To ask how much you would pay for GCSE/A level science tuition?

[tutoringscience]

Hey everyone - I was hoping for some advice. I have been tutoring GCSE biology and chemistry, and A level biology for four years now. I do it all online. I got 12A*s at GCSE (I know, I was always a nerd!), As in my bio/chem A levels, and then went on to study vet med for five years at uni. I am now 23 and I'm a fully qualified vet, but teach on my days off.

Anyway, to the question. I have always charged £20 an hour for these sessions. I have just started advertising to take on my next lot of students in June. This year I am putting my prices up to £25. Do you think this is reasonable in your opinion? It is definitely less than the going rate as far as I am aware. Whilst I am not a qualified teacher, I have in depth knowledge of the specifications, have always had super good results whilst I have been doing this, and obviously have the relevant science degrees.

I know some people feel quite passionately that only qualified teachers should tutor and if this is your opinion please don't reply to this - I have no plans to stop what I am doing and have helped a huge number of students whilst i have been doing this!

given you are online and not a teacher I think your rates will be lower than what some others charge but £25 is still a very reasonable rate - that is what I was paying for my sons last year, I was paying 35 to another tutor who was a teacher and an exam marker so possibly slightly better placed to teach how to pass the exam and I felt it right that I paid them slightly more. I do feel online means lower rates as costs are lower

£30 an hour would still be a very good price.

£25 seems very fair considering you aren’t qualified, so can’t get your hands on some materials (I don’t know, just guessing it could be problematic).

One of DD’s friends (age 7) has a tutor £40 an hour. I’m in Wales. There were some A level students offering tuition last summer, not sure what they were charging, they were fresh out of exams.

Years ago I had a tutor for maths who was a teacher- but totally out of touch! Awful and extortionate. Total waste of money!

I hired a one to one A-level biology tutor during the pandemic for my dd and the tutor was a 5th year med student. I paid £25 ph online through an agency which I thought was fair. I would expect a slight discount for a group session.

Dd (PhD student so also teaches undergrads) charges £40 an hour online.... London based but still.

I think you could make more with a small group session of 4 option and charge 10-15 each.

Yes I would definitely be up for this! It is just reaching the number of students needed to put these sort of sessions on. I don't work for an agency (I used to work for one and they charged extortionate fees - I found out they were charging clients £45 for sessions I was providing to my private clients for £20, and was only recieving £20 for myself!). Also, often my students tend to be on quite different levels and are wanting different things.

I personally wouldn't pay that for someone who had limited up to date knowledge of the specifications, no access to the exam board materials, teaching or examining experience . Often the most improvement comes from students being taught the how not the what.

There will be many who will happily pay it though so try it and see what happens. You'll probably still be fully booked.

That's about right depending on area
I pay over £40 per hour for GCSE English...but a very experienced tutor and uni lecturer who us familiar with the school and their specific syllabus and ways of working etc.
I was paying £20-25 for 50 mins online with a uni student via an online platform at KS3 level

I honestly wouldn't pay a non-teacher. You have no idea of the specifications or the ways schools teach it to maximise grades. Im a teacher and my degree helps little with the actual leatning of my subject. It's just not relevant to the curriculum

Where in the country are you? I charge £30 an hour to tutor primary children and I’m not a qualified teacher. I still have to turn parents away because there is more demand than I can supply.

My dd charged £20 when she was at uni and more now she is a teacher. That was about 5 years ago so £25 sounds about right.

NW England. I am turning people away at the moment for the current academic year, currently trying to find people for June ie for the next academic year. I just advertise on FB local groups etc, there may be a better way to reach out!

I wouldn’t want to pay more than £25 an hour for a graduate who hasn’t qualified as a teacher / worked in schools (even if the graduate has a first-rate academic background). I’d maybe stretch to £30 if there was only one tutor locally and no choice. Every graduate could just walk into schools / tutor if that’s all there was to effective teaching so anyone charging £35-75 an hour needs to be reflecting that with their experience. Some do charge £75 in my area but they’ll have been heads of subject in leading schools with 20 years’ experience etc.

