If you are a tutor....

[argyllherewecome]

I'm tutoring several children as a favour at the moment. I like it, but I find that I'm having to do sometimes several hours work to prepare for the lesson. Think along the lines of helping someone with a compare/contrast of two speeches. I need to familiarize myself first, which obviously takes time. It's Eng Lang to be clear. I'm hating my job right now and wondering if I can get more tutoring work. How much do you prepare for your tutoring sessions?

A friend teaches maths all week but it is one on one mainly online. Not aware he prepares but is very experienced.

If you are tutoring a subject in such a manner then you just factor in your prep time to the hourly/session rate.

To start with, at least 1 hr prep for each 1hr lesson. If you get a lot of students over the years, you'll get quicker at prep and can reuse lessons.

Are you a teacher? If so, why is it taking you so long to plan? Surely you've taught it all before. Why are you reinventing the wheel?

I tutor 11 plus/primary and it takes me max 15 minutes to plan a lesson if Im making a new resource, normally about 2 minutes.

@eatsleeptutor I don't teach the subject, no, but it was my original subject and I have a lot of experience with it and good working knowledge of the mark scheme. It's taking me so long as these are very weak students and need what I would consider the very basics broken down. I would really like them to pass, so I'm putting in a lot of work.

I'm a tutor in English and Maths but abroad where English is a foreign language.
The key is if you are doing more hours (I do about 25 hours a week normally) is to have a spread of levels of students. It takes me a lot longer to prepare for someone doing the equivalent of A-level Maths or English than for an 11 year old. If everyone was being tutored for the school leavers exams at the same time it would be too much preparation for me.
I need a maximum of one hour per lesson preparation for the oldest ones but for the younger ones about 15-30 mins at the most.
Over time you collect resources and activities and can use them for different children.

"I'm tutoring several children as a favour at the moment"

Just to pick up on this too. That's fine but as soon as you start doing this as your sole income or a major part of your income you absolutely have to have terms and conditions in place from the very beginning and shift your mindset - you're not doing it as a favour to the new clients who begin lessons with you, you're providing a professional service and that means charging an appropriate amount (to include a certain amount of preparation time) and having rules in place for students giving notice/late payment/missed lessons due to absence (these need to be paid for irrespective of the reason).

Also it should never get to the point where you are doing more work for a child's English GCSE than they are! Tutoring is not a magic wand that will get the child a good grade. The child needs to be doing their part too, preparing things for their lesson with you and doing any homework you set. The parents need to be on board too and support the child at home by checking that they are doing the work you have set, making sure the child brings any textbooks or other work from school that you need to see.

If you're going to take on more tutoring, you'll need to find a way of putting less work into planning. It's not sustainable otherwise, or financially viable.
Once you've built up a bank of resources, that will help with future students. Would using AI help at all? Or a subscription to a resource website?
I teach a wide range of students. Some of them will pass easily, others need to go back to basics. I also want them to pass. But you can only do so much and give so much of your time, before it becomes untenable.

It varies. Sometimes the prep time is more than the lesson time itself, but what I’ve prepared may well last for several sessions/students.

It’s great that you’re enjoying tutoring—it can definitely be a fulfilling and flexible career option if you’re thinking of making the switch!
Preparation time can vary depending on experience and the subject matter. When starting out, it’s natural to spend longer getting familiar with materials, but over time, you build a bank of resources and develop strategies to streamline prep. For English Language, I’d suggest:

Using Exam Board Resources – Past papers, mark schemes, and examiner reports give a clear idea of what’s expected, so you don’t need to reinvent the wheel.
Creating a Resource Bank – If you find yourself preparing similar sessions, save your notes and materials so they can be reused or adapted.
Structuring Lessons with Reusable Frameworks – For example, for compare/contrast tasks, have a go-to template that students can use to break down similarities and differences methodically.
Encouraging Student-Led Work – If prep is taking too long, consider shifting more responsibility to students—e.g., asking them to read the speeches beforehand and bring key points to discuss. This makes sessions more interactive and reduces the time you need to spend preparing.

Tutoring can absolutely become a full-time or significant part-time income. If you’re thinking of getting more work, word-of-mouth and targeted advertising (especially for GCSE/A-Level students) can be a great start.

Happy to chat more about how to scale it up if you’re interested!