Private tutor cost

[Jdeah]

Hi I am a private tutor looking at my rates. I tutor from ks1 up to iGCSE. All pupils word of mouth. I travel to pupils, from 10 -25 mins each way at present. Superb feedback and results. Many pupils at excellent private schools and/or heading to top private schools (have included Eton, uppingham, king’s Canterbury). Also have pupils at local state primary and secondaries. Very important that I have a good relationship with clients so I wouldn’t want fees too high. But I do require the income and don’t want to undersell myself. Have tutored for 4 years, science degree from top UK university. Classroom teaching experience (private) but not a pgce.

(£40 - £50ph including travel.)

Depends on the subject I think. We've recently paid £40 a week for a 2 hour session for GCSE level (tutor is Head of Maths at another school). We also had to have a tutor for one of my DS for Physics (I won't go into why!) and we paid £80 for 2 hours every week for a year. However, she was excellent and my DS's confidence and ability really increased. No idea about travel time/rates though.

Thank you @BlueJava. The maths sounds great value. There’s no reason for physics to cost more than maths (I charge the same), but different tutors have such different rates. I’ll see a pupil through to an exam, even if it’s several years off. Whereas university students who teach might not be around for so long.

Here is West London, the accepted rate is £75-£100 per hour. No exaggeration!

Wow I can easily believe it. I do feel upset when tutors are expected to work for as little as £15 ph. Cleaners earn a minimum of £12 ph here. But every tutor has something different to offer. some are experienced; others starting out. I am a member of the tutors’ association and pleased such an organisation exists. It seems tutors are like houses - they earn what others are willing to pay. I’ve heard of “super” tutors earning £1000 for an hour! (I don’t know how anyone can justify that much!)

Nw London 50-80 per hour to go to the tutor. You are hugely underselling yourself. If you go to them I'd start at 80.

Thanks @laptopdisaster. Very interesting! Not London but house prices here equate to London (you can probably guess where we are!) and education taken very seriously so plenty of demand. I’ve turned down pupils on the past due to lack of availability.

If you're busy, I'd start for new students at £75/hour and in six months if still fully booked go up to £100. Coming to them is a huge luxury for the parents and should be paid for.

11+ £50 an hour
GCSE -A-level: £30-50

There seems to be a massive discrepancy between London and elsewhere. Much more than other services. I guess it comes down to demand

Possibly demand. Possibly just what is the expected rate? Perhaps the rest of the country hasn’t caught on?! I’m sure in London there must be masses of available tutors. Perhaps the 11+ and common entrance more hyped up? No grammars here (just private) might reduce demand.

There aren't that many grammars in N London but they are really competitive. Lots of private schools though.

I tutor English and charge £45-£55 p/h. I’ve got 15 years experience of teaching in private schools and of tutoring.

An hour of tuition should cost no less than an hour's massage.
£50-75 is reasonable.
Most good, trained and experienced tutors are well worth being paid at least this amount.

However, younger and less experienced teachers may tutor for £30-35 and still offer value in terms of progression. Best to use a more experienced tutor (who knows the exam syllabus and how to teach it most efficiently) from Year 4, if serious about the 11+.

Thanks very helpful comparison. Why are massages so expensive?!

Hi @interestingdays. I am asking as a tutor. I have hundreds of hours experience (possibly 1000+ but haven’t logged hours precisely) over four years (I started when my second child was 8 months old and went on to have a third, having returned to tutoring when third was three weeks old!). Oxbridge degree, classroom teaching experience (mostly maths, from year 6 up to igcse including common entrance prep) but no pgce. I fell into tutoring which started as a favour for a friend. I’ve turned away three potential tutees in the last couple of weeks because I’m now at capacity (I can only run around 6 sessions per week out of school hours due to my own children’s needs and I travel to tutees’ homes).

a member of the tutors’ association too, and some of my tuition is in a private school (for senco)

West London

£20 for unqualified tutors, quite often students themselves
£30 for qualified teachers, this is about standard
£50 for qualified teacher, head of department who has worked for the exam board, marking/setting questions

per hour, that should say

£30 per hour here for retired ex head of department at a very good independent school.

I'm in an expensive part of the SE, and I'm hugely surprised at lots of the prices being quoted.

We paid £20-£25 per hour for our children's tutor a couple of years ago. That seems to be the going rate here for a qualified teacher, but on their premises.

So I'd expect the lower end for unqualified teacher, and then add on something to cover travel costs/travel time. So maybe £25 per hour, but then with travel added on, negotiated individually depending on the distance.

A tutor charging £50 per hour, or even more, wouldn't get work here, because they would be so out of line with the standard prices charged. I guess it depends on the local market, though, and whether or not there is shortage of tutors in your area.

Thanks all. Current rates I charge are around £35/£40 including travel. I’m now working out whether to keep going at the tutoring or take up - for example - an admin position instead which would pay more overall. Every hour I tutor is in practice 2 hours including the travel and debrief to parents. I’ve kept the tutoring going because I’ve been asked to. I’m teaching some violin too at home too, £15 per half hour.

The most popular agency here charges in excess of £45 ph (I used to work for them; a similar rate applies to unqualified teachers too. Only a fraction is given to the tutor, well under half when I worked for them.)

I am in London and work through three top agencies. I tutor for 7+, 8+ and 11+ as well as general English. I get £55 an hour (the agencies charge more on top) and I would not work for less than that. I am qualified and have very very very many years experience. I travel to the students