A female tutor wearing a black hijab and pink sweater is stood behind three primary-aged pupils who are sat around a table. They are wearing red and white school uniforms. The tutor is pointing out a concept on a worksheet. The children are concentrating.

About the role

What it's like to tutor with us and some of your questions answered

Quicklink - Apply Now

As a tutor, you'll:

Support young people

to reach their potential in English, maths or science at primary or secondary level. You may also tutor learners in post-16 settings for GCSE resits.

Tutor small groups of

up to four pupils per session - you'll focus on individualised learning needs

Plan sessions

using our high-quality resource bank and the support of our qualified teachers

Work as self-employed

and apply for tutoring assignments that suit you, committing to fixed days and times at the same school or college for around 15 school weeks

Your questions answered!

Want to tutor with us but not sure if you're eligible? Got questions about pay or working on a self-employed basis, or about what tutoring involves? We answer some of your most common questions below!

Am I eligible to tutor?

Our tutors work for us on a self-employed basis. If you're a UK citizen, then you'll be able to do this on the UK Government website and should complete this before taking on any work with us.

If you're not a UK citizen but your immigration status allows you to work as self-employed in the UK, then you should check your Right to Work (link opens on the UK Government website) before applying.

If you're not a UK citizen and your immigration status doesn't allow you to work as self-employed in the UK, then you wouldn't be able to be a self-employed tutor with us.

If in any doubt, you can:

Note that it is your responsibility to ensure you can register for self-employment before applying to tutor with us.

You don't need to have teaching or tutoring experience to be a tutor with us, as we provide full training and support; however, if you do have any such experience, please highlight this in your application.

If you're a qualified teacher, then you'll have a bespoke training route to reflect this.

  • To be a Primary Tutor, we require you to have a minimum of Grade B/6 in both English and maths at GCSE level
  • To be a Secondary or College (Post-16) Tutor, we require you to have a minimum of Grade A/7 in the subject you wish to tutor

If you’re successful in your application, we’ll need to see your GCSE certificates as evidence of achieving these grades.

If you attended school before the advent of GCSEs, please enter your O-level grades in the ‘Education Details' section of the application.

International qualifications

We accept international equivalents if you did not attend school in the UK. Please continue with the application and fill out your qualifications in the ‘Education Details’ section. Grades from international qualifications can be transposed by checking the following guidance

For any questions about grade requirements, please get in touch

If you don’t meet these grade requirements, but feel you have other relevant experience or mitigating circumstances, please contact recruitment@thetutortrust.org Please also let us know if you have alternative or equivalent qualifications, for example, an A-Level, or a degree (completed or in progress) in your chosen subject.

At Tutor Trust, safeguarding children and young people is our top priority. We ensure that all your necessary safer recruitment checks are complete before you begin tutoring with us, as per the most up to date statutory guidance

To tutor with us, you’ll need an enhanced DBS certificate that must be added to the Update Service. We’ll process this for you and cover the cost. You’ll also need two valid references, one academic or employment reference, and another personal. For more information on what safer recruitment checks you’ll need, please contact recruitment@thetutortrust.org

If you have lived in a country outside of the UK for a consecutive period of 6 months or more within the last 5 years you are advised to have an overseas police check completed. You should consult the UK Government's guide to criminal records checks for overseas applicants

The mission of "transforming lives through tutoring" means creating lasting, positive change by empowering individuals through education. It highlights the role of personalised tutoring in building confidence, overcoming challenges, and unlocking opportunities for personal and professional growth. To me, it’s about providing the support that enables learners to achieve their fullest potential, thereby contributing to a more inclusive and equitable society."
Emmelie Dryburgh, Greater Manchester Tutoring Plus Tutor

The application and interview process

The day before your interview, we ask that you return a ‘Self-Declaration Form’ which will be sent to you via email.

If you are successful in your interview, we'll complete all your safer recruitment checks before you start tutoring in schools, which includes ensuring that you have a valid DBS certificate.

