How to start a tutoring business

Pick the subjects and levels you can teach well, such as GCSE maths or A level chemistry. Narrow is easier to sell than broad. A parent searching for a GCSE maths tutor wants exactly that.

Demand is real. The Sutton Trust found that 29% of secondary pupils in England and Wales have had a private tutor, and 45% in London. Source: Sutton Trust, Private Tutoring 2026.

UK tutors on Tutorful charge an average of £37.45 an hour, from £33.01 for primary to £41.88 for A level. Our guide to how much a private tutor costs has the full figures, and how much maths tutors charge covers maths. Publish one price per lesson length, and decide in advance whether families pay per lesson, by the month or for a block.

Parents will often ask to see one. Since January 2026, self-employed people in England and Wales whose role is eligible apply for their own enhanced DBS check through a registered Umbrella Body. A parent cannot apply for it on your behalf. Anyone can also request a basic check for themselves. Sources: GOV.UK, DBS checks for self-employed people and GOV.UK, who can check your criminal record.

Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own checking services.

In the UK, you must register as a sole trader if you earn more than £1,000 from self-employment in a tax year, which runs from 6 April to 5 April. You register through Self Assessment, and must tell HMRC by 5 October after the end of the tax year. Source: GOV.UK, register as a sole trader.

Keep a record of every lesson and payment from the first week. You will need them for your tax return.

Most first students come from people who already know you: friends, colleagues, schools you have worked in and parents at the school gate. Reply to every enquiry the same day, and make the second lesson easy to book at the end of the first. Our guide to getting your first private clients goes further.

A new tutor can manage with a calendar and a notebook. The trouble starts when lessons move, families pay by the month and parents ask how things are going. Writing a few notes after each lesson and recording payments as they arrive saves hours at the end of the month.

Another Session keeps each student’s lessons, notes, packages and payments together, sends lesson reminders, and gives parents a private link to see lessons and what is due. Every feature is free for up to three clients, and a 30-day trial gives unlimited clients with no card required. See the page for private tutors and pricing.