I charge upwards of £50 per hour for GCSE English tuition; that is with no formal teaching qualification. I do, however, have over 10 years experience teaching and tutoring in both private and public schools. My testimonials and reviews are exceptional. I have never had negative feedback and I have a long waiting list. All of my students have made significant improvements. For example, a student went from failing their English GCSE in May (level 3) to passing with a level 5 in November. That was after only eight sessions with me. I have taught myself the specification and curriculum, however, my knowledge was furthered by teaching in a school.

My point is, having a formal teaching qualification and PGCE is only one factor in deciding your price and knowing what your services are worth.

If you have a proven track record of improving your students' grades, I'd pay more than £25.

I pay £35/40 phr for 11 plus/primary tutor so you can definitely charge more.

Interesting to hear such varied responses, sounds like I am about right at the moment. I do appreciate that I am not, and do not claim to be, a qualified teacher, although I am confident that I am offering a good service and have only ever had really lovely positive feedback from people I have worked with!

For anyone who thinks this is a good deal.....do feel free to PM me as I am taking on in June for the next academic year (that's the only very sneaky bit of advertising I will do😉)

I tutor. I charge £35 per hour which is fair to low.
I am based in southern england, but not in the london/south east.

I can charge £35 because
I am a qualified teacher
I am tutoring for a high demand sector (11+)
I have most of my students by word of mouth, so I am in demand.
I have been doing it for several years.

But I know most subject specific tutors for secondary charge more like £45.
Again, they are teachers, and they get students by reputation and have a waiting list.

The online v. face to face is a red herring. I do face to face because I do primary aged kids. But most parents would prefer online (convenience)

So I think you are very cheap at £20. I would look at more like £30 if you have good references from other parents.
BUT and it is a huge BUT as a parent I want you to get my kid better exam grades, so you need to be on the ball with exam requirements etc.

I pay £30 and £38 for my son's two tutors but they are both not only teachers but exam markers, so know exactly what they are looking for/ teaching for the exams. Probably a bit less important in the right/wrong science subjects which it sounds like you focus on, but massively important in eg english / humanities. One is online and one face to face (the FTF actually the cheaper one!) We're looking for different things out of it - for maths it's about deepening / checking understanding in a subject he will continue to use, in english it's just a case of scraping a pass in a subject he hates but has to have for uni entrance!

When you say you don't claim to be a qualified teacher do you make that clear to the parents?
I'm a teacher who now does tutoring. I don't offer A level because my 20odd years of teaching have been without sixth form so I wouldn't know what a typical grade looks like. That's not to say I don't know my subject. I had a call the other day for A level and i explained this to the parent saying if it's subject knowledge they're looking for then fine but if it's the shape of the grade for want of a better expression then that's not something I do.
As long as you make it clear it's fine if they choose to go ahead. It's a bit like hiring a handy man instead of an experienced joiner and paying less.

@Cosyblankets All of the parents of my tutees are fully aware that I am not a qualified teacher. I have spent over 10 years perfecting my craft and have taught in private and public schools. Not having a teaching qualification or a PGCE has never been a barrier to working within a school setting either.

I disagree that ‘It's a bit like hiring a handy man instead of an experienced joiner and paying less.’ To be perfectly honest, there are plenty of poor teachers (as well as the state education system being shambolic)! I would much rather hire a tutor who had a proven track record for improving students results, rather than simply basing my decision on qualifications.

I charge 45/50£ an hour for face to face ( qualified teacher, Maths). Friends who tutor charge the same. I think up to £30 is reasonable, especially with a few satisfied customers to reference.

I think that’s cheap my other half tutors is an experienced teacher though which helps as up to date with the syllabus and exams is 30 gcse and 35 a level and I think he is too cheap have seen some super expensive tutors in London way that are 150 per hour !

I always make it very clear that I am a vet (or vet student, previously) and teach around this work on my days off, so I am confident that none of them think that I am a teacher! If people would rather pay for a qualified teacher then obviously that is fine, and I don't charge in that pricing bracket.

I really do think that I still provide a good service though, I meticulously go through the specifications and tailor my sessions around them with lots of exam question practice etc. I would think this would be more difficult in a topic that has far more of a subjective mark scheme eg English.