Questions to Ask a Tutor
Questions to ask a tutor before you hire one, for parents and for older students choosing their own. The 75 questions open with what to ask during a tutoring interview: background and references, how a session is spent, how progress is measured and reported, and rates, scheduling and cancellation terms. Two shorter groups follow: questions to ask your tutor at a first tutoring session and in the ones after it, and questions to ask a new tutee when you are the one teaching.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Background
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 you need to hear about both. A graduate student who has taught this course twice may be better than a career tutor who last studied it at school.
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 often strong in one or two and passable in the rest. Asking them to rank gets the honest ones to name a narrower specialty, and you can check it against the subject you are hiring for.
What qualifications, teaching credentials or tutoring certificates do you hold?
Why ask it
A teaching licence, a degree in the subject and a certificate from a tutoring company are three different things, so ask which they have and what earning it involved. Rules on who may call themselves a tutor vary by place and are often loose, so the paper tells you less than how they have done with students like yours.
Have you worked with a student in a similar situation, and how did that go?
Why ask it
Ask for one student, not a summary, and let them tell it from the start. The detail to listen for is what did not work at first and what they changed. 'They all improve' means nobody is keeping track.
Can you give me references, ideally a family you helped with something similar?
Why ask it
One phone call tells you what a written testimonial leaves out: whether the tutor turned up on time, whether the child minded going, whether anything changed at school. A new tutor may have no references yet, which is fine if you begin with a short paid trial instead.
How familiar are you with the syllabus, exam board or state standards my child's school follows?
Why ask it
One subject is taught in a different order and examined in a different style from one school system to the next. A tutor who knows yours can tell you what is coming next term. One who does not should offer to read the course outline before the first session.
What age or grade do you most enjoy teaching?
Why ask it
Someone who lights up about ten-year-olds can be flat with a seventeen-year-old, and the reverse. Enjoyment turns into patience around minute forty, so a candidate who names your child's age unprompted is ahead of one who says every age is fine.
Why did you start tutoring, and how long do you plan to keep doing it?
Why ask it
Some people tutor between jobs and some because they like the moment a student gets it, and either can teach well. The second half is the practical part: a student who loses their tutor in March starts over with a stranger just before exams.
Have you had a background check, and can we see it or arrange one?
Why ask it
An ordinary request to make of anyone who will be alone with a child, and a professional will not bristle at it. What a check covers and who is allowed to request one differs by country and state, so ask the agency or look up how it works where you live.
Teaching
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. An hour that is mostly explanation can feel productive and leave little behind, because the student never practises while help is in the room.
How would you describe your teaching style?
Why ask it
Nearly every answer opens with patient and tailored, so follow up: when did you last change approach halfway through a session, and what made you? A real style shows up in the example, and a rehearsed one stops at the adjectives.
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 materials do you teach from, and what do you need from us: the textbook, the course outline, past tests?
Why ask it
Tutors who ask for graded work and the course outline are lining up with what the student is actually assessed on. One who brings only their own worksheets can end up teaching a second course alongside the school's, which adds to the load. Ask too whether there is anything you would have to buy.
How do you build confidence in a student who has decided they are bad at this subject?
Why ask it
Praise on its own tends to wear off by the next bad mark. The answer to hope for is about early wins the student can see for themselves, such as a type of problem they failed last month and can now do unaided. Ask what the tutor says straight after a wrong answer, since that is where confidence is made or lost.
When your first explanation does not land, what do you try next?
Why ask it
Saying the same words again more slowly is the weak answer. Strong tutors carry two or three routes into a topic, such as a drawing, a worked example or a smaller version of the problem. Name a topic your child finds hard and ask to hear two of them.
What do you do when a student gets stuck and shuts down?
Why ask it
This is the moment that decides whether a student keeps coming. Look for a described technique, such as shrinking the problem, switching to something they can do, or saying the frustration out loud. 'That doesn't really happen with me' is not an answer.
How do you work with a student who does not want to be tutored?
Why ask it
Plenty of students arrive under protest, so anyone experienced has met this. Listen for giving the student some say, over which topic comes first or how the hour is divided. Promises to make the subject fun tend to last about two sessions.
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 turns into a homework finisher may lift grades for a few weeks without teaching much, so ask where they draw that line.
How much work do you expect between sessions, and what happens if it is not done?
