Online
Tuition in
the UK
A Survey Report
The Tutor Pages, March 2015
Contents
Foreword ................................................................................................................................................................ 3
1. Summary ............................................................................................................................................................. 4
2. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 5
2.1 Survey aims .................................................................................................................................................. 5
2.2 Who took our survey? .................................................................................................................................. 5
2.2 What is online tuition? ................................................................................................................................. 6
3. Who is tutoring online? ...................................................................................................................................... 7
4. Tutors’ enthusiasm for online tuition ................................................................................................................. 9
5. Demand for online tuition ................................................................................................................................ 10
6. Income derived from online tuition .................................................................................................................. 11
6.1 Online and face-to-face tuition fees compared ......................................................................................... 12
7. Reliability of online clients ................................................................................................................................ 13
8. Finding new clients online ................................................................................................................................ 14
9. Parents’ reasons for choosing online tuition .................................................................................................... 15
10. Technology...................................................................................................................................................... 16
10.1 Equipment and functionality .................................................................................................................... 16
10.2 Video services ........................................................................................................................................... 17
10.3 Whiteboard and similar ............................................................................................................................ 17
10.4 Video conferencing/ virtual classroom .................................................................................................... 17
10.5 Payment ................................................................................................................................................... 18
10.6 Online tuition agencies/ company platforms ........................................................................................... 18
11. Benefits of online tuition ................................................................................................................................ 19
11.1 Online tuition as a back-up or hybrid form of tutoring ............................................................................ 20
11.2 Benefits – specific examples .................................................................................................................... 20
11.3 Disagreements over the benefits of online tuition .................................................................................. 21
11.3.1 Child safety – less of an issue in online tuition? ............................................................................... 21
11.3.2 Can online tuition result in improved learning? ............................................................................... 22
11.4 Online tuition and educational equality ................................................................................................... 23
12. Barriers to online tuition ................................................................................................................................ 25
12.1 Significant differences of opinion among tutor subsets .......................................................................... 26
12.1.1 Face-to-face vs. online tutors ........................................................................................................... 26
12.1.2 Differences across subjects ............................................................................................................... 28
12.1.3 Geographical differences .................................................................................................................. 29
12.1.4 Music tuition – a special case ........................................................................................................... 30
Appendix 1: Sample sizes...................................................................................................................................... 33
Appendix 2: Survey questions .............................................................................................................................. 34
2
Foreword
Online tuition is a growing segment of the private tuition industry, and yet very little information is
in the public domain.
The publication of The Tutor Pages’ survey of almost 400 tutors seeks to address this.
The results we present will be useful for anyone with an interest in online tuition: from tutors,
parents and students to schools and voluntary, public or private organizations.
We welcome any comments or feedback by email to web@thetutorpages.com.
3
1. Summary
Online tuition is a growing segment of the private tuition industry1, and our survey of almost 400
tutors demonstrates that a wide variety of tutors across the UK are tutoring online. Our research
found that only a small percentage of tutors teach exclusively online, suggesting that it is still a niche
occupation. However, many more tutors teach online in addition to face-to-face tuition, and there
was significant enthusiasm for tutoring online among those who had yet to try it.
According to our results, online tutors teach mainly secondary age children and adults. Subjects such
as science and maths dominate, but English, foreign languages and other humanities subjects are
also well represented. Although online tutors could be based almost anywhere in the UK, we found
that the majority of tutors already tutoring online are based in London and the south of England.
The demand for online tuition seems to be particularly strong for sciences and languages (including
English), and at secondary and adult level. Interestingly, across the UK, it is London-based tutors
who are more likely to be asked to tutor online, despite the fact that online tuition could feasibly
take place almost anywhere.
Parents are choosing online tuition generally because of its convenience, the difficulty of finding a
suitable tutor in their area, or the fact that they live overseas and their child follows a UK curriculum.
Our results suggest that most UK tutors do not make any significant reduction in their fees for online
tuition, and so price is less likely to be a factor in why parents choose an online tutor. This also
means that one of the claims of online tuition – that it makes tuition more affordable for less welloff families – is not convincing.
The vast majority of tutors use the free version of Skype to tutor online, indicating that other
commercial online tuition platforms or specialist agencies are yet to make significant inroads in this
market.
Tutors agreed that there were many overall benefits of online tuition, but there was significant
disagreement over whether it was specifically beneficial for students. The majority of those who
tutored exclusively online believed that students learnt better online. However, the view was mixed
among those who tutored both online and face-to-face, and those who did not tutor online. In
particular, there was concern over how to build rapport with the student and their family, and the
problems of distraction and lack of focus when the tutor is not present in the same room. Broadband
speed was also seen as an issue, especially for tutors in more rural areas.
Finally, one of the biggest barriers to online tuition was a perceived lack of information available.
Our report seeks to help address this.
1
see for example http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationadvice/10741448/Online-learning-tutors-at-your-fingertips.html
4
2. Introduction
2.1 Survey aims
Our aim was to conduct a broad survey of the online tuition landscape in the UK, and to investigate
for the first time a set of fundamental questions about this growing industry. These questions
included:





Who is tutoring online, and in what subjects?
What is the demand for online tuition, and what is driving it?
How are online tutors marketing themselves, and what kind of income are they generating?
What technologies are online tutors using?
What are the perceived benefits of, and barriers to, online tuition?
2.2 Who took our survey?
385 self-selecting private tutors took our survey on online tuition between November and December
2014. Tutors were from a wide variety of backgrounds, with the majority (over 90%) being based in
the UK. The full breakdown of participants and subgroups is included in Appendix 1.
Tutors were alerted to the survey through various channels. These included The Tutor Pages (its
database of tutors, Linkedin group, forum and blog), the College of Teachers, the Association for
Language Learning, the Association of Teachers of Mathematics, the Incorporated Society of
Musicians, the European String Teachers Association and the Tutorhub website.
Over half of those we surveyed tutored only face-to-face (59%). We encouraged these tutors to take
part so that we could understand their attitude to online tuition as well as inform them about the
various aspects of online tuition.
36% of tutors taught both face-to-face and online, and only 6% tutored exclusively online.
Our full survey questionnaire is included in Appendix 2.
5
2.2 What is online tuition?
Online tuition can be defined as:
‘synchronous (live) tuition provided by a human tutor over the internet to one or more
students’
This is a definition approved by the online tuition working group of The Tutors' Association (TTA) in
the UK.
Online tuition usually involves text chat, audio or video (for example through Skype). It can also
involve:






an online whiteboard (an online workspace where text, graphs and images can be shared in
real time). Example: Scribblar
video conferencing (which combines video and/or audio chat, screen-sharing, file sharing,
session recording and online whiteboards). Example: Gotomeeting
a virtual classroom (similar to video conferencing, but with an education focus). Example:
WizIQ
online tuition agencies (which charge commission for sourcing students and providing a
virtual classroom). Example: Tutorhub
online payment technology. Example: Paypal
asynchronous elements (such as emailing or sending back completed assignments)
Following TTA’s definition, if a human tutor is not involved in real time, we don’t class it as online
tuition. Therefore, online tuition excludes the use of pre-recorded online videos, tests or gaming
(provided by, for example, the Khan Academy or The Maths Factor).
