How to Choose a Tutor — and What Tutoring Should Cost

Choosing a tutor is not always easy. There are a lot of options, the quality varies hugely, and it can be hard to know what you are really paying for. We have written this to help you think it through — whether or not you end up working with us.

What makes a good tutor

For us, subject knowledge and good grades are the starting point. They are a requirement, but they are not the thing that sets a tutor apart. What actually makes the difference is the relationship: whether the tutor and the student are genuinely invested in the same outcome. A student who trusts their tutor, feels able to make mistakes, and actually wants to turn up will nearly always get further than one who is simply being talked at.

So when you are weighing up a tutor, it is worth looking beyond the qualifications. Will your child connect with this person? Do they build confidence rather than anxiety? Are they interested in your child specifically, or are they delivering the same lesson to everyone?

Questions worth asking

• Do you teach to my child's specific exam board, and work from past papers and mark schemes?
• How do you keep me informed about progress?
• Are you DBS checked?
• What happens in a first lesson, and is there any lock-in?
• How do you handle a student who has lost confidence in the subject?

Online or in person?

We teach entirely online, and for most GCSE and A-Level work we think that is genuinely the better option. Shared screens and digital resources make lessons every bit as personal as sitting in the same room, there is no travel to think about, and it is far easier to fit around a busy family. It also means we are not limited by where you happen to live — wherever you are in the world, we can help.

How much should tutoring cost?

Private tutoring in the UK tends to range from around £25 to well over £80 an hour, depending on experience, the subject, the level, and where you are. Very cheap tutoring often means an inexperienced tutor, or one who is cutting corners on preparation. At the higher end, a lot of what you pay can go towards an agency's overheads and brand rather than the teaching itself.

The more useful question, we think, is not "what is the cheapest?" but "what am I actually paying for?" A fair rate should reflect the whole of what a tutor does, not just the hour your child is on the call.

How we set our pricing

We charge £45 an hour, or £100 for a first bundle of three lessons. We have thought carefully about that number, and we are happy to explain it.

You are paying for more than the hour

The lesson itself is only the visible part. Around it, we prepare for your child's specific exam board, put resources together, look back at where they struggled, and plan where to go next. That work outside the lesson is a real part of what you are paying for, and it is what makes the hour count.

Quality over volume

We could charge less by preparing less, or by taking on more students than we can properly look after. We have chosen not to. Keeping our numbers manageable is what lets us give each student proper attention — including the monthly parent check-in and student feedback that keep everyone involved.

A small margin, put back in

A modest margin above our costs is not a luxury. It is what lets us keep getting better — better resources, better systems, and the time to do things properly rather than just cheaply. We would rather be sustainable and good than the cheapest option cutting corners to get by.

Being selective is part of it

The pastoral, relationship side of what we do only works if the people doing it are the right people. That means being genuinely selective about who teaches under our name, which is a deliberate limit on how quickly we grow. We would rather stay small and trusted than grow by lowering the bar.

Getting the most from tutoring

Whoever you choose, a few things help: be clear about the goal and the timeline, share the exam board and any recent marks, and keep an easy line of communication open with the tutor. Tutoring works best as a genuine partnership between tutor, student and parent, and that is exactly how we have tried to build ours.