Becoming a Tutor - what do I need to know?

[KisstheTeapot14]

Looks very likely that the business I currently work for will fold in the next year or two.

So I need a plan B.

DS has dyslexia so I have spent a lot of time reading up and putting strategies into practice.

I'd like to do that for other children too, who struggle with literacy.

I don't have teaching quals but I do have a degree in English.

What do I need to think about if I'm going to start a tutoring business?

Venue/how much to charge/DBS checks? Business plan?

I'd need to bring in around £800 a month. Thinking I might use the public library as venue.

I live in a smallish town so word of mouth is always good marketing.

Thought I might volunteer at primary so I get a sense of what working with a variety of children is like.

Libraries aren't open for that sort of thing at the moment, are they? What happens if you make an appointment when there isn't space for you to sit and quietly talk/work?

I'm not sure I would have used someone who wasn't a trained and experienced teacher, though.

You can't run a business from a public library, surely? Why can't you run it from home?

I'd have thought that becoming a specialist tutor for children with dyslexia required something more in the way of experience and qualifications but I'm no expert - maybe post in Education?

What are you offering that parents who are engaged enough to pay for a tutor cannot do themselves. Without qualifications, how will you convince them that you are offering added value?

I’d want a tutor who was a qualified teacher. Especially with dyslexia - I’d want someone with the relevant experience and qualifications.

I have 6 years of working with a child with dyslexia and the process of learning to read - teaching phonics, sight words and I have reasonable working knowledge of the national curriculum for English at primary level.

Public libraries are a neutral space and I'm not thinking of going into business until at least this autumn. I agree though, social distancing and masks might hamper things if they carry on. We are currently home educating so this takes up my time as well as my day job.

I'm aware of safeguarding issues, so having children 1:1 at home might not be ideal.

Catch 22: I can't get a dyslexia qualification unless I work in a school it seems (have tried a few organisations to look at pathways). I do not want to be a teacher of a class and TA jobs are very sought after.

I would not advertise as a specialist in dyslexia - rather as an English or reading tutor who is dyslexia friendly. I work for a Uni currently so have had access to all the books a trainee teacher would have on the subject of English/teaching/dyslexia.

Thinking there will be a lot of parents who are concerned about children having fallen behind who may not have time/skills to help.

Sorry but I agree with others - tutors around here often advertise teaching qualifications or are students currently training to become a teacher and include that they have a dbs check etc

You have 6 years experience of working with your OWN child. That’s very different to tutoring a child who is not your own.

Why don’t you look at other avenues for revenue? There are a lot of admin jobs out there, care homes with etc.

Sorry it cut off before I’d finished. Meant to say - sorry to hear about your job. If you really want to do this you need to research other tutors in the area and see what qualifications they are offering etc and prices . Is getting a job as a ta an option to gain school experience ?

I work for a Uni currently so have had access to all the books a trainee teacher would have on the subject of English/teaching/dyslexia.

Presumably you also have access to all the accounting textbooks but wouldn't set yourself up as an accountant.

Agree with others - you might need to be open to retraining properly if you want to pursue this.

I’m a subject specialist tutor and a parent. I wouldn’t pay for anyone with no actual teaching qualifications to teach my children tbh. You might get some interest but you’d have to charge a lot less than others. Most tutors around here are ex teachers and more often than not examiners. Schools won’t let you volunteer to get experience. It’s too much hassle with paperwork.

I tutored English up to A-level for approx 10 years. I have degree in English but no teaching qualification (and was honest about that in my tutoring profiles).

I was cheaper at first until I build up excellent reviews online and I kept a portfolio of evidence to demonstrate the difference I made to students' grades.

I tutored both in my home and in their home (I charged mileage for their homes, as is expected).

At first, there was more work involved as I had to study each text that I tutored on, obviously. However, the same texts and poems come round again and again so it gets easier in terms of prep.

It important to keep up with what's happening in education, nationally and locally so that you ensure your contribution adds the most value.

Good luck

One of the most sought after 11+ tutors in our county is actually an architect. She charges double what qualified teachers do, AND you have to mark your child's work at home! She has a very long waiting list. Just be honest OP and over time if parents think you are good word will spread.

Thanks for the injection of positivity @jasminoide and @MeridasMum, as I was feeling a little downhearted after reading some of the comments above.

I would say our town is not the sort of place where parents are scrambling to get their children into high flying private schools.

More the sort of place where a family might be worried their child wasn't keeping up with the NC, or needed help with reading and literacy that schools couldn't give due to time and money.

We did pay for a tutor for our son for about a year pre-Covid. She had been a teacher at a special school but is now retired. We found her by word of mouth.

She was lovely and DS had a very good relationship with her but she honestly wasn't doing anything more/differently with him than I have learned to do over the years. I still felt it was worth it as DS enjoyed her sessions and it was a change for him having her teach him rather than me (different dynamic teacher vs parent).

