Tutor FAQ

When you log into TutorCruncher, you’ll see “Available Jobs” on the left-hand panel. Click this, and you’ll be taken to our jobs board. You can see, and apply for, all the roles that are currently open and accepting applications, or you can filter by roles that match your own “Teaching Skills”.

The notifications you receive are synced to the Teaching Skills (the subjects you tutor and at which levels) that you have on your profile. If you add English at GCSE as a Teaching Skill on your profile, you’ll receive emails from our team, via TutorCruncher, as soon as a GCSE English job goes live. Keep your teaching skills up to date to make sure you receive job notifications that are relevant to you and your skillset.

After you’ve found a role that you think you’d be suited for, click the title to be taken to the full job description. Read the job description and make sure you can meet the requirements that are laid out in the role specification (such as location, timing, exam board, and that you’re happy with the rate of pay) before clicking “Apply Now”. It’s important you write a detailed application for each job you apply for as each tutoring job is different. When our team reviews applications, they are for looking for: Availability – you can meet the client’s days and times. Location – if the job is in-person, you need to be able to commit to in-person lessons. Experience – have you taught this subject before? Do you know this exam board? Are you familiar with the texts or topics related to this subject? Track record – if you have success stories, we want to know. This goes for grade improvements, building back confidence, and successful applications to particular schools or universities.Sometimes we’ll include a student’s hobbies, interests, or long-term goals, as well as what they need tuition in. Here we’re looking for a tutor who can connect with this individual student, beyond the tuition subject matter. Use the application to tell us how you’d be a great match on this score too.

Our Client Services team will review all the applications and select the tutor we think is most suitable. This can happen on the same day that the role’s been listed if we think we’ve found the right tutor already, so if there is a role you are interested in, please apply ASAP. We then ‘shortlist’ the tutor to our Sales team, who would have originally spoken to the parent or student about their tuition needs. Our Sales team present you, explaining why you’re the perfect tutor for the job, and send the parent or student your Ivy Profile. Once we get the go-ahead, we will introduce you to the client by email and add you to the role on TutorCruncher. From there, it’s up to you to liaise with the client directly to arrange the first lesson; we ask that you contact the client within 24 hours of being introduced to them, so that you can get the ball rolling. Along with the introductory email, you can find a client’s contact details on TutorCruncher by clicking on the client’s names on the role. Please let us know once the first lesson has been arranged, or if you haven’t had a response from them within 3 days; please try to email and call the client before getting back in touch with us.

This will happen! Don’t be disheartened, and do keep applying to roles. We work with a large number of brilliant tutors, including yourself, and will almost always have multiple tutors apply for roles. You’re welcome to call us and talk through why you didn’t get a role and what you can do differently, if anything, when you apply for your next role.

Congratulations! You’ll now be introduced to the client – typically a parent, but sometimes the student themselves or a staff member associated with the family. You need to contact with them within 24 hours to arrange a first lesson, or on request, an introductory call. In our introduction email, we’ll suggest a date for a first lesson based on the days and times in the job specification and your application, but it’s up to you to confirm this. Once you’ve confirmed a first lesson, let us know and add the lesson to TutorCruncher; likewise, please let us know if you have not had a response from the client. Once that lesson has happened, let us know how it went! We always check with the client too, just to make sure it was everything that they expected too.

TutorCruncher lets you add planned lessons. This is a great tool for lots of reasons: It gives you a structure (which you can edit and adapt if need be) for you and your student to work with, as well as goals to aim for. It lets our team know that lessons are ongoing and that the tuition job is still active. Plus, it lets the parents know when to expect their next lesson. This means that, in the instance that your student can’t make a lesson but doesn’t let you know within 48 hours, you have a paper trail to evidence chargeable lessons. You can set up recurring lessons on TutorCruncher, so you don’t have to add each lesson manually. This can be done by adding a new lesson and then, once the lesson is created, clocking “Actions” and then “Repeat”. After each lesson has taken place, you should mark it as ‘complete’ – this makes sure that you get paid for the work that you’ve done!

If a job doesn’t have any activity (such as added lessons or submitted reports) for 35 days, it’s flagged to us by TutorCruncher. Our first action is to contact you to get an update on the role; it could be that your lessons only take place during holidays or term-time, that you’re offering ad-hoc support, that the student’s taking a break for a bit, or that the lessons are finished. Unless you, the student or parent tell us, we assume lessons take place on a continuing basis; if they are not, we need you to let us know so that we can update our records accordingly – and so that we don’t keep asking you for updates.

TutorCruncher gives you the option to create a report after every lesson, however, we don’t require you to do this, and we don’t share what you write after every lesson. Instead, we ask you to write an end of month report on the last lesson on the month. This needs to be a comprehensive report that covers what you’ve done over the course of the month. Sometimes you’ll have only had one lesson that month; you’re still asked to write a report, where you can include that you’ve only had the one lesson. You can find an example report in your Tutor Handbook which will give you an idea of the standard we require. The report will be read and approved by our team before being sent to the client; if it’s not what we expect or isn’t detailed enough, we will ask you to edit it. You will get reminders to submit reports, and reports submitted late are subject to a £10 fine, deducted from your monthly payment.

Yes! You are welcomed and encouraged to provide verbal or informal feedback to both your student and their parents as you go. You’ll find that different students and parents have different expectations – some will want to be more hands-on and be kept in the loop as to how lessons are progressing, what topics you’re covering and what goals you’re working towards. It’s up to you to adapt to each client and feedback as appropriate.