6
3. Who is tutoring online?
The variety of subjects taught by the tutors we surveyed is illustrated overleaf.
Tutors who taught exclusively online tended to teach mainly at secondary level, with science being
the dominant subject.
For those tutors who taught both face-to-face and online, the picture was very varied. In addition to
maths and science, a large number of these tutors were teaching English, Arts and Humanities as
well as foreign languages and English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Teaching secondary level students
and adults (over 18s) online was much more common than teaching primary-level students online.
Moreover, unlike those who tutored exclusively online, some tutors in this group taught musical
instruments and singing online.
The other subjects not included in the charts but taught online by a small number of tutors were:
business studies, economics, statistics, ICT, university entrance, the BioMedical Admissions Test
(BMAT), American SAT and ISEE tests, and genealogy.
Those tutoring online were based in all parts of the UK and abroad, as illustrated below:
Location of online tutors
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
7
8
4. Tutors’ enthusiasm for online tuition
We asked those who only tutored face-to-face whether they would like to tutor online in the future.
Only 21% answered ‘No’, while 44% answered ‘Yes’ and 35% weren’t sure. And when asked whether
they were considering tutoring online in 2015, 33% answered ‘Yes’ and 37% answered ‘Maybe’.
Although these answers suggest a strong enthusiasm for online tutoring, there is an obvious selfselection bias. This is because participants had elected to take a survey on online tuition, and were
thus likely to be more interested in online tuition than other tutors.
However, more revealing is how the levels of enthusiasm varied between different subgroups of
tutors, as shown below:
120.0%
100.0%
80.0%
60.0%
40.0%
% Considering online tuition in
2015
20.0%
0.0%
% Would like to tutor online in
future
* sample< 10
As can be seen, those teaching sciences, foreign languages, secondary subjects and adults seem to
be the most interested in tutoring online. This is perhaps because they viewed online tuition as more
appropriate for their subject, as confirmed in section 12.1.2.
London-based tutors also seem more keen to tutor online compared to those living in the rest of the
UK. This result may seem counter-intuitive, since it might be expected that those living outside the
capital might have more difficulty sourcing students locally, and would therefore be more willing to
tutor online.
However, this finding may in part be explained by the fact that London-based tutors are more likely
to have been offered online tuition work, as explained in the next section.
9
5. Demand for online tuition
Potential demand for online tuition also seems to vary among different subgroups of tutors. As
illustrated below, we asked those who tutor exclusively face-to-face whether they’ve had to turn
down clients because they don’t offer online tuition.
% face-to-face tutors who've had to turn down clients
because they don't offer online tuition
40.0%
35.0%
30.0%
25.0%
20.0%
15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
*sample<10
As can be seen, the greatest unfulfilled demand for online tuition seems to come from adult
learners, and those studying English/ Arts/ Humanities or Sciences.
It was surprising for us to see that London-based tutors were more than twice as likely to be asked
to tutor online than those living in the rest of the UK. Therefore, even though one of the
assumptions of online tuition is that it is independent of location, our results suggest that Londonbased tutors are being offered significantly more online tuition opportunities.
Research conducted by the Sutton Trust has shown that the demand for private tuition is much
higher in London2. It is noteworthy that our research now suggests that London-based tutors are
also more in demand as online tutors – though whether this demand is from clients within London or
further afield we were not able to ascertain.
2
http://www.suttontrust.com/newsarchive/londoners-likely-pay-extra-tuition-demand-remains-high/
10
6. Income derived from online tuition
As can be seen below, almost half (44%) of tutors who taught both face-to-face and online derived a
tenth or less of their tutoring income from online tuition. 42% of this group of tutors derived
between 10% and 60% of their tutoring income from online tuition, with only a small percentage
deriving more than 60% of their tutoring income from online tuition.
% of tutors
This is in stark contrast to those who tutored exclusively online, who by definition derived 100% of
their tuition income from online tutoring. This contrast, together with the fact that only a relatively
small number of survey participants tutored exclusively online (6%), suggests that being a full-time
online tutor is still a niche occupation.
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
% tutoring income derived from online tuition
(tutors who taught both face-to-face and online)
Further analysis of the above results suggests that there was also some variation across locations,
levels and subjects. For example, those tutoring foreign languages and EFL and those tutoring adults
seemed to have a more equal balance between online and face-to-face tuition.
11
6.1 Online and face-to-face tuition fees compared
Online tuition is viewed by many tutors as more convenient because travel time and costs are not
incurred. We were therefore interested to see whether tutors charged the same for their tuition
sessions online compared to face-to-face.
We asked those tutors who had experience of both online and face-to-face tuition about their
tuition fees.
Exactly half of tutors tended to charge the same fee, while around a quarter (23%) charged 70%100% of their face-to-face fee.
How does your online tuition fee compare to your
face-to-face tuition fee?
60.0%
% of Tutors
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
>200%
190-200%
180-190%
170-180%
160-170%
150-160%
140-150%
130-140%
120-130%
110-120%
100-110%
same
90-100%
80-90%
70-80%
60-70%
50-60%
40-50%
30-40%
20-30%
10-20%
0-10%
0.0%
We also suspect that some tutors misinterpreted this survey question. These tutors indicated that
they charge 0-10% of their face-to-face fee for online tuition, when it is likely that they meant 90100% of their face-to-face fee.
In their comments, a number of tutors expressed ambivalence over whether they should be charging
less for online tuition. These comments are discussed in section 11.4.
12
7. Reliability of online clients
We asked online tutors and those who tutor both face-to-face and online which clients tended to be
more reliable. We focused on three areas: the long-term commitment of clients, whether their
payments are fast and reliable, and how likely there is to be a cancellation or ‘no show’.
As can be seen below, many tutors thought that online clients were just as reliable as face-to-face
clients. However, online tuition was quite often seen as more unreliable than face-to-face tuition,
especially in respect of the long-term commitment of clients.
60.0%
Percentage of Tutors
50.0%
40.0%
both the same
30.0%
face-to-face clients
20.0%
online clients
don't know
10.0%
0.0%
long-term fast/ reliable
fewer
commitment payments cancellations/
no shows
The perceived increased likelihood of unreliable clients online may be related to the difficulty some
tutors have reported in establishing rapport online and in developing ongoing relationships with
parents online. This issue is discussed in section 12. One tutor explicitly brought up the problem of
online unreliability as follows:
‘In general my experience tells me that primary and secondary education clients do not like
online tutoring and those that use it don’t take it serious[ly]. They think they can stop any time.
They see it as an anonymous interaction where there is no relationship between the teacher
and the client’
13
8. Finding new clients online
We asked tutors how they obtained clients for online tuition. Overall, the most useful ways of
obtaining online tuition clients were identified as tutors’ own online marketing, tutor directories,
word of mouth and conversion of face-to-face clients to online:
For those who tutored exclusively online, the emphasis was slightly different, with specialist online
tuition agencies or companies being the most popular way to obtain clients:
For both groups of tutors, Google Ads were seen as the least useful of all options. This is interesting
because Google Ads are often viewed as one of the best ways to market a business online.
