Tutoring is a job where you're the boss and get to choose the rates you charge. You don't even technically need any qualifications so anyone can do it.
Sounds pretty good, right?
More and more people are turning to tutoring for the freedom it offers and the relatively low barrier to entry. More and more parents are happy to invest in their children's futures through private tutors and more adults are looking to learn new skills for both their professional and private lives.
Increased demand for private tutors makes tutoring an appealing choice. People from all backgrounds and walks of life are choosing to do it.
One of the first things aspiring tutors have to do is choose how much to charge for their private tuition, which is quite difficult to do.
The Cost of Time and Experience
For completely new tutors, you might need some advice on setting your rates. There are so many different tutors out there and so many factors to consider when choosing how much to charge. You need to think about the local rates for tutors, the subject you teach, the students' levels, the type of lesson, preparation time, and also how much experience you have.
How Much is Experience Worth?
Everyone has different levels of experience outside of tutoring, but assuming that you're completely new to tutoring, we can group tutors into three main categories of experience:
- Professionals. A professional tutor is somebody who works in the same domain as their tutoring. These tutors have industry experience. This could mean that they're teaching music while also performing professionally, for example. With foreign languages, a professional would simply be somebody who speaks the language fluently or uses it in their professional life. They generally charge more than the average tutor because of their experience.
- Teachers. Some tutors also work as teachers in schools or universities. In these instances, they mightn't work in the domain that they teach, but instead teach said subject professionally. Their academic knowledge and teaching credentials make them effective educators and they'll also likely charge above-average rates for their tutoring.
- Students. Some tutors are also still in full or part-time education. Student tutors are often supplementing their income with a side hustle and while they don't have the experience or expertise as the other tutors we've mentioned so far, they can be an affordable option for younger students. They also tend to connect better with younger students (especially teens) since they're closer in age.
Don't Charge Too Little for Your Tutoring!
Remember your value and don't fall into the trap of undercharging for your tutoring. While low rates can draw in potential students, setting your rates too low will make you look inexperienced and unprofessional.
After all, people tend to equate price with quality so tutors charging very little will be thought of as offering a lower quality service than some of the more expensive tutors.
Setting Your Rates According to Formal Qualifications
While you don't technically need any formal qualifications to become a private tutor, they do affect how much you can realistically charge your students.
Since qualifications are simply a way to validate somebody's skills without having to test them yourself, your qualifications are an indication of the skills you say you have and potential students will know that you've studied and acquired said skills.
A tutor with appropriate qualifications is likely more valuable than one without them so if you have formal qualifications in the subjects you're looking to teach, you can increase your rates.
Teach What You Know
While no qualifications are required, you do owe it to yourself and your students to provide a quality tutoring service. You can't teach subjects you know nothing about or teach inaccurate information to your students.
For tutors who do, it's not even worth it as tutoring is an industry that relies a lot on testimonials, reviews, and word of mouth so unethical and unqualified tutors will quickly be found out and struggle to find students.
Your rates will be affected by the subject you teach as well as the experience that you have.
Academic Support Tuition
We're not implying that every tutor needs a PhD in their chosen subject, but for any kind of academic tutoring, you should usually have one level above the level that you're teaching.
For example, if you want to tutor NCEA Level 1, have at least an NCEA Level 2, etc. To teach at a university level, you should have a master's degree, etc.
Luckily for you, the New Zealand government outlines qualifications according to 10 different levels so you can refer to these levels when working out what level you can comfortably tutor. In this New Zealand Qualifications Framework (NZQA), Level 1 certificates are the lowest and Level 10 is the highest. These go from certificates and diplomas up to doctoral degrees.
You must know the limits of your knowledge, too. If you don't know something, you can let your student know. Generally, it's better to say you don't know something but you can find it out in time for the next session than guessing and giving them inaccurate information.
Sports Tutoring and Coaching
For many types of coaching, there are formal qualifications that tutors can get. Again, they don't need to have these qualifications and amateur or professional experience in a certain sport or discipline may be enough for some students.
That said, there is an inherent risk to doing any sporting activity so it pays to have the proper qualifications and understanding for both your and your student's wellbeing and safety.
Music Tutoring
For music theory or a particular musical instrument, no formal teaching is required either. There are entire systems of qualifications for musicians that prove their ability and knowledge of music theory and their musical instrument, but they're not necessarily required and even self-taught musicians can tutor provided their level is good enough.
Generally, musicians playing the instrument you'd find in an orchestra are more likely to have formal qualifications because the culture around these instruments tends to favour classical musical training whereas instruments in contemporary musical genres are more likely to be taught by those who mightn't necessarily have any formal training.
This is just a generalisation though and you can always find exceptions to this.
Qualifications Don't Make a Great Tutor
Subject knowledge is important, but a good educator isn't just somebody who knows their subject inside out. Tutors need to have teaching skills to transfer all that knowledge to their students.
Don't forget to learn about different teaching approaches and adapt your teaching to your students.
How a Background in Teaching Affects Tutors' Rates
Rates generally increase with experience so the longer you've been a tutor, the more you can usually charge. However, you can also increase your rates if you're going into tutoring directly from or alongside teaching.
Here's why.
You Know How to Teach
We've already mentioned that tutors need subject knowledge and teaching skills. A background in teaching will instantly show that you can do the latter and if you're a teacher of said subject, it tends to also indicate that you're familiar with the subject that you're teaching.
For academic subjects, students will naturally expect more professionalism from their tutor, but they'll also be willing to pay for it. You'll need to structure lessons, provide quality resources, and adapt your teaching approaches to the students. They won't necessarily want their sessions to be like a typical class, but they do want you to bring that experience with you.
For tutors offering academic support, being a teacher also shows that you're familiar with the curriculum, exam structure, and all the other finer details of education within the country.
You're Professional
You're not just a "professional" teacher because you get paid for it. Being a teacher comes with certain expectations, too, not just your salary.
Students will expect and pay for:
- reliability
- punctuality
- personalised study plans
- lesson prep
- feedback
- progress tracking
These are all things that every tutor should be doing, but while some students might let a few of these things slide, they won't when they're paying for a professional teacher.
You Have a Reputation
Whether it's the results you have in your teaching job or the success of your tutoring students, your rates will be affected by them. 5-star tutors can charge more and those with a profile will of glowing reviews and happy customers stand out against the competition.
Remember to ask your students for a review, especially the ones who are enjoying your tutoring!
Gaining Experience as a Tutor
You can always gain experience, but it can be difficult when you first get started as people are looking for experienced tutors to work with, but you may struggle to find students to get said experience! It's a vicious cycle!
As you gain experience, make sure to regularly update your rates to reflect this. You mightn't be able to increase your rates for your current students too much as you might risk losing them, but as you improve as a tutor, your new students can expect to pay your newer rates.
Remember that experience isn't the only thing that affects your rates. You also need to adjust your rates according to where you live.
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