HOW TO HIRE · LESSONS & TUTORING

How to hire a biology tutor in the UK
The checks, the questions and the paperwork.

No register lists biology tutors. Here is the vetting to ask for, how to judge exam knowledge, and the terms to agree.

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THE 60-SECOND VERSION

Hiring a biology tutor in five steps

  1. Name the course and boardGCSE biology or combined science, A level, Higher or Advanced Higher, and the board. A biology tutor plans from that.
  2. Ask which check they holdA biology tutor should name it: an enhanced DBS check in England and Wales, PVG membership in Scotland or an AccessNI check in Northern Ireland — and show the date.
  3. Ask what they have taught, and to whomWhich levels, how many biology students now, and what those students went on to do. Knowing biology is not the same as teaching it.
  4. Book a single lesson firstJudge a biology tutor on one biology lesson before paying for a half-term block.
  5. Write down the termsHow written answers are marked, the notice to stop, and lessons missed for illness, agreed in writing with the biology tutor.

BEFORE YOU BOOK

Check before you book

No register applies

None of the four UK nations licenses or registers biology tutors; no qualification is needed to tutor biology online or at home. What a tutor knows and has taught is a matter of asking and seeing evidence; there is nothing to look up.

Ask how long they have taught biology, what training they had, and for someone who can vouch for them.

Criminal record check for a young learner

In England and Wales, teaching or instructing a child on more than three days in any 30, or once overnight, is regulated activity — so a biology tutor seeing your child for an hour each week should hold an enhanced DBS check with the children's barred list. The definition changed on 1 September 2026: a biology tutor who is supervised is now inside regulated activity too. Scotland uses PVG scheme membership, and mygov.scot names tutors and instructors a parent engages for a child as a role to ask about; in Northern Ireland, a self-employed biology tutor gets an enhanced AccessNI check with the children's barred list through an Umbrella Body.

You cannot apply on a biology tutor's behalf. Ask to see their own certificate and read its issue date — it has no official expiry — or PVG proof in Scotland, or an AccessNI certificate shared from their nidirect account. gov.uk →

Who has a biology tutor actually taught?

QTS appears on the Teaching Regulation Agency's record in England; that service is open to schools and other employers, not to families. A biology degree, QTS or examining experience help; for medicine or veterinary applicants, ask about recent students with the same aim.

Ask a biology tutor who says they teach in a school which school it is, and which boards and levels they have prepared students for in the last two years. gov.uk →

Your rights when paying for a half-term block

A biology tutor is a trader in law, so the Consumer Rights Act 2015 term of reasonable care and skill applies to every biology lesson. Booked online or agreed at your home, biology lessons carry 14 days to cancel under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013; if you asked for teaching to start inside those 14 days, you pay for what was given. Agree in advance what happens about long answers set but not marked.

Before paying for a half-term block, ask a biology tutor to set out how written answers are marked, the notice to stop, and lessons missed for illness in a message. legislation.gov.uk →

VAT

Biology tuition is exempt when the biology tutor teaches it personally as a sole trader or partner, because biology is ordinarily taught in schools and universities; teaching supplied by a limited company or its employees is standard-rated. Anyone teaching alone below the £90,000 registration threshold charges no VAT at all, so there is no VAT number to ask for.

Ask whether you are booking the biology tutor directly or through a tuition company; a sole trader under £90,000 adds no VAT. gov.uk →

“Is your criminal record check the enhanced one, with the children's barred list?”

A good answer: Yes, and dated. For biology lessons with a child that is the level to see — PVG membership in Scotland, AccessNI in Northern Ireland.

“How do you teach long-answer questions?”

A good answer: Plans built around the mark scheme's key words, written by the student, marked between lessons.

“Do you cover the required practicals?”

A good answer: Yes, the method, the variables and the questions papers ask about them.

“Which topics do your biology students find hardest?”

A good answer: A specific answer — genetics, respiration, the nervous system — and how the biology tutor teaches it.

“How do you help with the maths in biology?”

A good answer: Percentages, rates and graphs practised directly, since they carry marks in every paper.

“Do you also help with medicine or veterinary admissions?”

A good answer: If offered, planned and priced separately from the biology lessons.

“What is your notice period, both ways?”

A good answer: A rule you can live with, in writing — and fairness both ways: if a biology tutor cancels, the biology lesson is rescheduled or refunded.

Booking by the hour

  • The rate per hour, with any extra for evenings or the weeks before the exams
  • The minimum booking — usually one hour — and what happens if the lesson finishes early
  • What the student brings (the specification, class notes, past papers) and what the biology tutor brings
  • The topics agreed before the first hour: the exam board, the required practicals, the weakest areas
  • ID checked and the rating, and the vetting certificate for a learner under 18

Walk away if

  • No vetting shown, though the biology tutor would see your child for an hour each week
  • Promised grades: no honest biology tutor guarantees the top grade a medicine application needs
  • They teach by reading out notes rather than practising exam questions
  • A half-term block demanded up front, with no written refund terms
LOW
£35
TYPICAL
£37
HIGH
£60

What a biology tutor costs: £35–£60 per hour

Biology tutors charge by the hour; A level costs more than GCSE. Biology Tutor price guide →

Guide prices compiled by the Locufy team from published Irish and UK provider price lists and 2026/27 cost guides. Updated 2026.

KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR? NOW FIND ONE

Biology tutors near you, with the badges that matter shown

ID checked, trader status and one score from every review — on the card, before you message anyone. Nearest first. No account needed to look.

Or post the job free and let them come to you, or book by the hour.

  1. DiagnosticA short test across the course to find weak topics and weak question types.
  2. Plan by paperTopics mapped to the papers your child sits.
  3. Teach, then recallEach topic taught, then tested a week later so it sticks.
  4. Exam languageLong answers written to the mark scheme's key terms.
  5. Timed papersFull papers under time before the exams, with the marks lost taught again.

Required practicals
Experiments listed in the specification and examined in the papers.
Six-mark question
A longer answer marked on content and organisation.
Genetic cross
A diagram predicting offspring from parents' genes.
Command word
The instruction in a question — describe, explain, evaluate — that sets what earns marks.
Higher biology
Scotland's SQA course, sat in place of A level.
Combined science
A double GCSE that includes biology with chemistry and physics.

AFTER

When the job is done

File what you were givenThe marked six-mark answers and the invoices are your record if anything goes wrong.
Test the progressAt half term, compare a marked six-mark answer with one from the first session.
Know what is promisedNo biology tutor can promise the top grade a medicine application needs. What you are owed is the biology lessons agreed, prepared and on time.
Leave the reviewReview the biology tutor once the block ends; if it went wrong, the make-it-right step gives them the chance to fix it first.

STEP 1Tell the biology tutor, in writingName the biology lessons that fell short and the remedy you want; with biology tutors, it is often long answers set but not marked. Ask for the remedy the Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives — the biology lessons again, or money back for what fell short.
STEP 2Use the make-it-right step on LocufyLeave under four stars and you are asked whether to send it to the biology tutor first; we follow it through, then the review is published.
STEP 3Get help from Trading StandardsNo regulator covers biology tutors, so a consumer complaint goes to Trading Standards through your nation's helpline: Citizens Advice on 0808 223 1133 in England and Wales, Advice Direct Scotland on 0808 800 9060, or Consumerline on 0300 123 6262 in Northern Ireland.
STEP 4Money still in disputeSmall claims handle a dispute with a biology tutor without a solicitor: up to £10,000 in England and Wales (small claims track), £5,000 in Scotland (simple procedure) and £5,000 in Northern Ireland. Bring the marked six-mark answers and the invoices to the claim.

Hiring a biology tutor: questions people ask

The law does not require it of every biology tutor. What it does say is that a barred person must not work with children in regulated activity, which across England and Wales includes teaching a child on more than three days in 30 — so ask to see an enhanced DBS check, PVG membership in Scotland or an AccessNI check in Northern Ireland.

The law in all four nations is silent on who may teach biology. Ask for their biology background and the levels and boards they teach.

£35–£60 an hour, with £37 typical; examiners and medicine-focused specialists sit at the top. For what moves the figure, see the biology tutor price guide; your town in the search box above shows biology tutors near you.

Usually not. Biology is a school subject, so a biology tutor teaching as a sole trader or partner is exempt; tuition from a company or its employed tutors is standard-rated and carries VAT once the business is over £90,000.

If the A level grade is at risk, yes. Admissions tests and interviews are separate work.

Usually one hour, more before mocks and exams.

MORE GUIDES

More hiring guides in lessons & tutoring

How to hire: GCSE TutorHow to hire: A-Level TutorHow to hire: Maths TutorHow to hire: English TutorHow to hire: Science TutorHow to hire: Physics TutorHow to hire: Chemistry TutorHow to hire: Primary School TutorAll 701 hiring guides →

Biology tutors near you

Biology tutors in LondonBiology tutors in ManchesterBiology tutors in BirminghamBiology tutors in GlasgowBiology tutors in BelfastAll biology tutors on Locufy →

Sources — checked October 2026

  1. gov.uk (DBS) — regulated activity with children
  2. gov.uk — change to the definition of regulated activity with children from 1 September 2026
  3. mygov.scot — who needs PVG scheme membership (personal employers)
  4. nidirect — AccessNI checks for the self-employed and personal employees
  5. gov.uk — check a teacher's record (England)
  6. gov.uk — Education and vocational training (VAT Notice 701/30)
  7. gov.uk — statement from the qualification regulators on GCSEs, AS and A levels in England, Wales and Northern Ireland
  8. gov.scot — school leaver attainment in National Qualifications (SQA)
  9. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 49 — reasonable care and skill
  10. Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 30 — cancellation period
  11. Citizens Advice — deciding whether to make a small claim (England and Wales)
  12. Scottish Courts and Tribunals — guide to simple procedure
  13. nidirect — small claims process (Northern Ireland)
  14. Education and vocational training (VAT Notice 701/30) — 6.1 The treatment of private tuition
  15. GOV.UK — VAT rates
  16. GOV.UK — Register for VAT: when to register