14
9. Parents’ reasons for choosing online tuition
According to tutors, the top two reasons parents were choosing online tuition were its convenience,
or the lack of tutors in their local area. The third most popular reason was to find a tutor to teach the
UK curriculum while the family is living overseas. As can be seen in the second chart below, this was
a reason strongly identified by those who tutor exclusively online, suggesting that this is a market
which full-time online tutors have been particularly successful in exploiting.
All those who tutor online
-100%
-50%
0%
50%
100%
more convenient than face-to-face tuition
(e.g. no need to travel)
can’t find a suitable tutor in local area
living overseas but child following UK
curriculum
not a reason
converted to online tuition by the tutor
slight reason
strong reason
sourcing a tutor for an uncommon subject
very strong reason
cheaper than face-to-face tuition
safer than face-to-face tuition
request from child themselves
Those who tutor exclusively online
-100%
-50%
0%
50%
100%
more convenient than face-to-face tuition
(e.g. no need to travel)
living overseas but child following UK
curriculum
can’t find a suitable tutor in local area
not a reason
safer than face-to-face tuition
slight reason
strong reason
sourcing a tutor for an uncommon subject
very strong reason
converted to online tuition by the tutor
request from child themselves
cheaper than face-to-face tuition
15
10. Technology
We gave those who tutored online broad scope to indicate the technology they used.
10.1 Equipment and functionality
There was a broad consensus on the kind of equipment used to tutor online, as illustrated in the
chart below. Two respondents also mentioned use of an Ipad.
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
In terms of functionality (below), most tutors were using video (71%). The options of sharing content
or the tutor’s own screen were also popular (various types of commercial software facilitate these
functions, as described in 10.3 and 10.4). Many tutors were still only using audio in their online
lessons (38%) which may be linked to the limitations of software, hardware or broadband speed (see
section 12). A small number of tutors also mentioned the use of email, telephone and mind-mapping
software.
80.0%
60.0%
40.0%
20.0%
0.0%
video
share content screen share
audio only record lesson
16
10.2 Video services
Turning to the various commercial offerings available, Skype was by far the most popular video
service, with 81% of tutors indicating that they used it. In addition to Apple’s Facetime and Google
Hangouts below, other services mentioned by a small number of tutors were Facebook Video, Viber
and QQ.
100.0%
80.0%
60.0%
40.0%
20.0%
0.0%
Skype
Facetime
Google
Google Talk
Hangouts
(one-to-one)
(group chat)
Skype
Premium
10.3 Whiteboard and similar
Among the specialist online whiteboard technologies often used by maths and science tutors,
Scribblar was the most popular. Google Docs – with its function to collaborate on documents in real
time – was also popular. Other applications receiving a single mention were: Open-Sankoré,
Sketchbook Express, GoodNotes and Twiddla.
15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
10.4 Video conferencing/ virtual classroom
Other types of software are often referred to as video conferencing or virtual classrooms, and the
bespoke educational tool Wiziq was the most popular among these. As well as those listed below,
Blackboard Collaborate was mentioned twice, and Moodle, Teamviewer and Vyew were each
mentioned once.
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
Wiziq
Gotomeeting
Webex
Adobe
Connect
join.me
17
10.5 Payment
Regarding payments for online tuition, bank/ BACs transfer and Paypal were almost equally as
popular. Aside from the other methods included below, a small number of tutors were using card
processing services such as Worldpay, a facility which they are likely to have set up on their own
websites.
80.0%
60.0%
40.0%
20.0%
0.0%
bank/ BACS
transfer
Paypal
Cheque
MoneyGram/
card
Western Union processing
service (e.g.
Worldpay)
10.6 Online tuition agencies/ company platforms
Various bespoke online tuition agencies or companies exist for tutors in the UK and worldwide.
Typically, they offer a number of services rolled into one: students will be sourced for tutors, tuition
will take place on the company’s own website, and payments will automatically be paid to tutors
minus a commission.
The UK-based companies Tutorhub and MyTutorWeb were used most frequently by respondents to
our survey (see below). Bigfoot Tutors, Fleet Tutors and Evotuition – all UK-based – also received
two mentions each by tutors.
Those online tuition companies which received only a single mention were: TutorTap, Mactrac and
Tute (UK-based), and Verbalplanet, Talk-Planet and Tutor Universe (based outside the UK).
20.0%
15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
Tutorhub
Mytutorweb Bigfoot Tutors Fleet Tutors
Evotuition
18
11. Benefits of online tuition
We asked all tutors what they thought about the benefits of online tuition. We included tutors who
hadn’t tutored online before, since it was useful to know what they imagined the benefits might be.
The majority of tutors recognized that many aspects of online tutoring were either very or extremely
beneficial, with several tutors indicating they were strong advocates:
‘Online tutoring must be the future to better access to knowledge at a more affordable cost’
‘…Think it is the future, definitely’
‘I tutor exclusively online now. It has been the best single improvement I have ever made to my
tuition business’
Top among the perceived benefits were location (the possibility of tutoring or being tutored from
anywhere), convenience (no need to travel or have the student/ tutor in the home) and flexibility (a
greater number of scheduling options during the day, or for shorter periods).
-60%
-40%
-20%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Marketing – tutors have
access to a larger market
Choice – clients have
access to a larger market
Convenience – there's no
need to travel or have the
student/tutor in the home
The benefits
of online tuition All Tutors
Flexibility – there are
more scheduling options during
the day, or for shorter periods
Location – it is possible to tutor
or be tutored from anywhere
disagree/ not beneficial
at all
slightly beneficial
Privacy – there's no intrusion
into the tutor's or student's home
Safety – child safety is less
of an issue compared to
face-to-face tuition
Financial – from the tutor's perspective,
there are no travel costs, and more than
one student can easily attend lessons
moderately beneficial
very beneficial
extremely beneficial
Financial – from the client's perspective,
tuition is available at a lower cost
than face-to-face tuition
Improved Learning – online tuition
means that students are more relaxed
and/ or more focused in lessons
Health – less exposure to colds and flu
Environment – no travel means
reduced carbon emissions
19
As expected, those who tutored exclusively online believed even more strongly in its benefits. This
group was unanimous in perceiving the following five aspects of online tuition to be wholly
beneficial:
-60% -40% -20%
0%
20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Choice – clients have
access to a larger market
Convenience – there's no
need to travel or have the
student/tutor in the home
Flexibility – there are
more scheduling options during
the day, or for shorter periods
Location – it is possible to tutor
or be tutored from anywhere
The benefits
of online tuition
- Online only
tutors
disagree/ not beneficial at all
slightly beneficial
moderately beneficial
very beneficial
extremely beneficial
Financial – from the tutor's perspective,
there are no travel costs, and more than
one student can easily attend lessons
11.1 Online tuition as a back-up or hybrid form of tutoring
Some tutors familiar with both face-to-face and online tuition saw online tuition as a ‘back-up’, or
part of a ‘hybrid’ model of private tuition, as they explained below:
‘On-line tuition has worked very well for me for the past 2 years, but can not replace face-toface tuition; but it is a good & effective 2nd best… and opens up a so much bigger
market/clientèle base’
‘I believe online teaching to be a 'back-up' in conjunction with face-to-face teaching and not a
substitute’
‘Instrumental [music] teaching works well with some degree of direct personal contact but
occasional online tuition can be helpful’
‘I am quite new at this but what has been working well for me is a hybrid model where I work
with a student online most of the time but still visit the home for the first session and then
once every 4 to 6 weeks after that. The first session is very helpful for getting the students set
up with the technology and making the parents feel at ease. The subsequent visits help the
parents remember me as a human being they might want to recommend to their friends’
11.2 Benefits – specific examples
Other tutors gave concrete examples of the benefits of online tuition, particularly in regard to
flexibility:
‘As a school-age tutor who does 3/4 sessions after school each day and 3/4 on a Saturday this
is the only way I can increase the number of sessions I can teach, (apart from homeschooled
20
children or going into schools) without giving up more of my weekends. My student lives in
Dubai so the time difference means I can teach earlier in the day’
‘[Online tuition means that] women on mat[ernity] leave can access courses. Also means tutors
can still work with young families/babies’
‘Night workers can use online tuition to seek a tutor in a different country where it's daytime,
so they can fix up a 3am violin lesson’
‘Online tuition can provide much greater disability equality as there is no difficulty with
parking, access to premises, etc.’
