Tutor information

 

New client registration fee

New clients pay a one-off £28 registration fee. This entitles one family (parents and children) to use our service at any time in the future.  They are notified of this in advance by email and asked to pay by paypal or bank transfer. If for any reason the client is unable to do this we may ask you to collect the fee and forward to us with your next timesheet.

IMPORTANT!  The New client registration fee MUST be paid before the start of the tuition. Please Politely ask new clients if this has been paid before arranging the first lesson.  If they are an existing client and have already paid it will be marked as paid on their tutoring form.  If unclear please ask us – thank you.

Client tuition fees and procedures

A copy of our tuition fees and procedures is made available to all clients.  Here is a link to the information for your reference:  https://progresstutors.com/payment-procedure/

Tuition fees

Level of tuition	Hourly tuition fee Sept 2023 - August 2024	Hourly tuition fee Sept 2024 - August 2025
Primary	£37	£38
11plus	£39	£40
Secondary upto GCSE	£39	£40
A-Level	£43	£44
Degree and professional	£45	£46

• Travel fee is included.  An extra fee may be charged for long distances.
• Tutors may give a small reduction if tuition takes place in their home.
• Changes to the normal fees should be agreed in advance. Please keep us informed.

Agency fees

Hourly agency fee Sept 2023 - August 2024	Hourly agency fee Sept 2024 - August 2025	Late payment fee without notice
£5.80 per hour	£6 per hour	£8

Cancellation charges

To stop tuition, clients must give two weeks’ notice.

Notice given	Cancellation charge
48 hours	No charge
Less than 48 hours	Half lesson fee
Less than 24 hours	Full lesson fee

Monthly timesheet

Please submit a monthly timesheet and make payment of agency fees and any registration fees by the 5th of every month.  For example,  agency fees due from tuition in October must be paid by November 5th.

Payments can be made by online bank transfer or direct into a local branch.

Click here to complete your monthly  timesheet.

Working Procedure

We are extremely loyal and supportive of all our tutors but in return expect complete honesty and agreement to follow the ‘Working Procedure’ set out below.  This will ensure things run smoothly for everyone.   Please ensure you:

1. Respond to calls and emails promptly.
2. Contact new clients within two days.
3. Contact us immediately if you are unable to tutor a student.
4. Give clients your contact details at the first lesson.
5. Correctly record hours on monthly timesheet and make payment by the 5th of each month.
6. Notify us if a client asks you to tutor another child;  either friend or family member.
7. Notify us if a client contacts you direct for tuition.
8. Follow our ‘Code of Conduct’. See below.
9. Are responsible for tax and national insurance contributions. We do not employ our tutors.

Code of Conduct

With the help of hardworking talented tutors we have built a reputation we are extremely proud of. We want to continue to provide a service that encourages our students to return year after year, so please follow the ‘Code of Conduct’ below.  Thank you!

1. Dress smartly.
2. Never tutor a child if an adult isn’t at home.
3. Do not drink alcohol or smoke during or immediately before a lesson.
4. Arrive on time or call the parent if you are running  late or need to cancel.
5. Switch off your mobile phone during lessons.
6. Never do coursework for students.
7. Allow enough time after first lesson to chat and discuss student requirements.
8. Assess the needs of the student and plan how to help them achieve their goals.
9. Provide meaningful lessons appropriate to the needs of the student.
10. Never run lessons rigidly by the clock.  Allow a few extra minutes to finish off the lesson.
11. Allow a little time at the end of the lesson to update parents on student progress.
12. Inform the parent if the student is not completing homework or co-operating during lessons.
13. Keep parents informed with regards to expected exam grades.
14. Avoid arguments with clients.  Stay calm and call us for help.

Monitoring tuition

Don’t be alarmed if a parent tells you we contacted them about the tuition. Contacting parents is part of our on-going monitoring procedure.  The majority of parents are pleased we have contacted them and are keen to tell us how the tuition is going. In most cases the feedback is excellent which helps attract new students for our tutors.

How to avoid tutoring problems?

Even experienced tutors fall into situations that result in them feeling annoyed or frustrated. Below are some useful tips to avoid the most common pitfalls.

What frustrates tutors:

Parents that keep cancelling lessons:

To stop clients repeatedly cancelling lessons act quickly the FIRST time it happens.  

