Jasmine Birtles
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Make up to £80 an hour as a private tutor
Joanna Robinson
10th Mar 2025
Working as a private tutor can be very lucrative. The demand is most definitely there – if you search for the words private tutor in your browser, there’s no shortage of sites advertising the services.
You don’t even have to have teaching experience to work as a private tutor. If you’re a graduate, particularly with knowledge of maths or sciences, you can make a lot of money tutoring GCSE students or those trying to get into university.
Read on to find out how you could make as much as £80 an hour tutoring.
Tutoring is a fantastic way to support students who struggle in a classroom environment. There are many fantastic resources out there where tutors focused on special needs students can be found.
If you are interested in becoming a tutor, you don’t have to limit your horizons to teaching children, as learning doesn’t stop when you finish core education. There is an increasing number of tutors out there who focus on mature students looking to learn a new skill, such as a language or musical instrument.
Nonetheless, young students remain the main target demographic. An Ipsos-MORI survey for Sutton Trust found that 30% of 11 to 16-year-olds have received private tuition nationwide. In London the figure is as high as 48%. £80+ an hour for tutoring services is not an unreasonable amount to charge either, as concerned parents are prepared to pay it.
How does it work?
Private tutors are usually employed on a short-term basis. Parents want them to help kids make it through the weeks leading up to their exams and ensure they’re well-prepared. According to Superprof magazine, over half of those hiring private tutors do so to get ready for a specific test. That doesn’t mean you’ll only get work around exams time – those seeking help with school work in general make up a nearly equally high percentage.
Often, parents will want a private tutor to come to their home to teach. If you plan to tutor in your student’s house, remember you’ll need to factor in travel costs. Some people charge extra to cover what they spend on commute while others include it in their hourly rate. Alternatively – and as is becoming more popular recently – they may want to get tutoring online. As well as being more convenient and allowing tutors to work flexibly, this cuts out the expenses involved in travelling to each student’s home.
What qualifications do you need?
To work as a private tutor you’ll obviously have to have a level of knowledge in the subject you teach – but you don’t necessarily have to be a qualified teacher. If you have a degree, your skills in that subject will still be sought after. Even university students still working towards their degree can make themselves some extra cash tutoring.
What you will need as a private tutor is patience, enthusiasm and good communication skills. This may be particularly important depending on which age group you teach. If you tutor teens, they can be a bit more difficult age group. And remember private tutoring isn’t just about explaining complicated issues and helping with learning. It’s also key you’re able to inspire confidence in your students.
This is actually a big part of being a private tutor. If the children or teenagers you teach believe that they can work out that maths formula and have confidence in their abilities, they’ll be much less nervous about their exams and perform better. And that, in turn, will make them trust you as a tutor even more.
It’s important to remember that word of mouth is often the best way private tutors get work. Having a great reputation in your local area can be worth everything.
One more thing to remember if you choose to work with children or young teenagers is potential checks. You will need a DBS check.
How to advertise and get work as a private tutor
Depending on which subject or skill you cover as a private tutor, there’ll be busier and quieter months. Foreign languages and music instrument lessons may be popular all year long, while the demand for more academic subjects tends to grow around exam time.
When it comes to advertising your private tutoring services, you’ll have various options. You can do so in your local area – in the library, post office, supermarket or newsagent’s, for instance. Alternatively you can go online. There’s plenty of specialist websites, social media groups and online community sites where you can spread the word about your private tutoring services. Google your specialist subject + tutor + jobs to get started.
Online tutoring
Online teaching is also a popular option for private tutors. It’ll save you time and travel costs getting to and from clients’ homes and let’s be honest, working from home is great. It’s also more convenient for families, particularly those in more remote areas.
As a private tutor teaching online you can speak to students remotely via Zoom and work using a virtual whiteboard. Saving time on commuting also means you can take on more online students.
The great thing about working as a private tutor is that there’s no limit to the possibilities this type of work presents. You can teach anything – from physics and maths to geography and English. Subjects like languages and music can be taught year round to adults as well as children, which means if you’re serious about it, you could make a career out of being a private tutor.
If you have a Teaching English as a Second Language or Teaching English as a Foreign Language qualification, you can also work internationally – for example, there is a huge demand for English-speaking tutors for online teaching of Chinese students.
Check out beeymo.com.
They accept students and tutors from all over the world. You can start your profile and set your own hours and price. Students from around the world will contact you and you can start tutoring immediately.
Hi, I have experience of online tutoring (mathematics).. I am looking for a tutoring site where i dont have to teach on video call or voice call(have kids at home), just the board and text chat…any uk site suggestions for mathematics?? Thanks
I think this is really interesting and beneficial article for me. 2 weeks ago I failed my test when I was applying for a job as writer and editor. Originally, I am from China, and now I want to try to teach English students from China. I am sure I have all necessary skills to teach successfully. Maybe, I will be able to create my personal English school for international students to help them to pass their academic assignments. Anyway, your advices and information will be taken into consideration. Thank you for helping. I do really appreciate that.
I found a very good site -Preply – from there you can find a good job if you are a teacher.
Preply is a great platform for getting good tutors help especially for learning International Languages.
I highly recommend it.
I am from India. I am an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur. I am a highly experienced software professional. Now I provide online tuition. I have more than 6 years of experience in tutoring students from different parts of the world. I tutor through Skype.
Do contact me if you or anybody,, whom you know, needs online tuition in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics or Statistics.
We are looking ESL skype teacher if you have skill and Experience than apply or Send your CV
I can tutor in ELS. Your email address?
hello!!
I have great experience with tutor of preply and they are given good jobs for esl tutor skype.They all have high education qualification and knowledge.so for those people who want jobs for tutor please contact this link preply.com/en/skype/english-tutoring-jobs.so i strongly recommend you to go this site. It will really helpful.
our company educationcomplete offer online tuition as well as face to face and group tuition. We aim to provide packages that appeal to the diverse range of families that come to us. What makes us unique in that fact that we are managed by a team of Senior School Leaders who are passionate about education and work hard to ensure that tutors provide value for money and success. Tutors are well supported and progress of each child is monitored on a fortnightly basis. If things are not going well our Directors step in. This year the company have successfully placed… Read more »
I have a B.Sc degree in Mathematics and have tutored both in classroom and private levels for more than 6 years. I can provide excellent solutions in Mathematics assignments for students, so that they will not just get the grade but will be able to explain it to anyone when (s)he is required to do so. I am in Nigeria. You only pay me when the job has be received. Hoping to hear from people/tutoring companies in need of my service. Thanks.
Now this is my first time to open to this website, so I am in Nigeria if I start making money with this online business, then how will I receive my money in Nigeria?