Quick survey of tutoring fees- from a teacher!

[lovelyteacher]

Just want to have some opinions on this- I tutor instead of working in schools and have done for many years. I mainly tutor children with dyslexia and have specialist qualifications in this. I charge what I consider the going rate in the SE for this- £37, because my professional association suggested years ago that £35 was a minimum figure. I've never had any issues with this fee but recently I have had some enquiries from parents whose children don't have special needs and they expect me to charge £25 which is what many "ordinary" teachers are charging.

My argument is that I am using my advanced skills with ALL children and have 35 years experience. I also have to cover overheads- wear and tear on my home, buying books, ink and paper for printer etc, and pay tax on my income.
It's not just "pocket money"- I run it as a businesss.

So- question is- would you pay my usual fee if your child was not special needs, considering my experience?

Be grateful for a range of rates for tutoring in SE.

Hi I am looking for a maths tutor in Kent, and the going rate I've found us around £30. As my child doesn't have special needs i probably would use someone cheaper than you because I wouldn't need the 'extra' sn experience. Hope that makes sense!!

My SIL pays £60 ph for A level maths tuition for her DS. I was but she says that's the going rate round her - Midlands.

Yes that makes sense! I could have 2 separate rates, but other people have advised against this. Usually I have a waiting list for dyslexia places, so it's never been an issue but I currently have a couple of places and have had enquiries from non-dyslexics.

£60 for maths- crikey that's steep! I expect it has agency fees added on and the tutor only gets £40 or something?

I wouldn't have 2 separate rates from a business point of view. To draw a comparison my DS plays tennis. A session with a coach costs the same whether he is 7 or 17, plays for fun or plays for the county (he doesn't!).

You need to sell yourself as a higher level tutor. Get some good testimonials from clients and be bold about using them.

x post.

No agency fees. All straight to the chap who has a day job as a teacher at one of the local private schools. SIL adamant not over the odds and this is her 3rd DC going through A levels so I reckon she's in the know.

Dm (BA(Oxon), DipEd been teaching/tutoring 40 years now) tutors maths and has a sliding scale depending on whether it's GCSE, A-level or degree.
She says it's fair because the Degree takes longer to prepare. When she first started doing statistics after she'd tutored pure and mechanics for a time, she charged slightly more for statistics as she had to get books in, and do a lot more preparation for it.

I think she charges £20 for GCSE, £26 for A-level and £28-30 for degree depending. But only really does GCSE now as a favour if a friend's dc needs it or something.
She doesn't go through an agency because she says she gets plenty without and the agency takes around 1/3 of the cost. She will also charge a petrol fee if it's over a certain distance, although the person can choose to come to her if they'd rather.

A few of DH's workmates tutor a few evenings a week.

They vary in qualifications; one used to be a doctor and now teaches biology, one has a PhD and teaches A Level English the third has a Hons degree in maths.

They all charge £21 per hour for GCSE and £25 per hour for A Level plus petrol if they have to drive over 10miles.

I agree that your skills are valuable but your specialist skills that you are charging a premium for are only relevant when applied to children with dyslexia. You are taking on a job that requires a lower skills level and therefore should adjust your rates accordingly.

Croydon/Surrey border, 1 hour one to one 11+ teaching varies from £20-£35.

I charge £25/hour (but tbh usually run over by 15-20 minutes) for my sole (GCSE) pupil. Devon is a low-wager economy so £25 is the going rate around here for extra-curricular lessons.

ohtheconfusion-those rates are very low- was paying those for my own DCs 10 years back. Are his work mates QTS or just graduates?

Forgot to say my pupil comes to me, so no costs and I could do back to back lessons all day if I wanted at quite a high overall salary. Having to travel does certainly put a different light on things. I don't know many tutors who travel to the pupil tbh. You wouldn't make enough to live on around here- it takes 30-40 mn to get anywhere. A very popular tutor around here has offices in town.

Hi Lovely, they are all QTS with a minimum of 17yrs experience.

I think they feel this is enough as they all teach full time and live in a low earnings area.