We expect our clients to communicate effectively and promptly with you, if they’re not doing this, then they’re violating their Terms of Agreement. We will have the same contact details as you but, once you’ve let us know, we can begin chasing the client.

Sometimes families decide to end tuition if it’s not what they expected, they feel that the tutor isn’t the best match for them, their situation has changed, or maybe the tutee is doing so well that they don’t feel like they need support anymore. Tuition is often goal-based, and once the goal has been realised – sitting a particular exam, for example – then the tuition typically comes to an end. Alternatively, you could experience a change in circumstance – for example, moving house and no longer being able to deliver in-person tuition. We require that you give us 4 weeks’ notice if you need to finish a role. Please let us know before the client that you need to finish tuition. Once you’ve communicated that the tuition will be ending and the final lesson has been delivered, you can mark your job as ‘Finished’ on TutorCruncher. It’s important that you let us know when you do this so that we can follow-up with the family, requesting feedback and testimony about their experience.

Not a problem! You can keep us in the loop by keeping your TutorCruncher profile up to date. You can edit your tutor biography, address, contact details, teaching skills and qualifications directly. By doing this, you reduce the likelihood of us calling you about opportunities that are no longer relevant to you. If you’re going on holiday or moving your lessons online, you need to communicate this with us and the clients you’re working with.

Our Standard Ivy Tutors earn £40 an hour for online tuition and £55 an hour for in-person tuition. Our Senior Ivy Tutors earn £50 an hour of online tuition and £65 an hour for in-person tuition. These rates are your take-home pay; Ivy Education pays the 20% VAT. We take care to advertise our rates of pay in our job listings. If you apply to a role that is advertised as ‘Standard Ivy Tutor rate applies’, you are accepting that rate of pay, regardless of whether you are a Senior Ivy Tutor. If a rate of pay hasn’t been advertised, assume that if you’re a Standard Tutor you’ll receive the Standard rate of pay, and if you’re a Senior Tutor you’ll receive the Senior rate of pay.

Our Senior tutors are those who have both Qualified Teaching Status (QTS) and significant tutoring experience, or they are tutors who have tutored over 100 hours with us. If you’re a Senior tutor you’re able to apply for roles that are advertised at both Senior and Standard rates; but by applying to a Standard role, you’re accepting the Standard rate of pay.

Unless agreed in writing with the client, no. We will not reimburse you for travel, parking costs, or teaching resources, unless we have evidence of agreement from the client. If the client has agreed to cover costs, share evidence of this with us in writing before adding the expenses to TutorCruncher, and we will confirm if the expenses can be charged.

If the client cancels a lesson with less than 48-hours’ notice, you can mark the lesson as ‘Cancelled but Chargeable’, and you will be paid as if that lesson had taken place. It helps to have a paper trail in case the client queries this with you or our team. Whatever the reason for cancellation, it’s up to you to decide whether you want to bill the client. In some instances, you may feel it’s not appropriate to bill the client, for example, if the client had extenuating circumstances, or the circumstances may have been out of the client’s control (such as illness or bereavement). If this is the case, please mark the lesson as ‘Cancelled’, or you can reschedule the lesson.

First, you’ll need to add your bank account details to your TutorCruncher profile. Then, make sure all lessons have been added and marked complete, and reports have been written before 9am on the 1st of the following month; if you add them after this date, you won’t get paid until the following month and will incur a £10 late fee. You get paid on 20th for the work done the previous month, i.e., on the 20th of February you are paid for the hours done in January. As long as your lessons and reports are logged correctly and on time, you will always be paid for the work you have done, regardless of whether or not the client has paid us. It’s up to us to follow up with client’s that haven’t paid their invoices – not you!

If you think a mistake has been made on your invoice, query it as soon as possible. We will action your question, resolve it with our Accounts team, and let you know the outcome. If you submitted your monthly report late, you can expect a £10 deduction from your payment, as we charge a fine for late submissions.

In line with our Safeguarding Policy, and following the guidance from the Tutor Association, all of our tutors need to be on the DBS Update Service. You are only able to register on the Update Service within 30 days of your DBS certificate being issued; you cannot register an older certificate to the Service. If you are not on the DBS Update Service, your certificate needs to have been issued within the last 12 months. Two months before your DBS expires, we will ask you to begin an application for a new DBS, and you will be required to sign up to the Update Service once your new certificate has been issued. If your DBS is not within date, we are unable to place you on roles with us.

We work with an external provider, First Advantage, to perform DBS checks and provide you with a certificate. You need to contact our team at talent@ivyeducation.co.uk and ask us to start an application for you.

The DBS has a strict, set list of required documents that are acceptable as identification and proof of current address (please click here for an exhaustive list). Please make sure you have uploaded documents that meet the exact requirements and have sent talent@ivyeducation.co.uk copies of the documents that you have used in your application. Importantly, please make sure that the current address you use in your application is evidenced by your proof of address document (typically a bank statement) or by the address on your driving license, if you’re using a driving license as a form of identification.

You can only join the Update Service within 30 days of your DBS being issued. You can sign up through this link. Once signed up, you will need to send us your renewal number, so that we can add it to our records. If you do not subscribe to the Update Service within 30 days, you will have to purchase a new DBS certificate in the following 12 months. The Update Service is an annual subscription of £13 a year. A new DBS certificate every 12 months will cost you £53.80 a year.

Our Designated Safeguarding Person is our Operations Director, Hannah Senel-Walp. You can contact her directly at hannah@ivyeducation.co.uk or by calling our office and asking to speak to her. We have processes in place to make sure that any and every concern is looked into and dealt with appropriately. We have a responsibility for your safety as well as our students’, so please report any concerns you might have.