How does this work for private tutors?

[Hunsgate46]

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?

@flawlessflipper True! I insisted on seeing the cvs of the tutors from agencies they were proposing which was apparently "irregular" Neither LA nor agency had bothered to check that they had the necessary training experience and qualifications stipulated in EHCP. One, I was told, would be "good eye candy" for dd and yet LA were happy to use them at a premium rate.

@hiredandsqueak as if “good eye candy” is ever an appropriate decision-making tool for those working with CYP.

LAs think parents should be grateful for every little scrap of provision. You are like me. DS1&3 have EOTAS/EOTIS. No-one works with DSs unless I agree. Alongside the EOTAS/EOTIS co-ordinator who we have as part of their packages I am involved in the recruitment of everyone who works with them and we don’t use any agencies.

We have one through an agency who is an absolute treasure but that agency didn't have a problem with me seeing CVs and sent me 3 to look at. She turned out to be perfect for dd. Can I dm you at some point over the weekend and ask your advice please? Nothing to do with tutors just more tripe from LA.

Of course you can @hiredandsqueak.

I work for them, I have an unusual name so sometimes parents find me on Facebook/LinkedIn, and we go through that. Works better for me and them as we don't have to pay the agency fee. It's very very difficult to take a student off the platform once you're on there as they record the meetings and close your account if you're found to be doing so (fair enough in my opinion). Otherwise it's word of mouth, referrals or I advertise a little on NextDoor and some Facebook groups.

I will say I'm more experienced and want to leave the agency but slowly building up my client list off site, referrals generally only come after I've finished working with a student as parents don't want the very limited slots nabbed in busy periods. I know for a fact that some parents lie about their children having a tutor, speak to the ones who are a few years above and have gone through the exams to get the most honest referrals

Do you have your own professional email to contact students or do you use a regular gmail?

My regular email, I don't have a website- I don't really need one. I have references and a dbs check that I provide on request but I think only one parent has ever asked. I haven't ever considered it, I'm VAT registered though.

Word of mouth. I get about 60% of my work from word of mouth. Or there are FB groups. OR you can search on LinkedIn.

Another option is sites like FirstTutors.com who are just an intro agency. After you pay to release the tutor details, you then just pay the tutor in person. I used to get a lot of work through them.

I get most of my referrals through Whatsapp although am fine with email if they prefer. I work with overseas students also so also use WeChat with my Chinese students.

Why do you think a tutor has to have a logo and a website to be any good? I have used tutors through word of mouth and that has always been the best route. Not a website or logo to be seen!

We found our son's maths tutor via seeing a business card on the wall of our local cafe. Worth having a look at shops/cafes/salons etc where they have a board with local business cards.

Yes of course. I used to do tutoring (far too busy now). I didn't have a website and I just relied on word of mouth, and put thr occasional advert on my local Facebook group. I'm a teacher so just tutored in my spare time. A few of my colleagues tutor as well, and do the same- none of us are part of a big tutoring company.

It definitely depends, but generally, you want to avoid high-commission corporate platforms.
Big companies like MyTutor, GoStudent, and Tutorful have massive advertising budgets, but they also take a massive cut,often between 18% to 60% of your income (and MyTutor tacks VAT on top of that). That loss happens before you even pay your self-assessment taxes, leaving you with pocket money rather than a professional wage.
Parents are actually starting to push back against these middlemen too. They prefer to pay a UK tutor directly rather than subsidize a massive corporate fee.
Since First Tutors recently closed down, the landscape is shifting. A few independent, commission-free directories have emerged from its closure where you don't pay subscription or commission fees at all.

I would make sure your tutoring company is Offsted registered and I would recommend Sw1P educators as they are so they have to follow certain guidelines and only employ qualified teachers, they also have teaching assistants in all their classes

Zombie post by someone who was trying to get information to support a dodgy reference for a university application. They had no children & no need to find a tutor.

Pretty much all the tutors I know are either current or recently retired teachers, who get their students through word of mouth. Often also exam markers - so not only do they know how to teach the precise exam board, they also know what the exam board is looking for in answers. I'd go by word of mouth every time, not a website be it a list of possible tutors or an individual's site.

I got bored last summer and made myself a website and a logo 😂

It did actually get me a couple of local enquiries, but most are word of mouth and I have used tutorful to fill the gaps, their percentage on top is massive though. If a tutor on there is ‘charging’ £40 and hour they’re seeing £25 of that.

I’ve upped my hours at my day job though (AP) so I’m mostly winding down the private stuff.

I work independently through word of mouth. But I’ve been in the same local are for 12 years and tutor a specific exam.

I tutor English and am totally independent, though I was on First Tutors as a means of advertising before it closed down. It was great because it didn’t take a cut from either tutor or parent, after the initial introduction fee. I’ve been on other sites in the past but they all seem to have an enormous ongoing charge which I resent paying as they’re not my employer and also don’t do anything beyond provide the introduction! FT going is a blow but I tend to get most tutees from word of mouth anyway as I’ve been going for about fifteen years, so am hoping it won’t be too tricky in September. I do a lot of exam marking as well, to keep me going over the summer. I do have a website but just use my own email. There’s a new site called TutorDex which someone’s set up as a replacement for First Tutors but it’s v early days so I don’t know if there’ll be much work through it. Hopefully there’ll be some!

Oh sorry, I didn’t realise this was a zombie thread 🫠

Hi, it's interesting to hear this from your perspective. When you go online and Google a "tutor" or "maths tutor", all the big agencies and companies with bigger advertising budgets and larger websites with better SEO really do come up first (paid or organic) and finding independent tutors means diving several pages further.
Also, while I've been tutoring for 20 years, I've rebranded as I was evolving as a tutor, so I've changed domains a few times, and each time that also meant starting from scratch, losing the advantage of big brands, hence googling independent tutors won't always get you the results easily.

So, if you're looking for an independent tutor (there's plenty!), you may need to change the way you're looking for them.

For example, if you're on Facebook, you can find a lot of groups where tutors advertise (local groups, UK-wide groups, specialised groups for anything from home education to GCSE... literally every possible angle of tuition one might be looking for).

Word of mouth is also a way, for sure. Both from parents and tutors, too. I got plenty of recommendations from colleague tutors (and I recommend them, too) - as we often know what we specialise in, so we can actually refer well to each other.

This is actually how most of my students find out about me. The odd one here and there finds my website and contacts me directly.
So that's the reality of being an independent tutor. I hope your search went well. I noticed this is an older post, but I hope my reply will be useful for some who are still unsure how to find independent tutors 😊