I am not really asking about rates per se, as I have a handle on them. Dyslexia tuition has always been expensive and I was paying ( as a parent) £27 an hour almost 20 years ago, for my son.

I am wondering about havin a 2 tier fee system. But having said that, if you have your hair cut by a senior hairdresser, you don't expect a lower price if you have 1 inch off rather than 6 inches- it's still using their skills. Similarly a plumber doesn't lower his hourly rate for an easy job rather than a longer one- it's still the same per hour.

The difference with me and anyone who doesn't teach in a school is that I have to buy all the books and materials I use, instead of using school text books, do all my own photocopying ( not at work!!) and pay tax and NI on the money i earn from it- which I suspect many teachers who doa couple of hours a week don't. I should also- but it;s too late now- have been putting some into a pension. So I do run it as a business not just pcoket money.

Surrey - 1 hour one to one 11+ teaching varies from £25 for teacher who comes to clients' homes.

I'm paying £27 ph for my dd1 to have A level Economics tutoring & we drive to the tutor, this is in West Sussex.

I am in central London so perhaps not comparable to the SE generally. I currently employ a Spanish tutor and she charges £25 per hour for GCSE (for a 12 year old) but less for KS3 etc. She is very good but not a qualified teacher and quite young. I also employed a maths tutor for a short time and she was excellent but only charged £15. She was also young. Some tutors on the website I use charge £40-£50 pounds - these tend to be people like you with a lot of teaching experience and glowing references.

I used to tutor 11+ and maths through an agency: though the charge was about £26, a percentage went back to the agency and quite a lot was spent on travel costs. That was prior to completing a PGCE (Cambridge University).

I tutor in Surrey and charge £30 minimum (to children of friends), up to £50. I get fast results and have to turn away a lot of pupils. Obviously, given my line of work, I would say this but: no, don't drop your rates. You are a highly experienced professional. Your teaching skills and your ability to get quick, long lasting results from your pupils are what parents are paying for.

Even if you were working 7 hours a day, 5 days a week for 52 weeks of the year, which as a tutor, of course, you don't, you'd still only be bringing in £45k on £35 ph. That's not a very high salary for a qualified professional with 20 years experience.

And as you must factor in freelance conditions (no sick pay, holiday pay, NI contributions from employer, employer pension scheme, liability cover etc) then of course your rates must reflect this.

Avoid people who want tutoring for rock bottom prices. People who value their children's tutors also ensure the children turn up on time, do their prep, don't miss sessions. Hagglers tend to have very weak attitudes generally to the part they play in supporting their children's tutoring.

We pay a local tutor £35 ph for our son and insist on paying her if we have to miss a session due to social functions. Our choice, not hers, if we're away for a weekend. She's excellent, we respect her. Why would we want a cheaper, less effective tutor or one resentful of being driven down to bargain rates?

Cultivate clients who respect your worth and what you do.

Sorry racingheart do you teach maths?
If you worked 7 hours a day 5 days a week 52 weeks a year you'd be earning £63,700 at £35 an hour.....
Obviously if you only worked school weeks that would be a lot less than 52 weeks.
I think unless the OP starts losing a lot of their specialist pupils you should stick with the standard fee, how would you feel if you took on 'standard' pupils at a reduced rate then had to turn away dyslexic ones that would have paid you £35? Unless in actual fact each dyslexic pupil takes an extra 1/2 hour of preparation (for example) compared to standard one in which case you may be able to justify the 2 rates. Bear in mind your current parents may find out and want to know why you are charging them more..

PS I pay £25 an hour for a maths tutor, he is a retired teacher with good references and that was the high end of the tutors I looked at, but he doesn't appear to do any specifc preparation in advance.

I'm guessing racingheart considered tax/NI deductions on those calculations OMM.

I agree with the posters that have said to stick to 1 tier of charges. If parents of children without SN want your tuition, that is what you charge. If they want something cheaper and more suitable for their children then I imagine it's not hard to find someone else.

Yes, take home pay, which is just under £44k p.a. I rounded it up. But no OMM I don't teach maths.