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

All I can do is give it a go and see if parents locally think I'm worth my salt.

I'll approach a couple of schools and ask about volunteering. I know they do have community volunteers as I was asked at one point but had too much on to commit.

You're welcome OP.

Online tutoring is also very popular and it not only eliminates your concerns about venue, it allows you to cast your net much wider, geographically.

I have tutored this way once or twice (before our current restrictions). Some parents liked it as they then didn't have to host you or drive their kids to their lesson. Also, they could quietly observe without impacting on the lesson.

@MeridasMum - Yes, I had thought about that.

Think I'd like to build up in person work first and become confident with that before branching out.

Had also thought about doing a TEFL and tutoring online spoken English. This means I can use daytime hours (different time zones) and then have local/UK based students in evenings and weekends.

I'll keep researching and looking at possible qualifications too.

Luckily I do have some thinking/planning time before our employer winds things up.

Just emailed Dyslexia Action to see if I qualify for their CPD courses as I'm support staff.

At least then I'll have an official qualification to wave.

Fingers crossed it's a 'yes'.

I did private tutoring for primary aged children a couple of years before I trained as a teacher. I had a BA and an MA in English, and I applied to a private tutoring agency, who took me on and found me clients. It paid reasonably well on the surface - I think the agency charged the parents something like £24 an hour, and I got £20 of that - but I was expected to go to the clients' houses to tutor, which obviously meant I had to factor in travel. You also had to factor in the time spent preparing for each lesson, so my actual hourly rate, once you deducted travel and lesson prep, was a lot less than £20!

If you can get a number of similar clients so that you can re-use lesson plans and materials, and if you can get them to travel to you or to a suitable venue, that would probably be the best way to do it. Good luck!

Thanks @feathersandferns

Yes, DH is self employed so I know that there's a lot of background work behind the hourly rate.

I think there's no harm in giving it a go. Will your prices reflect the fact that you aren't qualified? If so I can see you being busy!

@DENNYCRANE

You can't run a business from a public library, surely? Why can't you run it from home?

I'd have thought that becoming a specialist tutor for children with dyslexia required something more in the way of experience and qualifications but I'm no expert - maybe post in Education?

I have used a library for this purpose - mine has a room to rent out, fairly cheaply

You'll get work doing private lessons if your price is right.

Re the ESOL market. The whole world has been online for the past 16 months and many ESOL teachers whose places of work moved online have retrained themselves and are now working solely doing that.

FutureLearn has a course for teaching English online for those who've never done either before. There is also a FB group called ESL Hired Online teachers (or something like that) which is a huge source of info. There are a million and one companies out there hiring people for online ESOL work, but regulations in individual countries are changing. It used to be possible for anyone to be hired (for very little money) just because they were native speakers. Gone are the days and now even China requires a recognised qualification.

Platforms like Cambly and Palfish let you set yourself up.

Hi OP. I used to be a tutor. I also had some sessions in libraries, but one didn’t allow it and asked us to leave. Working from home can be good as you avoid losing earnings on travelling. Do 50-55 minute sessions so you have time to away bye before the next one!

Tefl is a very good plan. Very varied earnings. Trinity or CELTA are the best- the only ones decent EFL schools accept. Then afterwards you can learn how to teach IELTS and Cambridge exams.

You’ll probably get £15 an hour as an unqualified teacher for reading, etc. Similar for TEFL.

You’ll have to work all evenings and weekends to achieve decent earnings, as this will be when kids are available.

Set clear rates and boundaries. Have a clear cancellation policy (this is where you’ll lose lots of money- Sunny days, when people are ill, self isolating could be an issue). I used to sell a block of 10 for a reduced rate, which was good.

I offered an initial 20-30 minute chat/consultation to go through everything and check challenges, aims, level, etc.

Who will buy books/resources? Make all this clear.

Thanks for the very helpful suggestions!

Lots to think about, but quite exciting too.

Local schools are taking volunteers to read with children (with DBS and lateral flow reports twice a week). I checked with my sister who is a school business manager.

So hopefully I will get some good experience in the autumn with a variety of KS1 children. I have also begun a course with my local college about SEN in children.

Then maybe next summer I will look at TA jobs.

I will check out the TEFL options too. DH is currently enrolled on an online one but I will look at the other suggestions too.

Our library is never full - quite the opposite.

I'll check to see if it will be OK to tutor there (when social distancing is not an obligation).

At a minimum I would want DBS check a up to date one and references too. My current tutor works from her house via Zoom due to the pandemic. Set realistic fees and describe yourself honestly on tutor directory websites as well.

Have found a course for L5 specialist teacher (dyslexia) so am going to do that and of course I would have DBS. That's a given.