HOW TO HIRE · LESSONS & TUTORING

How to hire a dissertation and essay coach in the UK
The checks, the questions and the paperwork.

Essay help is coaching, not writing. Here is the rule in England, how to spot a cheating service, and the terms to agree.

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THE 60-SECOND VERSION

Hiring a dissertation and essay coach in five steps

  1. Say what you needPlanning a research question, structuring an argument, a literature review or understanding feedback. A dissertation and essay coach works on your skills, not your text.
  2. Ask who they work with nowThe level and kind of learner a dissertation and essay coach sees most — if it is not you, ask how they would adapt.
  3. Ask for referencesTwo current or recent learners of the dissertation and essay coach, reachable by message.
  4. Book a single session firstJudge a dissertation and essay coach on one coaching session before paying for a package of sessions.
  5. Get the terms in a messageBefore you pay for a package of sessions: exactly what each session covers, how long draft reading takes, and that no text is written for you. A message on Locufy is enough.

BEFORE YOU BOOK

Check before you book

No register applies

No licence or register applies to dissertation and essay coaches in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, and essay and dissertation can be taught by anyone, online, around supervision meetings. Subject knowledge, teaching record and vetting are things you ask to see, not entries you can search.

Ask the dissertation and essay coach for their degree and field, and for two students they coach now.

Subject and academic experience

No qualification or register is required. A postgraduate degree in your field, or experience supervising or teaching at university, is the evidence of depth.

Ask the dissertation and essay coach for their degree, field and the level of students they work with.

Contract cheating: the Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022

In England, providing in commercial circumstances a service that completes all or part of an assignment a student must do personally is an offence under the Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022, and material prepared for the assignment counts. Advertising it is also an offence. Every UK university treats contract cheating as misconduct.

Read the dissertation and essay coach's terms: coaching, planning and feedback on your own work is fine; anything that delivers text for you to submit is not. legislation.gov.uk →

Written terms for a package of sessions

Reasonable care and skill is the legal standard for coaching sessions from a trader (Consumer Rights Act 2015). The Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 give 14 days to cancel when you book a dissertation and essay coach at a distance or at your home; ask for coaching sessions to start sooner and you pay for those already taught. Packages sold near deadlines should say exactly what each session covers.

Get exactly what each session covers, how long draft reading takes, and that no text is written for you in writing — a Locufy message counts — before you pay for a package of sessions. legislation.gov.uk →

VAT

Essay and dissertation coaching is exempt only when a sole trader or partner gives it personally in a subject ordinarily taught at universities; packages sold by a limited company or by its employed coaches are standard-rated. Above the £90,000 registration threshold that business has to charge VAT and show it separately, next to its VAT number.

Ask whether the coach works as a sole trader or for a company, and for the VAT number if VAT appears on the package. gov.uk →

“What exactly will you do — and what won't you do?”

A good answer: Coaching on planning, structure, argument and feedback on drafts you wrote. No writing, rewriting or "model answers" on your topic.

“Do you know my field's methods?”

A good answer: Specific experience — qualitative interviews, statistics, legal research — at the right level.

“How will you give feedback on a draft?”

A good answer: Comments on structure and argument, questions in the margin — not rewritten paragraphs.

“Can you help me understand my supervisor's comments?”

A good answer: Yes; that is core coaching work.

“Is this allowed under my university's rules?”

A good answer: A coach who knows the difference between permitted help and misconduct, and tells you to check your university's guidance.

“If my child is ill, or you are, what happens to that coaching session?”

A good answer: Clear written rules: what notice you give, and that a coaching session a dissertation and essay coach cancels is rearranged or refunded.