11.3 Disagreements over the benefits of online tuition
There were two key areas of disagreement over the benefits of online tuition: child safety and
improved learning.
11.3.1 Child safety – less of an issue in online tuition?
As illustrated below, those tutoring at primary age level believed more strongly than average that
child safety was less of an issue with online tuition:
-60% -40% -20%
All tutors
0%
20%
40%
60%
80% 100%
Child safety is less of
an issue compared
to face-to-face tuition
disagree/ not beneficial at all
Primary subjects
slightly beneficial
moderately beneficial
Secondary subjects
very beneficial
extremely beneficial
This ties in with our finding that 1 in 4 tutors believed that child safety was either a strong or very
strong reason why parents were choosing online tuition (see section 9). As one tutor remarked,
‘Child safety is one major factor - not just for the child but false allegations could be made against
the tutor’.
Having said that, there was also strong support for the opposite opinion; for example:
‘I think child safety could be more of a concern with online tuition due to the fact that parents
do not actually get to meet the tutor in person, and therefore can't build a true relationship
with him/her. An online tutor can be more anonymous as they won't necessarily be known
locally. As with computer games and TV programmes, the student maybe unsupervised and,
therefore, online tuition could potentially be a medium through which paedophiles would seek
to operate’
21
11.3.2 Can online tuition result in improved learning?
The idea that online tuition could result in improved learning compared to face-to-face tuition was
the most controversial of its suggested benefits, as illustrated below:
-60% -40% -20% 0%
All tutors
Face-to-Face & online
Online only
Face-to-face only
20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Improved Learning –
online tuition means
that students are more relaxed
and/ or more focused in lessons
Primary subjects
Secondary subjects
Adults
Maths & Science
English/ Arts/ Humanities
Foreign Languages & EFL
disagree/ not beneficial at all
slightly beneficial
moderately beneficial
very beneficial
extremely beneficial
Music & Singing
The strongest belief in the possibilities of improved learning was among those who tutor exclusively
online, those who only tutor adults and those who tutor foreign languages or EFL (English as a
Foreign Language).
In addition, there was a stronger belief in improved learning as a benefit in the online tuition of
secondary compared to primary age pupils. This was reflected in various comments:
‘Modern youths' experience with mobiles, ipads and whatnots should make them much more
amenable to online tuition than their parents might imagine’
‘I am unsure of the suitability of online tuition for students who are struggling and those of
primary school age’
‘I think it would be a lot harder to hold the attention of a primary school student. I teach
Mathematics and for younger students I feel more physical demonstration with objects that
both tutor and student can touch us necessary for understanding’
One tutor commented that online tuition could work better for children with certain special
educational needs:
‘Improved learning: children with problems like anxiety, AD/HD, mild autism can find it much
easier to relate to a teacher who is not in the same room’
However, there was also significant opposition to the idea that students might be in a better frame
of mind for learning with online tuition:
‘I wonder how focused students would be with so many distractions in their home’
‘I think a student could be too relaxed, or in fact distracted when being tutored online’
22
‘Regarding the convenience of not having to leave the house, this could sometime be an issue
with children whose attention you have to grab’
‘I think in some ways, online tuition is harder- for example, it can be hard to get children to
focus and concentrate.’
Discussion of the potential barriers to learning associated with online tuition is discussed in section
12.
11.4 Online tuition and educational equality
Due to its perceived lower costs and improved accessibility, it has been argued that online tuition
can contribute to educational equality in society. We asked tutors three questions related to this
topic as shown below:
Compared to face-to-face
tuition, online tuition can benefit
poorer families because it is
more affordable
All tutors
strongly disagree
Online tuition can drive greater
educational equality in society
disagree
neither agree nor
disagree
agree
Online tuition should be used in
state schools
strongly agree
0%
20%
40%
60%
80% 100%
As illustrated by the grey areas, almost half of tutors were non-committal on these questions.
Responses somewhat differed among those who tutor online:
Compared to face-to-face
tuition, online tuition can benefit
poorer families because it is
more affordable
All those who
tutor online
strongly disagree
Online tuition can drive greater
educational equality in society
disagree
neither agree nor
disagree
agree
Online tuition should be used in
state schools
strongly agree
0%
20%
40%
60%
80% 100%
23
As can be seen, those who tutor online were slightly less convinced that online tuition can benefit
poorer families because it is more affordable. This may be due to the assumption of affordability
implied by the statement, as well as anxiety over tuition rates:
‘I haven't come across online tuition that is cheaper’
‘I think due to the competitive market online tuition can be more expensive than face-to-face
even discounting travel costs’
‘I don't believe that online tuition should be cheaper than face-to-face tuition as the tuition is
still the same’
‘My time is still worth one hour's pay wherever I am!’
‘To lower my rates to work online would be financial suicide!’
On the other hand, this group of tutors was as a whole more convinced that online tuition can drive
educational equality in society. Although several tutors pointed out that poorer families often do not
have access to the required technology at home, others recognized the advantage of greater access
to a range of tutors:
‘[I]t does mean that more tutors are available to more students, allowing equality to develop’
‘It would help educational equality due to being able to access good tutors who are in a
different geographical location to the pupil’
Those who tutored online were also more amenable to the idea of online tuition being used in state
schools, though across all tutors there was a wide range of opinion:
‘I think that schooling should be face to face, otherwise, how do children learn how to interact
properly?’
