Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Education

Join the discussion on our Education forum.

Original poster

How does this work for private tutors?

38 replies

Hunsgate46 · 21/10/2025 10:48

I’m just curious but do all private tutors that offer tutoring services to students work through a private company like MyTutor or is it possible for there to be private tutors who work independently?

The reason why I ask is because online, when I search for private tutors, the only things that I can find are companies like MyTutor which then have a large list of potential tutors that have signed up with that company and so essentially work for them.

But, is it possible to bypass the need to go through the company and get a private tutor in a different way?

OP posts:
LeanToWhatToDo · 21/10/2025 10:53

Around here it is word of mouth, so maybe other mums from older years can give you a heads up? I say older years because if you live in a grammar area, for example, your peers will be hugely competitive and often do not want to give away details for their own tutors who are often highly sought after.

RaininSummer · 21/10/2025 10:54

Definitely if you can find one. That is the reason they advertise on these platforms.

Original poster
Hunsgate46 · 21/10/2025 11:12

I found one that was highly recommended by other users by “word-of-mouth” but they don’t have an official website or logo and they don’t work for a company. Apparently, they do private tutoring as a sort of side job, though they are quite good at it.

I’m not sure if private tutors necessarily have to be full-time and have websites and things like that to be good.

OP posts:
Rocknrollstar · 21/10/2025 11:21

I knew a private tutor who helped children get into the best schools - Westminster, Habs, Eton - but they didn’t advertise and didn’t have a website. People were happy to recommend them. Having a website isn’t a guarantee of quality or experience.

hiredandsqueak · 21/10/2025 11:21

One of d's tutors is through an agency but the other is self employed. I saw her on Tutorful and asked her to contact me as LA who fund d's tutors wouldn't use Tutorful.

Original poster
Hunsgate46 · 21/10/2025 11:29

Just curious but did she have her own normal/professional email address or one tied to Tutorful?

OP posts:
flawlessflipper · 21/10/2025 12:07

Not all tutors work through agencies/companies. Not all have a website, company or work full-time either.

DS1&3 have EOTAS/EOTIS rather than attending school. None of their tutors are through agencies/companies. Only one has a website. Only one, a different one, tutors full-time.

CopperWhite · 21/10/2025 12:25

Really good tutors don’t need to tie themselves to an agency to get work, or advertise via a website, they will have a waiting list just from word of mouth.

clary · 21/10/2025 12:42

No, a website/being full time/having a logo are no guarantee of being good at tutoring - or anything tbh.

I know a number of teachers who tutor on the side and they are very experienced and knowledgable. They don’t have websites tho. Mostly through recommendations and they obvs don’t take on many pupils.

What you need from a tutor for an exam subject like GCSE is a good knowledge of the spec and the exam format. Same for 11+ I guess.

hiredandsqueak · 21/10/2025 13:16

Hunsgate46 · 21/10/2025 11:29

Just curious but did she have her own normal/professional email address or one tied to Tutorful?

Her own email address. If you try to do that you need to communicate your own email without using @ or . or Tutorful will pick it up and block messages.

notnorman · 21/10/2025 13:40

mine is all from word of mouth.

QwestSprout · 21/10/2025 13:43

Try searching NextDoor - we advertise on there when the word of mouth dries up/students age out or they don't want to go on to the next stage of schooling.

Bigminnie1 · 21/10/2025 13:50

I don’t advertise- all word of mouth. I used to teach so get most pupils from my old school.

Tagliateriroa · 21/10/2025 14:00

My kids tutors are mainly word of mouth or through FB groups. One is a former teacher at their school

MathsandStats · 21/10/2025 14:09

I don't advertise and I don't have a website. I'm bloody fantastic 😁😉. I just use my own email address. All my work comes through recommendations. I'm not full time but I am usually completely full on the days I teach. If a tutor has a waiting list, it's worth going on it unless you're desperate. But you will get better results if you don't leave tutoring to a last minute panic anyway, although everything helps!

I'd suggest getting your child to try to find out if anyone else in their class has tutoring in the subject you want. Or, if it's for GCSE for example, see if they can ask anyone at the school doing A levels in that subject if they had a tutor. The other possibility is the school may just know of someone. Because I've been doing it a while I'm quite well known to one of the local secondary schools and they have in the past, via a pupil, asked if it's ok to give my name.

ilucgaiaw · 21/10/2025 18:09

I tutor and don't have a website. I don't advertise and I don't use an agency. All of my students come via word of mouth and that has been the case for the last 15 years. I've also got a waiting list at the moment.

You don't have to have a website and a logo and be signed up to an agency to be an excellent tutor.

Ask around friends and acquaintances for recommendations.

Bunnycat101 · 21/10/2025 19:11

I’d rather go for word of mouth. There are quite a lot of sixth formers and students tutoring through agencies charging surprising amounts of money given their total lack of experience of teaching…

OliviaBonas · 21/10/2025 19:42

Agree, good tutors don’t need to work via an agency.

Trylinescore · 21/10/2025 22:36

Whereabouts are you? That might drive what people need & which age group to focus on

Trylinescore · 23/10/2025 07:38

I think you are misleading posters & wasting their time. You don't want a tutor and you don't want to be a tutor, but actually want answers for a totally different Q which should have been posted in HE.

curious79 · 23/10/2025 07:41

Mytutor isn’t a private company they’re working through, it’s a means of private tutors finding work, where tutors advertise themselves. It’s v good. I know a couple of private tutors now who will only book and take payment through mytutor as it does the lesson scheduling, lesson recording, and takes the payment automatically

Cat1504 · 23/10/2025 07:44

word of mouth where I live …….my DDs had one of the TA s from school ( working outside of school hours) ….they now have a student teacher who’s still at uni …she just pays cash as that’s what they prefer

flawlessflipper · 23/10/2025 08:55

MyTutor is a private company. It might not be the same as some agencies but it is still a company tutors work through and they still take a cut.

hiredandsqueak · 23/10/2025 14:48

flawlessflipper · 23/10/2025 08:55

MyTutor is a private company. It might not be the same as some agencies but it is still a company tutors work through and they still take a cut.

Our LA pay a huge amount to recruit tutors through agencies. One they use regularly charges £90ph. It took a Tribunal and then a PAP to get them to fund one of d's tutors who is local directly instead of waiting for the Tutor Agency in a County 100 miles away to recruit and then charge them double.

flawlessflipper · 23/10/2025 20:40

@hiredandsqueak typical LA behaviour. Ever so shortsighted of them.

Swipe left for the next trending thread