During your interview, we would like you to show the following on screen:

  • Original copies of your GCSE English and GCSE Maths certificates. If you have applied to be a science tutor, please also provide original copies of your GCSE Science certificate(s)

  • Two identification documents (e.g., your passport, driving licence, or biometric residence permit)

  • One right to work document; this can be the same document as one of the above

  • One proof of address document

If you can’t provide all these documents at your interview, you can still book an interview slot and provide these documents later.

We’ll give you more information on which identification, right to work, and proof of address documents we can accept following a successful application.

All our interviews take place on Zoom. Please ensure you have a quiet space and a strong internet connection in advance so that the interview can run smoothly.

Lasting roughly 30 minutes, you'll meet two members of our team and tell us your motivations for tutoring with us. You'll then talk about a scenario-based question that you will have been sent in advance. Finally, you'll perform a five-minute tutoring roleplay to show us some of your tutoring flair. You'll be sent this in advance.

Being a tutor is a privilege. It has made me more confident as a person and as a tutor, it has helped me develop professionally, it has given me a greater awareness for the difficulties in the education system and an opportunity to network with like minded individuals."
Imogen Kendrick, Merseyside Secondary Tutor

Tutor training

Before you can apply for assignments, you'll need to have completed each stage of your core training. Your programme will differ if you are a qualified teacher or not. Our team will support you through your induction so you can begin tutoring as soon as possible.

While completing your induction, our Recruitment Team will be completing DBS and reference checks. Please keep an eye out for emails from us that detail what you need to do to help with this. Note that DBS checks are carried out by a third party, and the time it takes for them to be completed can vary and is out of our control.

Tutor Trust's Core Training ensures that you feel confident from your first tutoring session to deliver tutoring that has a real positive impact on young people's attainment, confidence and enjoyment of learning.

For most tutors, training will involve 10-15 hours over the course of 2-3 weeks. The training is all online and consists of a mix of self-paced learning on our Thinqi platform and live sessions with our in-house team and trainers from the University of Manchester

Training for Qualified Teachers is shorter.

Please see this page for full details of what our Core Training involves.

No, our training - and all ongoing learning and development - is provided completely free! It costs us over £200 to recruit and train each tutor. Therefore, we only ask that you be committed to tutoring if you choose to apply.

Once you've successfully completed training and all other onboarding checks, including references and your enhanced DBS, you'll be eligible to bid for tutoring assignments; however, the learning does not stop there!

You will have access to a wealth of resources and tutorials for tutors on our Thinqi platform. We also hold regular live online development sessions with our in-house team and secure a range of external experts to help us continue to upskill our tutors. These are all free to attend for our tutors.

We have bespoke Returning Tutor Training for tutors who wish to return and tutor with us, which is compulsory for any tutors who wish to tutor in the years following the academic year when they completed their initial Core Training. It is updated over summer for the September of each year with new strategies, guidance and processes.

In addition, in light of annual changes to Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSiE) it remains compulsory for any tutor to complete a Child Protection Refresher and two modules on Keeping Children Safe in Education 2024 as part of their Returning Tutor Training. Alongside this, returning tutors must complete The Prevent Duty every 2 years.

Some of our assignments require additional compulsory training to equip you with the essential skills to deliver tuition in certain contexts. These include (but are not limited to):

  • Post-16
  • Axiom maths
  • Phonics
  • Prince’s Trust
  • Online Tutoring

This training may take place online, in-person or at the school/college where you will be working. If you are accepted to work on one of these assignments, your Programme Coordinator will be in touch with more details about your additional training.

I was born and raised in Leeds so being able to give back to my community and helping children is something I am extremely passionate about."
Safa Kadir, West Yorkshire Primary Tutor

What tutoring is like

We offer tuition in the following subjects:

  • Primary English and maths
  • Secondary maths
  • Secondary English
  • Secondary science

All tutors can apply to work on Tutoring Plus assignments to work with pupils with additional support needs, including those in Alternative Provision settings or Looked After Children (LAC).