‘I am not sure that online tuition would be feasible in state schools’
‘[I]t really depends on the maturity of the child, as to whether online tuition will work’
‘[Online tuition] could be used in state schools for very specific circumstances like foreign
language learning where it is better to learn from a native speaker’
‘Agree with the caveat that online tuition does not exempt teachers from pastoral care. Online
tuition in state schools would make it even easier for vulnerable pupils to slip through the
cracks’
‘My current employer, a sixth form college, is actively exploring the potential for online
tutoring - mainly to enable students to work at their own pace and to embrace the online
marking of examinations by multiple markers that is being introduced by examination bodies’
24
12. Barriers to online tuition
As well as asking tutors about the benefits of online tuition, we asked them about barriers to
tutoring online. The results from all tutors can be seen below:
-80% -60% -40% -20%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
Technology can never be a substitute
for the physical presence of the tutor
Online tuition is not appropriate for the subject(s) I
teach
It is too troublesome for me to learn and adapt to
online technology
There's a lack of information about online tuition
for tutors or clients
All tutors
Compared to face-to-face tuition, it is difficult to
establish rapport with the student online
Online tuition technology is not advanced enough
Online tuition technology (software/ hardware) is
too expensive
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Broadband speed presents a major issue
With online tuition, it's difficult to see what the
student is doing
Agree
Strongly Agree
Compared to face-to-face tuition, online tuition
requires more preparation time from the tutor
Parents seem to be opposed to the medium of
online tuition
Online tuition makes it difficult to establish an
ongoing relationship with parents
Online tuition is only suitable for adults and
secondary school level tuition
Online tuition requires greater concentration from
the student and tutor
For music tuition, the presence of the tutor is
essential to make physical adjustments to posture
From the above, it is clear that the majority of tutors did not think that their ability to adapt to
online technology was a significant barrier, and neither did they on the whole think that the
available technology was limited or too expensive. Instead, the main technological issue appears to
be broadband speed.
In addition, most tutors agreed that one of the most significant barriers was the lack of available
information about online tuition for tutors or clients.
25
Aside from this, the major barriers perceived by tutors were mainly associated with the online
medium itself. These included the problems of establishing rapport, seeing what the student is
doing, the increased levels of concentration required, and establishing a relationship with parents.
Resistance from parents or clients was also identified as another factor, as illustrated by these
comments:
‘I’ve had a lot of people turn down tuition from me because it's online and not face-to-face ...
No other reason given, just "we’d rather in person"’
‘In my opinion, the main resistance from potential clients to online tuition comes from a lack of
information about how it works (many first think of email-based tuition) and confusion over
whether there is a "real" tutor involved’
The following is one tutor’s summary of the barriers they face, echoing a number of the survey
findings above:
‘I charge the same for online tuition as I do for visiting a student in their own home as there is
more prep involved with scanning and emailing documents which cannot be emailed as pdfs or
docs. In fact, even more prep has to be done as it is more inconvenient to be spontaneous
during the lesson- I can't just leave them to their own devices while I find a resource online or
on my computer to support something which comes up during the lesson.
‘There is also a more intense 'performance' for the entire hour as it feels inappropriate to get
them started on an activity while I mark their homework as I could do with a face-to-face
client. I have to be constantly engaged in discussion; there is no 'downtime'.
‘Homework has to be emailed, printed, marked and annotated prior to the lesson which takes
up additional time and resources.
‘I also have to observe the student's facial expressions and body language continually to assess
his understanding, something which is obviously much easier to do face-to-face!’
12.1 Significant differences of opinion among tutor subsets
The overall survey responses masked some striking differences of opinion among subsets of tutors,
particularly between face-to-face tutors and online tutors, and across subject disciplines.
12.1.1 Face-to-face vs. online tutors
Compared to the average, tutors who only taught face-to-face viewed all barriers to online tuition as
greater. In particular, this subset of tutors was deeply sceptical over whether technology could ever
be a substitute for the physical presence of the tutor, and over the prospects of establishing rapport
with students online. The extreme contrast with the views of exclusively online tutors can be seen
below:
26
Technology can never be a substitute for the physical presence
of the tutor
-100%
-50%
0%
50%
100%
All tutors
Face-to-Face & online
Online only
Face-to-face only
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
Compared to face-to-face tuition, it is difficult to establish
rapport with the student online
-100%
-50%
0%
50%
100%
All tutors
Face-to-Face & online
Online only
Face-to-face only
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
Comments such as the following from face-to-face tutors were not uncommon:
‘When I teach, I am watching and sensing students' non-verbal feedback about how they are
finding the task/activities. This includes posture, facial expression, tone of voice and how tense
they seem to be physically. I think this would be more difficult on-line’
‘From my point of view, body language and expression can be hidden on an online medium and
as a teacher, this is a vitally important factor when working with a student to ensure you're
able to get the most out of them and that they're still engaged with what they're learning!’
There was particular concern among some special needs tutors:
‘I cannot do "special needs" tuition via a screen!’
‘…dyslexics especially will suffer from this trend as they must have multisensory teaching to
make good progress’
Many tutors who only tutor face-to-face, however, had never tried online tuition. In this regard,
rather than comparing their responses with those of exclusively online tutors (who are likely to be
strong advocates of the medium), it is interesting to compare them with the responses of those who
tutor both face-to-face and online. As expected, the views of this third group of tutors lie
somewhere in between the two groups (see above), and suggest that attitudes can change once
tutors have tried online tuition.
Further, though less stark, differences in opinion between these three subgroups of tutors are
illustrated below.
27
Compared to face-to-face tuition, online tuition requires more
preparation time from the tutor
-100%
-50%
0%
50%
100%
All tutors
Face-to-Face & online
Online only
Face-to-face only
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
With online tuition, it's difficult to see what the student is
doing
-100%
-50%
0%
50%
100%
All tutors
Face-to-Face & online
Online only
Face-to-face only
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
Online tuition makes it difficult to establish an ongoing
relationship with parents
-100%
All tutors
Face-to-Face & online
Online only
Face-to-face only
-50%
0%
50%
100%
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
12.1.2 Differences across subjects
We asked tutors whether online tuition was appropriate for the subjects they taught (see below).
Firstly, it is clear that primary level tutors were more sceptical than secondary level tutors, a finding
corroborated by our analysis of the benefits of online tuition (section 11).
Those teaching maths and science seemed to view online tuition as more appropriate for their
subject than those teaching English, Arts or Humanities. Those teaching foreign languages and EFL
(English as a Foreign Language) held similar opinions, and overall were the most certain that the
technology for online tuition was advanced enough. Similarly, those who only tutored adults were
also more confident in the appropriateness of online tuition, and were the least likely of all
subgroups to see establishing rapport with the student as a significant barrier.
28
Finally, out of all groups, music teachers (comprising singing and instrumental teachers) were the
most likely to think that online tuition was not appropriate for their subject. This group of tutors had
strikingly different views on many issues, and their responses are therefore discussed separately in
section 12.1.4.
Online tuition is not appropriate for the subject(s) I teach
-100%
-50%
0%
50%
100%
All tutors
Face-to-Face & online
Online only
Face-to-face only
Primary subjects
Secondary subjects
Adults
Maths & Science
English/ Arts/ Humanities
Foreign Languages & EFL
Music & Singing
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
12.1.3 Geographical differences
We have already seen in section 5 that demand for online tuition varies across the country. Our
results also suggest that broadband speed might present more of an issue for those living outside
London:
Broadband speed presents a major issue
-100%
All tutors
Face-to-Face & online
Online only
Face-to-face only
London-based
Rest of UK
-50%
0%
50%
100%
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
As one tutor commented,
‘I live rurally. Our internet connection is probably not fast enough. Hopefully it will improve
fairly soon’
29
12.1.4 Music tuition – a special case
Musicians have for years recognized the usefulness of online videos for improving technique, and
the easy access to footage of top musicians and innumerable instructional videos is seen by some as
invaluable.
Although a distinction needs to be made between this kind of online content and online tuition (see
section 2.2), some businesses succeed in providing both. One example in the music world is Pro-Am
Strings (www.proamstrings.com).