Why ask it
One hour a week with nothing in between is a thin amount of practice, so ask what they set and how long it should take. Also worth hearing whether unfinished work becomes a conversation or eats the next session.
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 never popular. A tutor who promises to keep up with the current chapter whatever the gaps underneath is likely to hand you the same problem again 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 fixed 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.
Have you worked with students with dyslexia, ADHD or another learning difference, and what training do you have for it?
Why ask it
Ask which methods they use and where they learned them, since patience is not a method. The school's learning support staff, or whoever made the assessment, can tell you what kind of teaching to look for. 'I treat every student the same' is a reason to keep looking.
Do you teach study skills alongside the subject, such as note-taking, planning and how to revise?
Why ask it
Many students who look weak at a subject are weak at organising the work around it. If the tutor says yes, ask what that looks like in a session, because a planner filled in once by an adult changes nothing.
Progress
What goals would you set for the first month?
Why ask it
A tutor who has listened can name two or three: finish the fractions unit, fix how an essay is structured, get through a past paper inside the time limit. If the goals would fit any student, the plan for yours has not been made yet.
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 long does it usually take before a student like mine starts to improve?
Why ask it
Honest tutors give a range and say what it depends on, mostly how old the gaps are and how much practice happens between sessions. Be wary of a visible difference promised after one lesson.
What happens if my child is not making progress?
Why ask it
The first thing to hear is that they would tell you before you noticed. After that, good answers include changing the approach, meeting more often for a while, or saying plainly that the student needs a kind of help they do not offer.
How will you keep us updated, and will my child see what you report?
Why ask it
A short note after each session and a monthly summary are both common. Silence until you ask is the one to avoid. Whether the student sees the report matters too, since older students often work better when the feedback is not going over their heads.
Can I sit in on a session now and then, or would you rather I stayed out of the room?
Why ask it
Many tutors are happy to be watched once, and will tell you honestly that some children perform for a parent and others clam up. A fair middle is the first session, or the last ten minutes, when the student shows you what they did. With a young child, a flat no deserves a second question.
Will you be in touch with my child's teacher, and how would that work?
Why ask it
Some schools welcome an email from a tutor and some will only talk to parents, so ask the school how it handles this as well. Where direct contact is not possible, passing on the teacher's comments from returned work does most of the same job.
What can we do at home to support what you are teaching?
Why ask it
Expect something small and specific: ten minutes of reading aloud, a quiet table, not rescuing the homework. A tutor who asks nothing of the household is working with one hand, and one who sets parents an hour a night has not pictured a weekday evening.
How do you keep track of what was covered from one session to the next?
Why ask it
Written notes, a shared document or a running list of errors all do the job. Memory does not: the tutor re-teaches what was fine and misses what slipped. Notes also mean a replacement has something to start from if this tutor moves on.
How long do your students usually work with you, and how do you decide when to stop?
Why ask it
A tutor with an end in mind is thinking about the student more than the booking. If some students stay for years, ask what the goal was each year. A good answer names one.
Cost and logistics
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.
Which days and times are you free, and would that slot be ours every week?
Why ask it
The same day and hour each week matters more than a convenient one, since a moving slot is the first thing to get dropped in a busy month. Ask what happens to your time around exams, when a tutor's diary fills up.
How long is each session, and how often do you recommend meeting?
Why ask it
A young child may be finished after forty minutes, while an exam candidate can use ninety. Ask for the reasoning behind the number. Twice a week with no reason attached is a booking, not a plan.
Where would sessions take place: our home, yours or somewhere public like a library?
Why ask it
Each has a catch. Home is easy and full of distractions, a library is neutral but may not allow talking, and a tutor's home means you need to be comfortable with the setting. With a younger child, ask whether a parent is expected to stay within earshot.
Do you tutor online, and what would the student need set up?
Why ask it
Online sessions work when both sides can write and see each other's working, so ask about a shared whiteboard, a tablet and pen, or a camera pointed at the page. A video call where the tutor talks over a fixed worksheet is the version to avoid.
Is this one-to-one, or do you also teach small groups?
Why ask it
Groups cost less per student and suit someone confident who mainly needs practice. A student who hides gaps in a class of thirty will hide them in a group of four as well, so let the reason you are hiring decide the format.
Do you offer a trial session, and is it charged?
