What's the going rate for a tutor?

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DS1 has been for the first time today. he's a bright, but not particularly motivated 10yo and I wasn't looking forward to it TBH.

DS1 loved it, told me off for collecting him a few mins early, told me exactly when he's going to fit in his homework (believe it when I see it!) was excited by and proud of the work he'd done and is looking forward to going back.

However, I'd been lead to believe, by friends who've had their DCs tutored, that it would cost c. £20ph - this was £37

After such a good start it would be a shame to let it go, but that's nearly £2000pa!

Thats a lot! My dd is doing a levels and tuition for her would be £20-£25 an hour. Did you pay up?

That seems an awful lot for a child still in primary school. My DDs have both had/have tutoring for certain subjects for GCSE and A level and it cost £20-£25 an hour, like notsweatingsays. I think that's about average, from what other parents have said. Are you in London? That might ramp up the cost I suppose, though if you've friends in the same area who've paid less it seems a bit strange. Is the tutor particularly fantastic?

i paid about £12 - ask around i found some teachers happy to do it as an add on

I tutor for 11 plus (a bit) and some literacy/numeracy with KS2 children. I charge £20ph in Kent. £37 seems quite a lot to me.

I paid £50 to an agency in London. I understand the tutor got £35. This is pretty typical around here.

£27 per hour (maths tuition) in the Midlands

£40 an hour for local SW London 11+ tutor!

£28 ph here

I charge £26 for students who come to me, £30 if I travel to them. This is in Greater Manchester. To be honest, I've decided I'm going to have to increase my fees by at least £2 in September though. Once you factor in travel ( don't get me started about petrol price increases) and prep time and the cost of materials, it isn't an exorbitant amount per hour. In my experience it compares well with what you would have to pay other professionals privately (eg osteopath, physio, counsellor, beautician/masseuse). I know I charge at the top end of fees for this area, but I feel it reflects my experience and expertise and the amount of work I put into preparation. I often spend an hour preparing for an hour's teaching. I think some tutors just follow a standard text/workbook, rather than trying to match teaching methods, content and activities exactly to each individual child. So - to some extent it may be that you get what you pay for. Parents say they think I am worth my fees!

We pay £20 ph for a physics tutor for DS in a remote part of Scotland.

If I were doing it I would charge about £25 per hour. That's roughly supply rate and it's what I get for one to one tuition in a school. Also, if it were a bit higher than that they might be allowing for paid planning time. For each block of ten hours one to one I can also claim for two hours planning time at the normal £25 per hour rate. That would add £5 per hour if included in the cost for the taught hours iyswim. And if in London, it would be perfectly reasonable to add on the equivalent of London weighting. Does that help?

Btw, don't see why a level or gcse tutors should necessarily be able to charge more. This is not the way it works for school teachers and this recognises that the demands of teaching and assessing primary and secondary are differently but equally challenging. Management posts are often more lucrative at secondary level but this acknowledges the numbers of staff and pupils managed. I have fifteen years experience in assessing and teaching primary aged pupils across 10 plus subjects. My secondary colleagues might teach a higher level but will teach fewer subjects at that level. Hence pay the same.

I find that the higher the level of teaching, I do the quicker and easier it is to prepare. If I was to offer differential rates ( which I don't), then GCSE should be cheaper! The hardest to prepare for are special needs students, especially if there is any level of adhd symptoms!

I paid £25 ph for two primary siblings, it would have been £20 for one. I don't know about secondary but I agree that there's no reason for it to be higher.

I'm amazed at £50ph even in London.

I kind of get why you'd pay more for two but only just! Bit more planning to account for different abilities I guess. Depends if they were twins, ie same year group or not.

Two children at different stages ( even at the same age) is really like running 2 one-to-one sessions simultaneously with double the amount of preparation - at least it would be the way I tutor. I've not been asked to do this, but if I ever did, I'd have to charge a lot more than for one. Double the preparation and more complicated managing 2 children doing different things at the same time and doing the detailed observations I like to do in order to see exactly where they are at and exactly what is causing a problem.

The children are different ages, tutoring might not be quite the right word for what I needed. Both DCs needed help with literacy, I didn't sit in on the sessions but based on what they brought home they completed worksheets on quite basic areas which the tutor guided them on and then marked.

She wasn't teaching as such but helping one to approach comprehension type work properly and the other to understand some grammar.

It was the kind of work a parent could do with the right materials and the right children i.e. not mine who resist any kind of input from me with school work

I know what you mean Sarah, I guess I was comparing it to class teaching, where the rate is the same however much differentiation there is. If the parent was expecting or wanting completely individual tutoring then I'd expect them to book two sessions. Otherwise you'd accept it was like a differentiated lesson where the attention was divided, so a bit more for planning the differentiated work but an acknowledgement that you're no longer in a one to one situation. Effectively a group situation where you'd pay £12.50 per child. I do some one to two tuition and don't get paid more per hour.

"She wasn't teaching as such but helping one to approach comprehension type work properly and the other to understand some grammar."

Sounds like part of what teaching is about to me! grin

Still think one to two tuition is a lot more work Look and Learn - I guess it is part of the way I like to work - don't just want to do differentiated teaching, but really work at the precise point each child needs help!

oops I mean of course!

I pay £30 per hour for a specialist tutor for my dyslexic son, it's a significant amount of money but the tutor is awesome and provides any extra work we want/need.
I pay £25 per hour for 11+ tuition which isn't so good.

I used to charge £15 for A level tuition - clearly I am in the wrong business!