In our survey, among the tutors who identified themselves as teaching exclusively musical
instruments or singing,


16% tutored both face-to-face and online (no music tutors were teaching exclusively online);
among those teaching only face-to-face, 27% wanted to try online tutoring (33% of
instrumental music teachers, and 15% of singing teachers)
Despite these figures, out of all types of tutors, music teachers were most sceptical of online tuition,
as already seen in section 12.1.2.
81% of music teachers agreed that ‘Technology can never be a substitute for the physical presence
of the tutor’. The visual and auditory limitations of the online medium were picked up by many
music teachers, including the problems associated with teaching vocal health:
‘I'm extremely doubtful if Skype could provide good enough audio, even assuming that both
parties possess a very expensive microphone and speaker system’
‘for online tuition in singing to be satisfactory, the clarity of vision and sound in the technology
would have to be equal to actually being in the same physical space - if this technology even
exists at this time, I suspect it would be prohibitively expensive’
‘Young voices are undeveloped and really need the presence of the teacher to hear and
monitor their vocal health. I have a 13 year old who downloaded an app. to sing with her
friends and she has developed very bad nasal habits through this which are difficult to
eradicate’
‘As a music teacher, can you hear resonance and space properly via an online speaker/mic set
up, can you still determine vocal health problems, hear strange tones/noises and deduce what
they are and whether they need fixing and how to fix them? Will students adjust their singing
style to sing 'with a mic / in the studio'[?] Studio singing is very different to singing classical
repertoire face to face in a room with good acoustics and no microphone’
As the comments above also corroborate, our survey results showed that music teachers were the
most concerned out of all tutors over the expense and limitations of available technologies.
Next, there was overwhelming agreement over the kinaesthetic barrier presented by online tuition,
as illustrated by music teachers’ responses to one of our survey questions:
30
For music tuition, the presence of the tutor is essential to make
physical adjustments to posture
-100%
Music & Singing
Musical Instruments
Singing
-50%
0%
50%
100%
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
Finally, other music tutors picked up on less quantifiable, but nevertheless important, aspects at risk
of being lost in online tuition. This included presence, communication, motivation, rapport and
support:
‘Much of what I do depends on face to face communication, on physical presence’
‘It will [be] like being in prison. For musicians it has to be a three dimensional world. Online is
digital sound which gives very poor biofeedback for both student and student . There is no
comparison to the real thing.’
‘…will children sustain the same level of interest if you're not there making it exciting and fun
in person?’
‘Music tuition is not just about imparting knowledge and technique. It is about building
rapport, friendship and in many cases becoming a mentor and counsellor to the pupils.
Someone to confide in. This is especially true in singing teaching where the voice is intrinsically
linked to the emotions and state of mind of the pupil’
Despite the strong scepticism over online tuition, some music teachers, like academic tutors (see
section 11.1), saw the advantages of a ‘hybrid’ model :
‘I feel it works best for students who have had face to face lessons first then move to online
lessons once certain fundamentals have been covered and both student and teacher know the
"sound" of each other’
‘Is this a medium solely for people who can already sing but need some help with theory or
note production/tuning?’
‘Results are certain to be possible but in instrumental teaching they won't compare with being
in the same room as a fine teacher’
To conclude this section, music teachers’ scepticism over online tuition needs to be placed in the
context of the 16% of music teachers who are already using it, the 27% who would like to try it, and
the overwhelming recognition of its benefits, as illustrated by music teachers’ responses to the
questions we posed in section 11:
31
-60% -40% -20% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Marketing – tutors have access to a larger
market
Choice – clients have access to a larger
market
Convenience – there's no need to travel or
have the student/tutor in the home
Benefits of Online Tuition Musical Instrument
and Singing Teachers
Flexibility – there are more scheduling
options during the day, or for shorter periods
Location – it is possible to tutor or be tutored
from anywhere
Privacy – there's no intrusion into the tutor's
or student's home
Safety – child safety is less of an issue
compared to face-to-face tuition
disagree/ not beneficial at all
slightly beneficial
moderately beneficial
very beneficial
extremely beneficial
Financial – from the tutor's perspective,
there are no travel costs, and more than one
student can easily attend lessons
Financial – from the client's perspective,
tuition is available at a lower cost than
face-to-face tuition
Improved Learning – online tuition means
that students are more relaxed and/ or more
focused in lessons
Health – less exposure to colds and flu
Environment – no travel means reduced
carbon emissions
32
Appendix 1: Sample sizes
Total
All Tutors
Primary subjects
Secondary subjects
Adults
Maths & Science
Maths
Sciences
English/ Arts/
Humanities
Foreign Languages
& EFL
Foreign Languages
EFL
Musical Instruments
& Singing
Musical Instruments
Singing
London-based
UK outside London
385
19
46
25
107
61
26
23
"I only tutor
face-toface"
226
15
25
11
65
39
15
14
"I only tutor "I tutor faceonline"
to-face and
online"
22
137
0
4
8
13
4
10
7
35
1
21
6
5
4
5
56
27
3
26
32
18
64
19
8
52
1
2
0
12
8
12
41
19
81
272
32
16
47
167
0
0
4
11
9
3
30
94
all those
who tutor
online
159
NB. Subject subgroups consist of tutors who exclusively tutor that subject (e.g. primary subjects or
maths), and so do not contain all tutors who tutor that subject. Composite subgroups such as Maths
& Science include those who tutor either subject, or both subjects. Therefore, the aggregate
numbers in such groups can be higher than the totals of their component groups (such as Maths and
Science) but lower than the total number of those who tutor these as well as other subjects.
33
Appendix 2: Survey questions
Introduction
Online tuition is a growing segment of the private tuition industry, and yet very little information is in the public domain.
The Tutor Pages is running this survey not only to find out what UK private tutors think about online tuition, but also to help them become
better informed. You don't have to have tutored online to complete our survey - in fact, if you've never tutored online, this is your
opportunity to find out more.
The survey will take about 10 minutes to complete, and is suitable for private tutors who teach academic subjects, languages, music or
anything else.
Definition
Online tuition can be defined as 'synchronous (live) tuition provided by a human tutor over the internet to one or more students'. This is a
definition approved by the online tuition working group of the UK Tutors' Association.
Online tuition usually involves text chat, audio or video (for example through Skype). It also sometimes involves:
an online whiteboard (an online workspace where text, graphs and images can be shared in real time). Example: Scribblar
video conferencing (which combines video and/or audio chat, screen-sharing, file sharing, session recording and online whiteboards).
Example: Gotomeeting
a virtual classroom (similar to video conferencing, but with an education focus). Example: WizIQ
online tuition agencies (which charge commission for sourcing students and providing a virtual classroom). Example: Tutorhub
online payment technology. Example: Paypal
asynchronous elements (such as emailing or sending back completed assignments)
If the tuition does not include a human tutor, it is not online tuition. Therefore, online tuition excludes the use of pre-recorded online videos,
tests or gaming (such as Khan Academy or The Maths Factor).