Why ask it
Charging for a trial is fair, since it is still an hour of work. The points to confirm are that nobody is committed afterwards and that the student gets a vote on whether there is a second session.
How do you take payment, and is there a contract or a minimum number of sessions?
Why ask it
Paying per session, or monthly for sessions already taught, leaves you free to stop. If an agency agreement sets a minimum block or a notice period, read that clause before signing and ask what is refunded if the tutor leaves partway through.
What happens over school holidays?
Why ask it
Some tutors pause, some expect the slot to be paid for to hold it, and some run intensive blocks before exams. Settle it in the first week, or the first long break will settle it for you with an invoice or a lost slot.
If you become unavailable, who takes over and what would you hand them?
Why ask it
Tutors graduate, move and take full-time jobs, often in the middle of a school year. The answer you want is a handover: session notes, the list of gaps, where the student is in the plan. Through an agency, ask whether you can meet the replacement before agreeing.
For students
Can I tell you what I find hardest before we begin?
Why ask it
At a first session the tutor often knows only what a parent or a report card said, which may be a grade and nothing more. Two minutes from you on the topic that keeps going wrong saves them an hour of guessing.
What are we going to work on first, and why that?
Why ask it
A tutor who has looked at your work can say why they are starting where they are. If the answer is chapter one because it comes first, tell them which chapter your class has reached.
Is it all right if I stop you when I am lost?
Why ask it
The answer will be yes, and it is still worth asking. You have said out loud that you will interrupt, which makes it much easier to do in week three, when the work is harder.
Can you show me a different way to do this one?
Why ask it
Most tutors have a second method and only bring it out when asked. Say which step lost you. 'I don't get it' sends them back to the beginning, while 'I was fine until you moved the 3' gets you the part you need.
Can I try the next one myself while you watch?
Why ask it
Following along as a tutor solves a problem feels like understanding until you sit the test alone. Working one through in front of them shows the exact line where it goes wrong, and that is the line the session should be about.
Do you have more questions like this one that I can practise on?
Why ask it
One worked example is rarely enough to make a method stick, and your tutor will have similar problems to hand or know where to find them. Ask for a couple that are slightly harder than the one you just did, so you find out whether the method stretches.
What mistake do I make most often?
Why ask it
Your tutor sees a pattern across weeks that is invisible from inside one worksheet: dropped minus signs, misread questions, skipped steps. Once you know your repeat error you can check for it yourself before handing work in.
What should I do first when I get stuck and you are not there?
Why ask it
The point of having a tutor is to need one less over time. Ask for a routine you can follow alone, such as rereading the question, finding a similar worked example and writing down what you do know, then try it on the next homework.
Why does this method work?
Why ask it
Steps you have only memorised fall apart when the exam words the question differently. If the why is too long for today, ask them to write it down and begin with it next time.
Can we go back over something from a few weeks ago that I have lost again?
Why ask it
Forgetting is normal, and tutors expect it far more than students think. Raising it costs five minutes now. Hiding it costs the next topic, which is usually built on top of the one that slipped.
What would you practise this week if you were me?
Why ask it
It turns 'do some revision' into two or three named things. Write them down before the session ends, because the list has usually gone by the time you are home.
How am I doing compared with when we started?
Why ask it
It is easy to feel stuck when every week brings a harder topic. Your tutor can point at something you could not do a month ago. If they hesitate, that is worth knowing too, because it means the plan needs to change.
How should I get ready for the test on this topic?
Why ask it
Give them the date and the format if you know it. A tutor can plan backwards from the day, and will often suggest that the last sessions go on timed practice instead of new material.
What should I bring next time?
Why ask it
Marked tests and the homework you could not finish are worth more than a tidy exercise book. Arriving with the questions that went wrong means the hour starts on your real problem instead of a guess at it.
For tutors
What made you decide to get a tutor now?
Why ask it
Put it to the student as well as the parent, because the two answers often differ. A parent says grades. The student says one test that went badly, or a teacher who goes too fast, and that version tells you where to start.
Can you show me the last piece of work that went wrong?
Why ask it
Marked work shows where the marks went, which 'I'm bad at maths' never does. Go through it together and have the student talk you through one wrong answer before you explain anything.
Which parts of this subject feel fine to you?
Why ask it
Starting from what works gives a nervous student something to be right about in the first ten minutes. It also marks the edge of the problem, since the trouble often begins one topic past the last one they name.
