Questions to Ask a Tutor
Questions for parents and students interviewing a tutor, covering subject background, how a session is actually spent, homework expectations, how progress gets reported, and rates and cancellation terms. Useful before a trial lesson or a first paid session.
The questions
Open any question for the note
Which subjects and levels do you teach regularly, and which is your strongest?
Why ask it
Tutors who list eight subjects across every grade are usually strong in one or two and passable in the rest. Asking them to rank makes the honest ones name a narrower specialty, which is what you want.
What is your own background in this subject, and how long have you tutored it?
Why ask it
Subject knowledge and teaching experience are separate things, and a page short of both is a red flag. A graduate student who has taught this course twice may be better than a career tutor who last studied it at school.
How will you find out what my child already knows before you start teaching?
Why ask it
The answer separates diagnostic tutors from ones who work through a book. Look for something concrete: a short written check, going through a recent test question by question, or asking the student to explain a topic back.
What does a typical session look like, minute to minute?
Why ask it
You are listening for how the time splits between the tutor talking and the student working. Sessions that are mostly explanation feel productive and produce little, because the student never practises while help is available.
Have you worked with a student in a similar situation, and how did that go?
Why ask it
Ask for one case and let them tell it. Useful answers include what did not work at first, and vague reassurance that all students improve tells you they are not tracking outcomes.
What do you need from us to work effectively: the textbook, the syllabus, past tests, the teacher's name?
Why ask it
Tutors who ask for graded work and the course outline are aligning with what the student is actually assessed on. Those who say they will bring their own materials may end up teaching a parallel course, which adds load rather than removing it.
How will we know in six weeks whether this is working?
Why ask it
Push for something observable: a grade band, a specific skill, less time on homework, fewer blank answers on tests. If the only proposed measure is confidence, you will have no basis for deciding whether to continue.
How much work do you expect between sessions, and what happens if it is not done?
Why ask it
Tutoring rarely works at one hour a week with nothing in between, so a tutor with no expectation there is selling supervision. Also worth hearing whether unfinished work becomes a conversation or eats the session.
Do you follow the school's curriculum, or teach the subject your own way?
Why ask it
Both can work, but they suit different problems: following the class helps a student who is falling behind, while teaching from foundations helps one whose gaps are older than this year. A tutor who has not considered the difference will default to whichever they prefer.
What do you do when a student gets stuck and shuts down?
Why ask it
This is the moment that decides whether tutoring lasts. Look for a described technique, breaking the problem down, switching to something achievable, naming the frustration out loud, rather than an assurance that it does not happen.
How do you keep a student working rather than watching you solve problems?
Why ask it
Passive sessions are the single most common way paid tutoring fails, and the student often reports enjoying them. Good answers involve the tutor doing less: waiting, asking the student to narrate, letting a wrong attempt run before correcting it.
Do you help with homework, or is that separate from what you teach?
Why ask it
Worth settling early, because families and tutors often assume opposite answers. A tutor who becomes a homework finisher raises grades briefly and teaches nothing, so ask how they draw that line.
What is your approach when a student is a year or more behind?
Why ask it
Going back to earlier material is usually necessary and always unpopular. A tutor who commits to catching the student up on the current chapter regardless of foundation gaps will produce a repeat of the same problem next term.
If this is for a specific exam, how do you prepare for it and what improvement is realistic?
Why ask it
Ask for the range they usually see and the hours it took. A guaranteed score jump is not something anyone can promise, and a tutor who names a plateau or a hard case is more credible than one who does not.
Do you have experience with diagnosed learning differences, and what training?
Why ask it
Dyslexia, ADHD and processing differences need specific methods, not just patience. Ask what training and which approaches, and be cautious of anyone who says they treat every student the same way as though that were the answer.
How and how often will you report back to us, and will the student see it?
Why ask it
A short note after each session, or a monthly summary, is normal; silence until you ask is not. Whether the student sees the report matters too, since older students often work better when the feedback is not going over their heads.
What is your rate, and do you charge for preparation, travel or materials?
Why ask it
Hourly rates hide add-ons, and some tutors bill planning time or a minimum block. Get the monthly total at your intended frequency so you are comparing the same thing across candidates.
What is your cancellation policy, and does it work both ways?
Why ask it
Most tutors charge for late cancellations, which is reasonable, but the fair version also covers what happens when they cancel. Ask about illness, holidays and whether unused sessions expire.
How long do your students usually work with you, and how do you decide when to stop?
Why ask it
A tutor who has an exit in mind is thinking about the student rather than the booking. Answers describing students who stay for years without a stated goal suggest dependence has become the service.
Can I speak with a family you worked with on something similar?
Why ask it
One conversation surfaces the things a testimonial will not: reliability, whether the child looked forward to it, whether anything actually changed. New tutors may not have references, which is fine if you start with a short trial instead.
Choosing and using a tutor
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before you start looking
Get clear on what the problem is
Missing foundations, poor study habits, test anxiety, a subject the student has decided they hate, and a difficult teacher all look like a bad grade and need different help. Look through recent graded work and see where marks are actually being lost before hiring anyone.
Ask the classroom teacher first
Teachers usually know precisely which topics the student is missing and often say so in a sentence. It is free, it is specific, and it gives the tutor a starting point instead of a guess.
Involve the student in the choice
A student who was not consulted tends to treat sessions as a punishment. Let them sit in on the interview or the trial and give their view afterwards, and take it seriously even when the objection sounds trivial.
What to watch in a trial session
- 1Who is holding the pencil. The student should be writing and attempting for most of the hour.
- 2What happens after a wrong answer. Look for a question back, not an immediate correction.
- 3Whether the tutor found out anything about the student, or just started teaching.
- 4Whether the student can explain, afterwards, what they worked on and why.
- 5Whether the tutor gave anything to do before next time, and whether it was sized realistically.
Warning signs
Guaranteed grades or scores
Nobody can promise a result that depends on the student's work, the school's marking and the exam itself. A guarantee tells you how the tutor sells, not how they teach.
Large packages paid up front
Discounts for twenty sessions bought in advance transfer all the risk to you before you know whether the fit works. Pay for a few, review, then commit.
Sessions the student describes as easy
Real learning usually feels effortful. When a student reports that the hour was pleasant and nothing was hard, they may have watched someone else do the work.
No contact with what happens at school
A tutor who never asks about tests, assignments or the syllabus is running a separate course. Grades sit in the school's system, so the work has to connect to it.
Once tutoring has started
- Set a review point at four to six weeks and hold it, with the graded work in front of you.
- Keep the student's homework as their own. A tutor's job is to make the next assignment possible, not to complete this one.
- Tell the tutor about tests and deadlines in advance so sessions can be aimed rather than general.
- Watch attendance and mood as data. A student who suddenly cannot make sessions is often telling you something about the fit.
- Plan for it to end. Agree what would have to be true for tutoring to stop, and check against it periodically.