1) Are you a private tutor?*
( ) Yes
( ) No
2) Where do you live?*
( ) North East England
( ) North West England
( ) Yorkshire and Humberside
( ) West Midlands
( ) East Midlands
( ) East Anglia
( ) London
( ) South East England
( ) South West England
( ) Scotland
( ) Wales
( ) Northern Ireland
( ) Outside UK
3) Please select from the following.*
( ) I only tutor face-to-face
( ) I only tutor online
( ) I tutor both online and face-to-face
34
Logic: Hidden unless: Question "Please select from the following." #3
is one of the following answers ("I only tutor face-to-face")
4) Which subject(s) do you teach?
currently
tutor
face-toface
would
like
to
tutor
online
Primary
Maths
[]
Primary
Sciences
[]
[]
Primary
English/ Arts/
Humanities
[]
[]
Primary
Foreign
languages
[]
[]
Primary
English as a
Foreign
Language
[]
[]
Secondary
Maths
[]
Secondary
Sciences
[]
Secondary
English/ Arts/
Humanities
[]
Secondary
Foreign
Languages
[]
Secondary
English as a
Foreign
Language
[]
Adult (over
18s) Maths
[]
Adult (over
18s) Sciences
[]
Adult (over
18s) English/
Arts/
Humanities
[]
Adult (over
18s) Foreign
languages
[]
Adult (over
18s) English
as a Foreign
Language
[]
Musical
instrument(s)
[]
[]
Singing
[]
[]
Professional
subjects
(accountancy,
law etc)
[]
[]
Public
speaking/
elocution
[]
[]
Other (please
enter in text
box below)
[]
[]
[]
Comments:
Logic: Hidden unless: Question "Please select from the following." #3
is one of the following answers ("I only tutor online")
5) Which subject(s) do you teach?
please
tick
Primary
Maths
[]
Primary
Sciences
[]
Primary
English/ Arts/
Humanities
[]
Primary
Foreign
languages
[]
Primary
English as a
Foreign
Language
[]
Secondary
Maths
[]
Secondary
Sciences
[]
Secondary
English/ Arts/
Humanities
[]
Secondary
Foreign
Languages
[]
Secondary
English as a
Foreign
Language
[]
Adult (over
18s) Maths
[]
[]
[]
[]
[]
[]
[]
[]
[]
[]
[]
35
Adult (over
18s) Sciences
[]
Secondary
Sciences
[]
[]
Adult (over
18s) English/
Arts/
Humanities
[]
Secondary
English/ Arts/
Humanities
[]
[]
[]
[]
Secondary
Foreign
Languages
[]
Adult (over
18s) Foreign
languages
[]
[]
Secondary
English as a
Foreign
Language
[]
Adult (over
18s) English
as a Foreign
Language
[]
[]
Adult (over
18s) Maths
[]
Musical
instrument(s)
[]
[]
Adult (over
18s) Sciences
[]
Singing
Professional
subjects
(accountancy,
law etc)
[]
Adult (over
18s) English/
Arts/
Humanities
[]
[]
Public
speaking/
elocution
[]
Adult (over
18s) Foreign
languages
[]
[]
Other (please
enter in text
box below)
[]
Adult (over
18s) English
as a Foreign
Language
[]
[]
Musical
instrument(s)
[]
[]
Singing
[]
[]
Professional
subjects
(accountancy,
law etc)
[]
[]
Public
speaking/
elocution
[]
[]
Other (please
enter in text
box below)
[]
[]
Comments:
Logic: Hidden unless: Question "Please select from the following." #3
is one of the following answers ("I tutor both online and face-toface")
6) Which subject(s) do you teach?
currently
tutor
face-toface
currently
tutor
online
Primary
Maths
[]
[]
Primary
Sciences
[]
[]
Primary
English/ Arts/
Humanities
[]
[]
Primary
Foreign
languages
[]
[]
Primary
English as a
Foreign
Language
[]
[]
Secondary
Maths
[]
[]
Comments:
Logic: Hidden unless: Question "Please select from the following." #3
is one of the following answers ("I only tutor face-to-face")
7) You don't currently tutor online. Would you like to in future?*
( ) Yes
( ) No
( ) Not sure
Logic: Hidden unless: Question "Please select from the following." #3
is one of the following answers ("I only tutor face-to-face")
8) Have you had to turn down clients because you don't offer online
tuition?*
( ) Yes
( ) No
Logic: Hidden unless: Question "Please select from the following." #3
is one of the following answers ("I only tutor face-to-face")
9) Are you considering online tuition in 2015?*
36
( ) Yes
( ) No
( ) Maybe
Logic: Hidden unless: Question "Please select from the following." #3
is one of the following answers ("I tutor both online and face-toface")
10) Please estimate the percentage of your private tuition income which
comes from online tuition.*
( ) 0-10%
( ) 10-20%
( ) 20-30%
( ) 30-40%
( ) 40-50%
( ) 50-60%
( ) 60-70%
( ) 70-80%
( ) 80-90%
( ) 90-100%
( ) prefer not to say
Logic: Hidden unless: Question "Please select from the following." #3
is one of the following answers ("I tutor both online and face-toface")
11) In percentage terms, how does your online tuition fee compare to
your face-to-face tuition fee?*
( ) 0-10% of face-to-face fee
( ) 10-20%
( ) 20-30%
( ) 30-40%
( ) 40-50%
( ) 50-60%
( ) 60-70%
( ) 70-80%
( ) 80-90%
( ) 90-100%
( ) same as face-to-face fee
( ) 100-110%
( ) 110-120%
( ) 120-130%
( ) 130-140%
( ) 140-150%
( ) 150-160%
( ) 160-170%
( ) 170-180%
( ) 180-190%
( ) 190-200%
( ) >200%
Logic: Hidden unless: Question "Please select from the following." #3
is one of the following answers ("I only tutor online")
12) If you used to tutor face-to-face, in percentage terms how does your
online tuition fee compare to your face-to-face tuition fee?*
( ) I've never taught face-to-face
( ) 0-10% of face-to-face fee
( ) 10-20%
( ) 20-30%
( ) 30-40%
( ) 40-50%
( ) 50-60%
( ) 60-70%
( ) 70-80%
( ) 80-90%
( ) 90-100%
( ) same as face-to-face fee
( ) 100-110%
( ) 110-120%
( ) 120-130%
( ) 130-140%
( ) 140-150%
( ) 150-160%
( ) 160-170%
( ) 170-180%
( ) 180-190%
( ) 190-200%
( ) >200%
Comments:
Logic: Hidden unless: Question "Please select from the following." #3
is one of the following answers ("I only tutor online","I tutor both
online and face-to-face")
13) In your experience, which type of clients are better for... ?*
facetoface
both
the
same
online
don't
know
long-term
commitment
()
()
()
()
fast/ reliable
payments
()
()
()
()
fewer
cancellations/
no shows
()
()
()
()
Logic: Hidden unless: Question "Please select from the following." #3
is one of the following answers ("I only tutor online","I tutor both
online and face-to-face")
14) How useful have the following been for obtaining online tuition
clients? (please add anything else in the comments section).*
not
use
ful
at
all
sligh
tly
usef
ul
moder
ately
useful
ver
y
use
ful
extre
mely
useful
word of
mouth /
client
referral
()
()
()
()
()
convers
ion of
face-toface
clients
to
online
()
()
()
()
()
own
marketi
ng
(online)
()
()
()
()
()
own
marketi
ng
(offline
)
()
()
()
()
()
social
media
(e.g.
