How to find a tutor
Please review all of the information on this page before submitting your request.
- Request a tutor by completing the online Tutoring Quick Add form
N.B. The Tutoring Quick Add form is for private households only. Tutoring Agencies and Schools should register the business via the employer log on page and then submit an advertisement - After submitting your request, please note the job number for future reference.
- Your request will be approved within one working day. An advertisement will be displayed on our Careers Online job database for potential tutors to view.
- Interested tutors will contact you directly to apply for your vacancy.
- Select the tutor you wish to employ. See the tips below for choosing a tutor or download this information from our info sheetflyer Tips on Choosing A Tutor (PDF file / 86 KB)
Important notice: from 30 June 2010 the Victorian Government will require any person providing coaching or tuition services of any kind for children to obtain a Working with Children Check. This requirement will be phased in from 1 July 2009 and after 30 June 2010 will become mandatory. It is the responsibility of employers and employees to ensure they understand and adhere to their respective obligations in regard to the Working with Children Check.
Rates of pay for tutors
The University of Melbourne uses the rates that were recommended by the Student Employment Officers’ Association of Victoria (an association that represents all Victorian tertiary institutions). Currently the rates are:
| When person being tutored is ... | Rate charged by the tutor |
|---|---|
| Primary and Secondary level up to Year 10 | $22 per hour |
| VCE - Year 11 and Year 12 | $25 per hour |
| Tertiary level | $30 per hour |
- Postgraduates may charge an extra $5 per hour - negotiable
- Tutoring 2 students together may be charged at time and a half
- Tutoring 3 students together may be charged at double time
Changing and cancelling tutor requests
If you have already submitted a tutor request but you need to make changes or cancel the request, please call +61 3 8344 6550, quoting your job number. Office hours are Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm.
top of pageTips on choosing a tutor
Step 1: Think about what you want the tutor to do
- Do you require a coach to help achieve the best possible performance, or someone to teach concepts for a student who is struggling to pass?
- What subjects will they cover?
- When will the lessons be held?
- How often?
- Where (your place, the tutor's place, the local library)?
- How long will the tutoring continue (a month, a term, a year)?
Step 2: Devise some questions
It is useful to create some questions to ask every person who calls you to apply for the tutoring job. By asking everyone the same questions, you can more easily compare each tutor, and make the best decision.
Some possible questions:
- Tell me a little about yourself? (Nice easy question to make them feel comfortable, and helps you get a bit of a picture of who this person is).
- What are you studying at University?
- What experience do you have as a tutor?
- My son/daughter needs help with … how would you be the best person to help?
- What times are you available?
- What strategy would you use to motivate my son/daughter to do their homework?
Step 3: When the tutor calls...
- Record their responses to your questions on paper
- Write down any extra comments from your own feelings or observations (eg. sounded confident, gave vague answers)
- Don’t promise a job to anyone until you have interviewed enough people
- Advise the tutors that you will call them once you have made a decision
- Write down the contact details and name of each tutor – if the one you offer the job to doesn’t work out, you can call your second choice
Step 4: Choosing the best tutor
- Read through the responses to your questions for each tutor. You may wish to rate each answer on a scale of 1 to 5 and add up the totals to help decide who may be the best tutor
- Think about how you felt about the tutors. Were you comfortable with them? Were they confident?
- When you have finished interviewing tutors, call C&E on +61 3 8344 6550 to cancel your tutor advertisement (otherwise you will keep getting phone calls!).
Other things to consider:
- Do you want to check any of their references? Calling people who they have worked for in the past can be useful to find out if they were reliable, honest, etc.
- The tutor who got the highest ENTER score or a perfect study score will not necessarily be the best tutor. What other attributes will make them a good tutor – communication skills, reliability, etc?
- Important notice: from 30 June 2010 the Victorian Government will require any person providing coaching or tuition services of any kind for children to obtain a Working with Children Check. This requirement will be phased in from 1 July 2009 and after 30 June 2010 will become mandatory. It is the responsibility of employers and employees to ensure they understand and adhere to their respective obligations in regard to the Working with Children Check.
Step 5: I’ve made a decision, now what?
- Call the successful tutor and ask them if they are still interested in the job.
- Arrange to meet in a neutral location, such as a café, to discuss the tutoring arrangements. Discuss with the tutor their expectations of payment for this meeting. Some people pay the tutor while others treat it as a second interview.
- The aim of this meeting is to work out finer detail of how, when and where the tutoring is to be conducted. Discuss what you want to achieve, and talk about how to best get those results. Do not commence any tutoring at this meeting!
- Make a verbal agreement that a tutoring relationship is being entered into.
- The tutor will need to go away and develop a plan for the tutorials, which you can ask to review.
Arrangements for cancelled tutorials
- Discuss with your tutor what arrangements need to be made if either party needs to cancel or reschedule a tutoring session.
- It would be appropriate to pay the tutor for cancelled sessions, particularly if short notice is provided (ie. less than 48 hours).
What if things go wrong?
Sometimes, the relationship between you or your child and the tutor do not work well. Try and resolve any difficulties by discussing them with the tutor. If you start the tutoring arrangement with clear ideas about what you want to achieve, and how they will be done, then this can help in resolving any problems.
If you cannot resolve the matter or you need some advice, please call Careers & Employment (C&E) on +61 3 8344 6550.