Private tuition as a teacher

Overview

You may already provide private tuition or are looking into offering private tuition while employed by your school. Many teachers already do this. It could be an effective way to supplement your income or to teach another subject you are passionate about by offering music tuition or sports coaching.

In this article, we outline factors to consider when offering private tuition and how to anticipate any difficulties you might encounter with your school.

Am I allowed to offer private tuition and be employed by my school at the same time?

In most cases, yes. You will want to check your employment contract to see if it specifies anything about offering private tuition. You will want to notify your school if you are offering tuition in the local community and to pupils in the school.

Some schools might not allow you to tutor pupils in your own class or at your school. You will want to check with your line manager first.

We have written an article about how to raise an issue with your line manager effectively.

Private tuition: what will be the main factors to consider?

There will be a range of factors to consider when offering tuition:

• Will there be a conflict of interest if the child is in your class or at your school?
• The quality of tuition you provide will reflect on quality of teaching at your school. How will you anticipate any potential problems with parents?
• What is the motivation of the parents? How will you ensure that you can meet their needs?
• Could offering tuition while teaching full-time have a detrimental impact on your workload and your work/life balance?
• Will you set a clear time frame with parents about how long you are willing to offer tuition for?
• Will you tutor privately through local connections or will you sign up to tutor online via a company? Examples of online tuition platforms include: Tutor Doctor, Tutorful, MyTutor

Do I have to declare tax with this additional income?

Yes. If you are in full-time work and pay tax under the PAYE scheme, you need to declare any income from freelance work to HM Revenue & Customs.

Further support

We will be able to provide advice and support if you are encountering difficulties when offering private tuition. However, we cannot provide private tuition insurance at this time.