Facebo
ok,
Linkedi
n,
Twitter
)
()
()
()
()
()
traditio
nal
tuition
agencie
s
()
()
()
()
()
37
speciali
st
online
tuition
agencie
s/
compan
ies
()
online
tutor
director
ies (e.g.
The
Tutor
Pages)
()
classifi
ed ads
website
s (e.g.
Gumtre
e)
()
Google
Ads
()
()
()
()
()
()
()
()
()
()
()
()
()
()
tuition
()
not a
reas
on
sligh
t
reas
on
stron
g
reas
on
()
very
stron
g
reas
on
can’t
find a
suitable
tutor in
local
area
()
converte
d to
online
tuition
by the
tutor
()
living
overseas
but child
followin
g UK
curriculu
m
()
()
()
()
()
sourcing
a tutor
for an
uncomm
on
subject
()
()
()
()
()
cheaper
than
face-toface
()
()
()
()
()
()
()
()
()
()
()
()
()
()
()
safer
than
face-toface
tuition
()
()
()
()
()
request
from
child
themselv
es
()
()
()
()
()
()
Comments:
Logic: Hidden unless: Question "Please select from the following." #3
is one of the following answers ("I only tutor online","I tutor both
online and face-to-face")
15) In your experience, what are the reasons parents are choosing online
tuition instead of face-to-face tuition? (Please add anything else to the
Comments box)*
don
't
kno
w
more
convenie
nt than
face-toface
tuition
(e.g. no
need to
travel)
Comments:
Logic: Hidden unless: Question "Please select from the following." #3
is one of the following answers ("I only tutor online","I tutor both
online and face-to-face")
Please select any types of online tuition technology you use
below, leaving blank checkboxes if necessary.
Logic: Hidden unless: Question "Please select from the following." #3
is one of the following answers ("I only tutor online","I tutor both
online and face-to-face")
16) Functionality
[ ] video
[ ] audio only
[ ] screen share
[ ] record lesson
[ ] share content
[ ] other: _________________________________________________
()
()
()
Logic: Hidden unless: Question "Please select from the following." #3
is one of the following answers ("I only tutor online","I tutor both
online and face-to-face")
17) Video services
[ ] Skype
[ ] Skype Premium
[ ] Google Talk (one-to-one)
[ ] Google Hangouts (group chat)
[ ] other: _________________________________________________
Logic: Hidden unless: Question "Please select from the following." #3
is one of the following answers ("I only tutor online","I tutor both
online and face-to-face")
18) Whiteboard and similar
[ ] Idroo
[ ] Scribblar
[ ] Talk and Write
[ ] Realtimeboard
[ ] Oneko
[ ] Prezi
[ ] gyazo.com
[ ] Google Docs
[ ] Cosketch
[ ] other: _________________________________________________
Logic: Hidden unless: Question "Please select from the following." #3
is one of the following answers ("I only tutor online","I tutor both
online and face-to-face")
19) Video conferencing/ Virtual Classroom
[ ] Webex
[ ] Gotomeeting
[ ] Wiziq
38
[ ] join.me
[ ] Facetime
[ ] other: _________________________________________________
[ ] built-in computer microphone
[ ] built-in computer speakers
[ ] built-in laptop/ computer webcam
[ ] headset microphone and speakers
[ ] external microphone
Logic: Hidden unless: Question "Please select from the following." #3
[ ] external speakers
is one of the following answers ("I only tutor online","I tutor both
[ ] external webcam
online and face-to-face")
20) Equipment
[ ] digital pen
[ ] digital pen and tablet
[ ] BACS transfer
[ ] Trust Flex
[ ] Cheque
[ ] actual whiteboard
[ ] other: _________________________________________________
[ ] other: _________________________________________________
Logic: Hidden unless: Question "Please select from the following." #3
Logic: Hidden unless: Question "Please select from the following." #3
is one of the following answers ("I only tutor online","I tutor both
is one of the following answers ("I only tutor online","I tutor both
online and face-to-face")
22) Online tuition agency/ company platform
online and face-to-face")
21) Payment
[ ] Tutorhub
[ ] Paypal
[ ] Mytutorweb
[ ] MoneyGram
[ ] other: _______________________________________________
23) What do you think are the benefits of online tuition (even if you've not experienced them)? (Please include any other benefits in the Comments section).*
disagree/ not
beneficial at
all
slightly
beneficial
moderately
beneficial
very
beneficial
extremely
beneficial
don't
know
Marketing – tutors have access to a
larger market
()
()
()
()
()
()
Choice – clients have access to a
larger market
()
()
()
()
()
()
Convenience – there's no need to
travel or have the student/tutor in the
home
()
()
()
()
()
()
Flexibility – there are more scheduling
options during the day, or for shorter
periods
()
()
()
()
()
()
Location – it is possible to tutor or be
tutored from anywhere
()
()
()
()
()
()
Privacy – there's no intrusion into the
tutor's or student's home
()
()
()
()
()
()
Safety – child safety is less of an issue
compared to face-to-face tuition
()
()
()
()
()
()
Financial – from the tutor's
perspective, there are no travel costs,
and more than one student can easily
attend lessons
()
()
()
()
()
()
Financial – from the client's
perspective, tuition is available at a
lower cost than face-to-face tuition
()
()
()
()
()
()
Improved Learning – online tuition
means that students are more relaxed
and/ or more focused in lessons
()
()
()
()
()
()
Health – less exposure to colds and flu
()
()
()
()
()
()
Environment – no travel means
reduced carbon emissions
()
()
()
()
()
()
24) Some people have argued that online tuition might contribute to educational equality in society. Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?*
strongly
disagree
neither
agree
strongly
39
disagree
agree
nor
disagree
agree
Compared to face-to-face tuition, online tuition can benefit
poorer families because it is more affordable
()
()
()
()
()
Online tuition can drive greater educational equality in society
()
()
()
()
()
Online tuition should be used in state schools
()
()
()
()
()
25) Finally, please rate your response to the following statements about barriers to online tuition.*
strongly
disagree
disagree
neither
agree
nor
disagree
agree
strongly
agree
Technology can never be a substitute for the physical presence of the tutor
()
()
()
()
()
Online tuition is not appropriate for the subject(s) I teach
()
()
()
()
()
It is too troublesome for me to learn and adapt to online technology
()
()
()
()
()
There's a lack of information about online tuition for tutors or clients
()
()
()
()
()
Compared to face-to-face tuition, it is difficult to establish rapport with the
student online
()
()
()
()
()
Online tuition technology is not advanced enough
()
()
()
()
()
Online tuition technology (software/ hardware) is too expensive
()
()
()
()
()
Broadband speed presents a major issue
()
()
()
()
()
With online tuition, it's difficult to see what the student is doing
()
()
()
()
()
Compared to face-to-face tuition, online tuition requires more preparation time
from the tutor
()
()
()
()
()
Parents seem to be opposed to the medium of online tuition
()
()
()
()
()
Online tuition makes it difficult to establish an ongoing relationship with parents
()
()
()
()
()
Online tuition is only suitable for adults and secondary school level tuition
()
()
()
()
()
Online tuition requires greater concentration from the student and tutor
()
()
()
()
()
For music tuition, the presence of the tutor is essential to make physical
adjustments to posture
()
()
()
()
()
40