11 Plus Tutor and Payments

[HoneyFlowers]

My daughter is sitting 11 plus in a year's time, I have enquired about tutoring, however the tutor has asked me for a payment of £1500 upfront before any lesson has taken place. Is that normal? It just seems a lot to pay before seeing a service in action.

I tutor for 11+, but I am not in South East.

I charge £30 per hour for 1:1

Term time only, year 5,

I charge at the end of the month. But then I started with people I knew and many kids are friends of friends, so I have never felt the need to ask for money in advance.
If child is occasionally sick, I don't mind them missing a lesson and not paying.

The most annoying thing is if you have a student who drops out part way through the year, as you then lose that slot for the rest of the year, unless someone form the waiting list wants to join, but then you have missed a lot of time with them.

the in advance is to stop students not turning up and then you lose a lesson and payment.
I can understand it to an extent, but only a month at a time

Not normal and extremely expensive. Is it an agency?

Somehow I suspect all this tutor sees is £££ signs. No serious tutor who has the tutees' academic interests at heart will start off with this footing. Run for the hills!

Where are you based, btw?

My god no! That's absolutely crazy! My neighbour's son is doing the 11+ and she pays per term. Let me know if you want their details

Very happy to receive tutor details via pm, I live near Milton Keynes.

Not an agency, just a teacher running it in a room at her house.

Have you made any decisions, OP?

I pay £55 per hour for my twins, pay as you go.

That is a very large sum of money paid up front and I suggest paying by the session. I have heard about kaleid.info/ and they are a company run by A-level students. I haven't used them yet but I know they offer tutoring as well as consulting advice to help choose the best suited school for your child. I honestly think they are worth a look and they offer a free trial, they will definitely be a lot cheaper than what you are currently considering.
Hope I helped!

Look somewhere else. This is not normal. Most tutors are paid at the end of a lesson. I suppose some might want upfront payment, but not that much, it's insane.

@HoneyFlowers I am very near you and the one we used is brilliant - less than £30 per session for an hour group, pay on the day. If you want more details pm me. I’m guessing you may be aiming for the same school due to your location so would be perfect.

No that’s not normal but I am going to guess that this person has come highly recommended with a stated track record of good results at 11+ and you havent had much time to research tutors. It is not easy to find a good 11+ tutor who ticks the boxes of having plenty of success stories with your target schools who charges £50 per hour and charges per session completed. Certainly not in London anyway. Many people have to source a suitable tutor through an agency which means a mark-up and (sometimes) an up-front deposit or lessons charged in blocks of ten for example. The good tutors with the track record who would charge £50 per hour to a direct client cost considerably more if sourced through an agency. As you are only a year away from 11+ you dont have lots of time to shop around but I would definitely try and find an arrangement where you dont have a long term commitment and perhaps trial more than one tutor to find the best fit. Or at least make further enquiries regarding this tutor and try and negotiate a trial period.

I was honest with tutor and said only reason why not going with is because of the upfront payment. Didn't get a reply 🤣