Choosing a tutor

Clients of tutoring businesses and coaching colleges need to ask the following of any provider of tutoring or coaching services.

Staff

• Are your tutors screened for child protection? If not, how do you screen your staff to know that they are safe to work with children?
• Do you conduct face to face interviews with every member of staff before they get work here and how many reference checks do you make?
• What are the qualifications and experience of the tutor or tutors who will be tutoring my child?
• Is the tutor trained specifically in the subject area in which they are tutoring?

Fees and contracts

• Do you have a refund policy?
• How much can I expect to pay in total for the tuition?
• What will happen if my child is unhappy or we want to cancel the tutoring? Are there any cancellation
• Fees or charges?
• How much notice will I have to give in order not to be charged for a session of tutoring?
• Will I have to pay for any additional support materials or books

Education and Programmes

• Do you follow the formal school curricula or have your own? If you do have your own – can I view them?
• How will your programmes be relevant to my child?
• Is there any additional work expected of my child in the form of homework or after hours study?
• Do you give reports on my child’s progress? If so, how often?
• What do you do if a child does not seem to be benefiting from the programme you apply?

Operations

• Can I view the tutoring when it takes place?
• Is the tutoring one to one or in a group? If it’s a group situation how large is it and how will the needs of my child be catered for?
• Where will the tutoring take place – What materials and methods will my child use/experience?

Key Questions to ask of Tutors

Child Protection

• Have you been screened for child protection purposes? If no – why not?
• If yes – by whom and when? Can I see your paperwork?
• Where do you work – in my home or yours?

Education and Experience

• Could you tell me what your qualifications and experience are, that are relevant to the area I am seeking tutoring in?
• Do you have a university qualification in the field of education?
• What is your awareness of the requirements of the Board of Studies in this State/Territory?
• How long have you been tutoring/teaching this subject for?
• Do you have satisfied clients that I can call and ask about your tutoring?

Programmes and Reports

• Do you follow a set programme of study or curricula?
• Will there be additional out of hours work expected of my child?
• How often will I get verbal/ written progress reports?
• If my child is not meeting your expectations how will I know?
• If my child asked you to do their assignment for them – what would you do?

Payment and Receipts

• How do you like payment? What is the total cost of tutoring?
• Will I be given a receipt for any payments I make?
• If my child cannot or does not want to continue tutoring will there be any cancellation fee or other charge applied?

Questions to ask of ALL tutors or tutoring organisations

• Are you a member of the ATA?
• Is there anything I need to know that I haven’t been told or any question I should ask that I have not asked?
• Is there anything I need to know that I haven’t been told or any question I should ask that I have not asked?