-versed in the teaching style of our school. I'd be happy to pay as much for his services as one of our teachers.

MrsBennetsPoorNerves · 01/09/2023 07:39

I personally think it’s a bit rich for students to charge as teachers do.

As long as they're open and honest about their qualifications and experience, I think they can charge what they like. Nobody is forcing anyone to use their services, and if parents don't feel that it's worth it, they won't pay for it!

Takoneko · 01/09/2023 07:40

The local tuition centre seemed to employ half our Sixth Form last year. The kids said it was decent money but I’m sure the centre was charging parents far more than they were paying the tutors. I know some of them then decided to tutor privately because they could make better money that way. Presumably people pay it because they think it’s an appropriate rate for the service they get.

RuthW · 01/09/2023 07:46

My dd tutored from age 16 and charged a third of what tutors do.

She's now a teacher (of a level and gcse) and still tutors but for a lot more money.

Help from an older student can really help, and fine if just earning pocket money.

napody · 01/09/2023 07:51

BiscuitsandPuffin · 31/08/2023 17:31

YANBU. If teaching was that easy, we wouldn't need 3+ years of training and supervision to do it. I think there is a place for student tutors but that's not at the £30 an hour payscale (although I suspect the ones advertising at the higher price points aren't getting manyor anystudents). Certainly when I was at sixth form it was voluntary and the high school my children will go to does the same. I know I made a difference but I also know I didn't have the skills or experience to manage the worst of my challenging students.

It's generally understood that you need to be qualified to one full level higher than you intend to teach. These sort of unqualified tutors should charge less as they have fewer qualifications and less experience working with students, and if they do it badly they could turn off a child from learning for life. It's like those people who hothoused their kids through the 11+ then try to charge other people to "teach" them when they don't actually know the meaning of the word "teaching" (clue, it's not filling empty vessels with "knowledge").

But then I also think our education secretaries should actually have had an education and successive governments/shadow cabinets don't seem to agree for some reason.

Well said.
Depressing how many people still think teaching is just 'knowing the stuff you need to impart'.
I tutored whilst a student at a Russell group uni. Looking back after teacher training and years of experience, I didn't do a great job! Better for maths when you're just explaining how to do something and working through examples. Not so great for sciences where you need to set them up to motivate themselves to learn material and provide lots of opportunities to apply knowledge in complex ways.

tttigress · 01/09/2023 07:53

In the defence of these young tutors, at least they have taken the exam they are tutoring for recently.

I recently took on a "professional" tutor, that didn't know much about the "common Europen language framework" of exams - this is very common standard.

I do agree £30 is a bit on the steep side though. I would have thought £15-£20 was more the range.

DameCurlyBassey · 01/09/2023 08:00

Some young people feel much more confident when they are taught by younger people who speak their language. They are more willing to own up to their weaker areas and thus feel less pressure. I think it’s great.

Hufflepods · 01/09/2023 08:02

Pottedpalm · 31/08/2023 20:06

Hmmm.. someone who did O levels.. or a fully qualified teacher who went on to do A levels, a degree and PGCE and has successfully taught the subject to exam level for years?

Show quote history

It’s a false equivalent though, not all tutors are qualified teachers and teach the subject. Many older ‘professional’ tutors have never been teachers.
In fact given how much teachers say they have absolutely no time due to all the extra hours they do it would suggest hardly any professional teachers are also tutors.

PsychoHotSauce · 01/09/2023 08:10

I'm on some Facebook tutor groups and the amount of sniping that goes on from teachers towards non-teachers is so unprofessional it would put me off ever using them.

Having a teaching qualification doesn't automatically make you a good tutor. It's a different skillset and while you can be both a good teacher and a good tutor, you can also be neither (pretty sure we've all had a shit teacher in school). A qualification doesn't change that.

A huge part of the benefit of 121 tutoring is the neurological impact of Immediate Feedback. Doesn't matter who is tutoring you if they are knowledgeable enough to instantly correct mistakes and reinforce/build confidence when the student gets something right...

Lillith111 · 01/09/2023 08:27

I don’t understand why people on here are mad when no one is forcing you to pay £30. Don’t want a student? Brilliant no one is forcing you to hire one. But if the market is allowing them to charge that and their upfront good for them. I tutored as a alevel student, at first for free to help disadvantaged kids and they all came out with a big improvement which allowed me to get references. I then began tutoring professionally and started with £11 per hour but i got so much business I increased to £20 (because that’s how the economy works). If people are hiring them for £30 why would they not charge £30?

Pottedpalm · 01/09/2023 08:39

Hufflepods · 01/09/2023 08:02

It’s a false equivalent though, not all tutors are qualified teachers and teach the subject. Many older ‘professional’ tutors have never been teachers.
In fact given how much teachers say they have absolutely no time due to all the extra hours they do it would suggest hardly any professional teachers are also tutors.

Show quote history

‘Many’? Really? All the tutors I know are fully qualified with many years experience, but that’s my experience and no more hard evidence than your anecdotes.
I tutored as a part time teacher. Many of my colleagues did the same or took up tutoring when newly retired. As a teacher I was happy to work with the tutor to achieve the best outcome for the pupil as long as they were not making unteasonable demands on my time.

thecatsthecats · 01/09/2023 09:51

Having a teaching qualification doesn't automatically make you a good tutor.

Let's be honest, having a teaching qualification, and indeed, years of experience, doesn't even automatically make you a good teacher.

Like I said, I tutored my peers. The teacher responsible was a vindictive cow who had no idea how to present the material, or to get the best out of all her students. She was prepared to kick out a girl who just needed a bit of support and coaching.

The other A Level teacher - a woman with only a few years experience as opposed to decades - gave that support to the same pupils, and nobody wanted or needed my support for the areas of the curriculum she was covering.

I've experienced the same thing with Personal Trainers - personality fit has so much more impact than length of experience.

So yes. Market forces. They can charge what people will pay. And more fool you of you think that qualifications are the only metric of quality.

BoohooWoohoo · 01/09/2023 09:59

I hired a med school student to help my dd with A-level biology and she did a good job and I don't regret going for someone who wasn't a qualified teacher.
Maybe some children prefer being taught by someone closer in age ? It might make things less school which could help the tutee.

If the tutee is overcharging then they won't get any business but considering how many non-teacher adults have successful tutoring businesses, I would not assume that a child couldn't do it too.

Raayy · 01/09/2023 10:04

I’ve been thinking why do parents decide to pay a youngster to tutor their youngster for years. If it was cheaper than a teacher I’d think ok cheap route but my own have refused to go there while their friends have been doing it since starting secondary school to those a yea4 or two below them.