New tutoring requests
Once your account is approved you can start to receive new tutoring requests from clients (students or their guardians). When a client wants to enquire about your tutoring they'll send you a message and you'll receive an email notification. To view their message and send a reply, simply login and select My account then Messages.
You should reply to messages as quickly as possible (ideally the same day) and within 48 hours. The client may have contacted multiple tutors and if you take too long to respond they will likely have already made arrangements with a different tutor.
It is entirely at your discretion as to whether you accept or decline a tutoring request, but you should always reply accordingly. You may need to ask for additional details in order to assess your suitability and availability for the tutoring.
Arrange lessons
To arrange a lesson, simply contact the student (or their guardian) directly via the messaging system to suggest suitable days and times (if required, confirm the student's timezone). If you need to rearrange or cancel, simply send another message, giving as much notice as possible. There's no need to log the lesson into any booking system, the lesson will be automatically logged after it has occurred.
You will also need to be linked to the student. If the student doesn't show in your students list (My account > Students), ask their guardian to link you to the student.
To start an online lesson, you and your student(s) simply login and enter the Tutor Room at the agreed time. Your Tutor Room can support up to 7 students in a lesson.
Free trials
When a new client contacts you, you may want to offer them a free trial, at your discretion. Tutors who offer a free trial are far more successful at converting new tutoring requests into long term paying clients. If you do offer a free trial, try to arrange it for as soon as possible.
Format of free trials
Online free trials occur in your Tutor Room. Free trials are very flexible with regards to their duration and content. They can last any duration you choose (e.g. 10 mins, 30 mins or even an hour) and can take any format you wish. You may want to do some teaching during the trial to show how an online lesson works and to demonstrate your knowledge and tutoring style. Alternatively, you may prefer to keep the trial as a general chat. Whatever you decide, make sure you inform the student beforehand so they know what to expect from your trial. Give them a rough idea of how long the trial will last and what it will entail. All free trials provide the opportunity to meet the student (or their guardian) and answer their questions, making it much more likely that they'll request paid lessons.
Awarding a free trial
Normally, students need to have funds in their Tutor Wallet in order to access your Tutor Room. However, if you award them a free trial they'll be able to access your Tutor Room without any funds in their Wallet (for that session only).
- My account > Students > Options cog > Award free trial
You'll see a Free trial tag appear next to that student's rate, indicating that your next session with that student will be free of charge. If you need to revoke a free trial, simply use the Options cog again and select Remove free trial.
You can then arrange a suitable day and time for the free trial by simply sending the student (or their) guardian a message.
Note: You won't be able to award a free trial until the student shows in your Students list. If free trial has been requested by a guardian, ask them to link the student to you so you can award a free trial to the student's account. Free trials can't be awarded to a guardian account, only to students.
Existing clients
If you already have existing clients (student and their guardians) and you'd like to connect with them on this platform (to use your Tutor Room for online lessons), you can do so very easily.
- From the top menu select My account and Students, then click Invite students.
- Enter the name of the student (or their guardian) and their email address.
The student (or guardian) will be sent an email with an invitation link. As soon as they use the link to register you'll receive an email notification and the student will be listed in your Students area. Their hourly rate will be set using the rate from your tutor profile at the time they register, but you can change this to any rate you wish by contacting Tutor Wallet.
You can then contact the student or guardian to offer a free trial or arrange a lesson. You can also use your Tutor Wallet to receive payment for your tutoring.