Remind them of the cancellation charges.  To help keep a good relationship with the client, explain that as this is the first time they have cancelled you contacted us and it was agreed there would be no charge on this occasion. However, in the future they would be expected to pay.  

Contact us and we will check if they have agreed to follow our tuition fees and procedures by submitting the relevant form.  If not we will ask them to do this.

Parents who hold up tutors at the end of lessons:

It can be very frustrating when parents keep chatting at the end of a lesson. Dealing with this can also be uncomfortable as the parent is often friendly.

When you first  arrange the tuition time mention that after their lesson you need to be somewhere at a particular time. This should reduce parents taking up all your time.

The only exception to this would be after the first lesson when you should allow 20-30 minutes to chat to the parents and discuss the needs of their child.

Parents who keep changing lesson times:

This problem can be very annoying and needs to be avoided.

Have a set time in the week (that is convenient to you) that is made available for any student that wants an alternative time. Tell the parent when you first meet them that your timetable is full but you have set aside a particular day/time for when a parent needs to change the lesson. From the start they will know they can’t just call and change times whenever they feel like it and if they do they will have to take the time you have specified, unless you are more flexible during holiday periods.

Parents with unrealistic expectations:

It’s worrying when a parent has unrealistic expectations as it can make the tutor feel under pressure unnecessarily.

To avoid this problem give students regular past exam papers to complete.  Ask the parent to supervise their child working under exam conditions and explain the importance of this – get them involved!

Mark the paper following the marking criteria and give the result and feedback to the parent and student so everyone is clear about their current level. This will make them face reality.

Whatever the result, always be positive and enthusiastic about their child moving to the next level but ‘put the ball in their court’. They need to understand that their child needs to do x, y and z in order to move forward.

This will avoid parents being shocked by an exam result and looking for someone to blame.

 What frustrates parents:

• Tutors who are late without phoning in advance.
• Tutors who continually turn up late, cancel and change lesson times.
• Tutors who answer their mobile phone during lessons – children always tell their parents.
• Tutors who don’t give the full hour lesson.
• Tutors who don’t provide feedback on progress and explain how they plan to help their child.
• Tutors who come unprepared for lessons.

How to get your tutoring off to a good start

First impressions count:

Most parents decide if they are happy to go ahead with the tuition after the first visit, so getting it right is essential.

Always be on time and introduce yourself in a professional but friendly way. Don’t forget to smile even if you are a little nervous. Be enthusiastic, positive and well organised as these are the traits that parents are looking for in a tutor.

If the family like your personality and approach to tutoring they are very likely to go ahead.

A successful first lesson:

Make sure you are fully prepared for the first lesson.

Ask the parent (of young children) or the student which topic they would like to cover in their first lesson.  This will make sure the lesson is benefiical for them and they are more likely to give positive feedback to their parent.

If you would like the student to complete an assessment paper or past exam paper to assess areas of weakness please give this for homework and ask the parent to follow your guidelines.

Never ask the child to spend the lesson completing a test paper whilst you do something else!

After the first lesson allow extra time (20-30minutes)  to chat to the parents.   During the discussion have a pad ready to make notes about anything the parent might tell you and discuss how you can help their child.

Tell them a little about yourself so they are confident in your skills.  You will also need to discuss session times, books, homework and use of a notebook as mentioned below.

It is worth asking if they have received our tuition fees and procedures.  If not let us know and we will forward them the link.

Discussing everything at the start will avoid problems in the future and get everything off to a good start.

Make a note of all the things you want to mention to the parents beforehand as this will make things much easier on the day.

If you are a new tutor you might feel more confident visiting the family to discuss their requirements before arranging the first lesson. Please note if you decide to do this the parents must not be charged for your time.

Use a Notebook:

Provide or ask the parent to purchase a notebook for their child.

Use the notebook to record: your contact details, lesson dates, times, changes of lessons, holiday dates, homework set, results of homework, test dates and a summary of each lesson.

From the first meeting explain to the parent the importance of the notebook and what you will use it for. Tell the student where you have put your contact details in the notebook so if the parent loses your number the child knows where they can find it.

Doing this will avoid a multitude of problems, too many to list.

Enjoy your tutoring!