What would you like to be able to do by the end of term that you cannot do now?
Why ask it
A goal in the student's own words, even a small one such as finishing a paper inside the time, gives you something to check against in a month. If all you get is 'be better at it', offer two options and let them pick.
What do you like doing when you are not at school?
Why ask it
Football, baking or building game mods will all hand you examples for the next ten weeks. A percentages problem about shots saved holds a goalkeeper's attention longer than one about a shop discount, and the student notices that you remembered.
What happens in class when you get lost?
Why ask it
Some students put a hand up, some copy a neighbour, and plenty go quiet and wait for the bell. Whichever it is, a new tutee will do the same with you until you show them that being lost in this room costs nothing.
Have you had a tutor before, and what did you like or dislike about it?
Why ask it
Someone who was drilled through worksheets last time arrives braced for more of them. What put them off is the thing to avoid in your first hour together, and what they liked is a method already tested on this student.
When something new is explained, what helps you most: watching it worked, trying it yourself or talking it through?
Why ask it
Treat the answer as an order to try things in and not as a label, since most students need all three at different moments. Being asked at all tells the student the sessions will bend to them.
When and where do you usually do the homework for this subject?
Why ask it
Ten at night on the bed with a phone in reach is a different problem from not understanding the work. You are not judging the routine. You are finding out how much practice it can hold, so that what you set gets done.
What would you like me to do when you get something wrong?
Why ask it
Hardly anyone has been asked this, so give them a moment. One student wants to be stopped at once and another wants to finish the line and find the slip alone. Having agreed it in advance takes the sting out of your first correction.
Is there a test or a piece of coursework coming up that you are worried about?
Why ask it
A deadline nine days away rewrites the plan for the first three sessions, and students rarely volunteer it. Put the date where you can both see it and say what you will do about it before then.
What should I know about you that would make these sessions easier?
Why ask it
It is left open on purpose. You might hear that they hate reading aloud, that they come straight from training and are hungry, or that they need a moment before answering. None of that is in a school report.
How did you get that answer?
Why ask it
Ask it after right answers as well as wrong ones, or the student learns that the question means they have slipped. A correct answer reached by a shaky method is better found by you than by the exam.
What do you think the next step is?
Why ask it
It hands the pencil back at the point where you would otherwise take over. Then wait. The silence feels long to you and is working time for them, so count to five before offering a hint.
Can you explain that back to me as if I had missed the lesson?
Why ask it
A nod tells you nothing, and 'does that make sense?' nearly always gets a yes. Hearing the idea in their words shows which half of your explanation arrived and which half you need to try again.
How would you like to hear from me, and how often?
Why ask it
This one is for the parent, and it is best settled in the first week: a text after each session, a monthly call, a shared page of notes. Ask the student too what they are happy for you to pass on, since an older student who thinks you report everything stops telling you what is hard.
Choosing and using a tutor
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Which questions to ask when
First message or phone call
Start with Background and Cost and logistics. Experience, references, the rate and whether the weekly slot exists are the answers that rule a tutor in or out, and none of them needs a meeting.
The tutoring interview or trial session
Teaching is the group to spend time on here. Pick four or five that match the reason you are hiring, name a real topic the student finds hard, and ask the tutor to show you instead of describe.
Before you agree to continue
The Progress questions set the terms for the first review. Ask them once the tutor has met the student, when the answers can be about this child and not students in general.
From the first tutoring session on
The For students group belongs to the student. Its first three are for the opening session and the rest fit any session after it. A tutor can only answer the questions that get asked, and two of these in a session will change how the hour is spent more than anything a parent arranges.
If you are the tutor meeting a new tutee
The For tutors group is the other side of the table. The first twelve are for a first session with a new student, the next three are worth asking in every session after it, and the last is for the parent.
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
The teacher often knows which topics the student is missing and can say so in a sentence or two. It costs nothing, 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.
If you hire through an agency or a platform
- Ask who chose this tutor for your child and on what basis: subject, level, availability or simply who was free.
- Ask what vetting the company does itself, and what it leaves to you.
- Find out whether you can change tutor without a fee if the fit is wrong after two or three sessions.
- Read the notice period and the terms for unused prepaid sessions before paying for a block.
- Check whether progress reports come from the tutor or from an account manager who has not met the student.
Warning signs
Promised 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.