What is a reasonable cost for A-Level tutors?

[PoloMum]

I have just been quoted £160/hour for an online tutor for A Level Economics. That seems horrendously high to me. I was expecting something in the region of £60-80 per hour.

What is a reasonable hourly rate for a qualified (ex-teacher) tutor in other MNers experience?

1000 teaching hours.... yes. Not working hours.

Because the other hours are planning, marking and admin

Therefore a tutors hourly rate should also account for this

I paid £70 an hour via Tutorful (admittedly for French A-level) and she was one of the most expensive.

Economics is a little bit niche, and yes, I always say that one can find tutors on a scale anywhere from next to nothing to over three digits per session.

But you'll likely find a great selection of really good tutors for less than £160, indeed.
I know a few, for starters (I tutor maths, but I know many colleagues who tutor maths and other subjects, too), who are great and charge about half of what you got quoted.

There might be a reason for this high price, and there might be students who will greatly benefit from having that particular tutor, but if that quote is not in your expected budget range, that's absolutely understandable.

Happy to connect you with some of my colleagues, and you can chat with them about your tuition requirements.

That's a lot. Tbh what it suggests to me is that they don't want the gig and are quoting a daft price so that if you do agree, at least they are making £££.

It is possible they don’t want the gig btw; I tutor and bc I also work elsewhere I really have an upper limit of numbers. Sometimes close to exam time I go over it briefly; I did this last year and it was an exhausting few weeks. Tutoring as others note is a lot more than simply spending an hour in the lesson.

Anyway to answer your question, I am a former classroom teacher and still an examiner and I tutor my subject (not econ) and charge £40 ph for A level. If I had someone for a very short period that might be higher. I am cheap tho, partly bc my subject is less popular than maths or - well, econ tbh. I would be expecting to pay £60ish maybe as others say.

@clary-what subject do you tutor? Am looking for a Geography tutor!

I'm paying £45/hour online

Ah sorry no, MFL is my subject. Not advertising haha!

30 pounds won’t buy you three bagels in most of London. Don’t be daft.

We paid £20/hour for a uni student in math, for a professional it was £35/hour (this was four years ago, and not in London). In person tutoring. She was retired teacher.

I'm not being daft I am answering OP's question with the actual truth of what we are paying right now for an experienced A-Level teacher. How rude to respond like that especially as my post discussed how different factors would affect the price in the same post you were nasty about. We aren't in London but OP didn't specify that - an online tutor could be in New York, Hong Kong, Belfast or Middlesbrough rather than London.

‘Daft’ is a friendly encouragement to reconsider, that’s all! Glad you’re getting more than your money’s worth.

You’re right, the tutor could be anywhere.

Since you mention New York, here’s the going rates for AP tuition with NYC Tuition:

Junior tutor (10–200 hours of teaching experience): $150 per hour
Senior tutor (200+ hours of teaching experience): $200 per hour
Field leader (English language teacher at a top high school): $345 per hour

Economics is the 5th most popular A-level this year.

It was outside the top 10 when I started teaching it 15 years ago...

@ThatKookyNavyGoose Why would I "reconsider" an actual solid fact??? The very idea seems daft to me. Facts don't need to be reconsidered.

I personally wouldn't use a university student. They dont know how to teach. They have merely passed an A level themselves. Even worse, they may have needed a tutor to get them through.

A decent teacher has the A level; a degree in a related subject or the actual subject; possibly a masters degree; a pgce; years of actual teaching the subject; experience of the marking scheme and common mistakes; thorough knowledge of the subject; they will have undertaken cpd with their exam board; ideally, they will have examining experience too; they should also be able to identify individual learning styles and individual student's needs.

They will also have £squillions of student debt around their neck.

Although what you have been quoted is high, a highly trained professional should cost a lot of money. I think the minimum that an appointment with a solicitor costs is £50, possibly more.
A fully qualified accountant would not lower themselves to tutor economics or maths. A fully trained lawyer would not be tutoring A level law.

Yet, teachers are supposed to come cheap.

I was charging £25 thirty years ago and had a waiting list!

I should've specified it's niche to tutor. At least from what I see among tutors I know and interact with, compared to many other subjects.

Fifty quid?! In London, the average solicitor costs between £210 and £579+ per hour, excluding VAT.

The fact is, you've got someone who was supposedly 'head of department at a prestigious school' for an hourly rate that is less than the price of the ink cartridge she might use to print resources for your kid.

I was talking about initial consultation, but you're right. They charge for every phone call, letter and email too.
A ten minute consultation with the vet is £60, plus extra for medication. My dental hygienist appointment was £65 last week. A call out charge for various workmen is often £80, plus costs of repair.

When it comes to professions, teaching really is the poor relation. Total lack of respect and appreciation. I think an hour with a teacher is probably worth as much as 10 minutes with a vet or dental hygienist.

Indeed – I had a checkup with my dentist yesterday. 30 seconds in the chair, a quick poke around with the mirror: 'Yep, good teeth and your X-rays are still in date'. £80.

But the stakes are high! I went to Leeds when they wanted BCC for Economics. You need A*s now...

Of course, I don't think there's any contradiction between what I said and what you're saying.

I probably over reacted to the word "niche" tbh. I've heard it before and all it does is reinforce that the government can continue with its "lalala I can't hear you" stance on the sixth form subjects. There's SO many Economics students and so few teachers, never mind tutors, and 2 million A level entries a year for Psychology, Sociology and Economics combined.

This thread has been helpful to benchmark my tutoring rates though!

I think if you need to pay a tutor for A-Levels then your kid isn’t really capable of studying at that level. I understand for GCSEs but you’re setting them up for struggle at degree level.

I paid £60 an hour for a current examiner in a subject that is genuinely niche - I thought this was good value.