In Primary, you’ll mostly work with Key Stage 2 students, although we have started offering some tuition in Key Stage 1 in early reading (phonics). In Secondary, you’ll mostly work with Year 10 and Year 11 students studying for their GCSEs, but we sometimes work with Key Stage 3 pupils. Occasionally we ask for primary-trained tutors to work in secondary schools (usually in Year 7) with pupils who have significant gaps in their learning. These assignments will be clearly advertised by our Tutoring Plus team.

We also offer tuition in post-16 settings, supporting learners with with GCSE resits.

You will work with young people who have been selected by their school/college as they have been identified as pupils who may benefit from some extra support. When you take on an assignment, you'll get any necessary information about the pupils you'll be tutoring so you can plan to personalise the sessions for them. This may include information relating to current grades, strengths and weaknesses, and any Special Education Needs and Disaibilities (SEND).

Most tutoring is during the school day (8am–4pm) inside the school/college building, during school/college term times. Assignment length ranges from an hour session, a morning/afternoon, to a full day.

You can apply for as many assignments as you wish, but we ask that you consider that each tutoring assignment typically lasts 15 school weeks. We follow the term timetable of partner schools, so tuition can sometimes run one or two weeks into the university holidays. Therefore, please check your availability before applying for an assignment.

The amount of available work varies depending on the time of year and the demand from schools/colleges and we cannot guarantee that work at a particular time or in a certain area will be available.

We work with schools across Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and Merseyside, so travel of up to an hour within your city region may be required to get to a tutoring assignment.

Assignments that require more than an hour's commute may have an uplift in pay to reflect this.

Once you've completed training, you'll be able to access details of tutoring assignments by location and day/time so you can decide which tutoring work you'd be able to take on depending on your schedule, existing commitments, and location.

We deliver the majority of our tuition in-person as this has been proven to have the greatest impact on the attainment of the young people we work with.

There may be some opportunities to tutor online, but as these are limited and in demand, we cannot guarantee the availability of any online work. Some of our post-16 tuition operates on a hybrid model, with a mixture of in-person and online tuition sessions.

This means that our tutors should be based in one of our three city regions: Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, or Merseyside, and willing to tutor in-person.

I think as a student but also just as a young person who is still navigating their way in the world of work, being a tutor especially in person, has given me much more a sense of purpose. Physically going to a work place where I know I am making some kind of impact on another young person’s life helped me realise that we’re all trying to figure everything out together, and I have the ability to help others go through something that I have previously gone through myself. I think that’s the best bit about it - knowing that I’m part of something bigger than myself and knowing that I left a mark."
Shekinah Shekinah, Greater Manchester Secondary Tutor

Pay and remuneration

We'll pay you a minimum of £22 to plan and deliver each hour of tuition, depending on your experience.

We pay our tutors on the 15th of every month by bank transfer for the hours worked in the previous month.

If you have QTS, we'll pay you £25 to plan and deliver each hour of tuition

It has provided me with valuable experience that will come in handy for my PhD application. It's also made me feel much more connected and active within my community and improved my experience of the city."
Tremayne Singh, Merseyside Secondary Tutor

Our tutors say

Our tutors are consistently positive about their experiences tutoring with us
  • 99 %

    of tutors agree or strongly agree that they have made an impact through tutoring

    Tutor Survey 2023

  • 94 %

    of tutors agree or strongly agree that tutoring has increased their confidence

  • 77 %

    of tutors agree or strongly agree that they feel more connected to the local community

    Tutor Survey 2023

A male tutor wearing a burgundy jumper is sat tutoring a group of primary school-aged pupils wearing bright red school uniforms.

Inspired to find the tutor inside you?

If you think you have what we need to be the tutor our pupils need, then click on the link to check out our current vacancies.

Apply now