Getting the quote right

  • Who actually attends the sessions and reads your drafts — the coach you chose, or another, employed or subcontracted
  • Price and length of each coaching session, stated together
  • Exactly what each session covers — planning, a draft read, feedback — and how long draft reading takes
  • The refund rule for a package of sessions
  • Travel or room costs if the dissertation and essay coach works online, around supervision meetings
  • The VAT number if the business charges VAT, with VAT on the package as a separate line

Walk away if

  • Promised grades: no honest dissertation and essay coach guarantees a set mark
  • They offer a "model" essay or dissertation written on your topic
  • A "plagiarism-free guarantee" — a sign the text is written for you
  • They ask for your university login or the assignment brief to "complete" it
  • A large package paid up front just before a deadline, with no written refund terms
LOW
£40
TYPICAL
£45
HIGH
£80

What a dissertation and essay coach costs: £40–£80 per hour

Essay and dissertation coaching is charged by the hour, often as a package of sessions around supervision meetings. Essay & Dissertation Help 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

Dissertation and essay coaches 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. Brief and rulesThe assignment, the marking criteria and your university's rules on help, read first.
  2. PlanResearch question, structure and timeline agreed with you.
  3. You writeDrafts are yours; sessions work on skills and structure.
  4. FeedbackQuestions and comments on your draft, not rewriting.
  5. Final checksReferencing style and argument checked by you, with the coach explaining how.

Contract cheating
Getting someone else to complete assessed work, an offence for paid services in England.
Literature review
The chapter surveying what has already been written on your topic.
Research question
The question your dissertation sets out to answer.
Marking criteria
The university's description of what each grade looks like.
Referencing style
The required format for citations, such as Harvard.
Academic misconduct
Breaking the university's rules on honest work.

AFTER

When the job is done

Keep the recordsThe package terms and the coaching notes are your record if anything goes wrong.
Test the progressAfter a few sessions, write a section alone and compare it with your first draft for structure and argument.
Know what is promisedNo dissertation and essay coach can promise a mark. You are owed the coaching agreed, on your own writing, within the rules.
Leave the reviewReviews on Locufy come only from booked coaching sessions. A problem goes to the dissertation and essay coach first through the make-it-right step.

STEP 1Write to the dissertation and essay coach firstSet out the problem (a package sold as "help" that turned out to be writing is a common one) and ask for a fix or a refund by a date. Where coaching sessions paid as a package of sessions were not taught with reasonable care and skill, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 entitles you to a repeat or a fair reduction.
STEP 2Use the make-it-right step on LocufyLeave under four stars and you are asked whether to send it to the dissertation and essay coach first; we follow it through, then the review is published.
STEP 3Get help from Trading StandardsNo regulator covers dissertation and essay coaches, 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 dissertation and essay coach 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. Keep the package terms and the coaching notes as evidence.

Hiring a dissertation and essay coach: questions people ask

No. Coaching on essays and dissertations is unlicensed throughout the UK. What matters is that the help is coaching on your own work.

£40–£80 an hour, with £45 typical; specialists with a doctorate in your field cost most. The essay and dissertation help price guide breaks it down; search your town above to see coaches who work near you.

Coaching on your own work is legal. In England, a paid service that completes all or part of an assignment you must do personally — including material written for it — is a criminal offence under the Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022.

Not from a dissertation and essay coach working as a sole trader or partner in a university subject — that tuition is exempt. A company selling coaching packages, or its employed coaches, is standard-rated and adds VAT once over £90,000.

Check your university's rules first: many limit what a proofreader may change.

Often a handful around supervision meetings: one to plan, one or two on drafts, one on feedback.

MORE GUIDES

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Dissertation and essay coaches near you

Dissertation and essay coaches in LondonDissertation and essay coaches in ManchesterDissertation and essay coaches in BirminghamDissertation and essay coaches in GlasgowDissertation and essay coaches in BelfastAll dissertation and essay coaches on Locufy →

Sources — checked October 2026

  1. Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022, section 26 — meaning of relevant service
  2. Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022, section 27 — offence of providing a relevant service
  3. gov.uk — Education and vocational training (VAT Notice 701/30)
  4. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 49 — reasonable care and skill
  5. Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 30 — cancellation period
  6. Citizens Advice — deciding whether to make a small claim (England and Wales)
  7. Scottish Courts and Tribunals — guide to simple procedure
  8. nidirect — small claims process (Northern Ireland)
  9. Education and vocational training (VAT Notice 701/30) — 6.1 The treatment of private tuition
  10. GOV.UK — VAT rates
  11. GOV.UK — Register for VAT: when to register