HOW TO HIRE · LESSONS & TUTORING

How to hire an exam preparation tutor in the UK
The checks, the questions and the paperwork.

No register lists exam preparation tutors. Here is the vetting to ask for, how to check they know the exam, and the terms for an intensive block.

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THE 60-SECOND VERSION

Hiring an exam preparation tutor in five steps

  1. Name the exam and the dateThe qualification, board and paper — GCSE, A level, National 5, Higher or an admissions test — and the exam date. An exam preparation tutor plans back from it.
  2. Ask for the vetting for your nationDBS in England and Wales, PVG in Scotland, AccessNI in Northern Ireland — an exam preparation tutor teaching a child once or twice a week before the exam should show you theirs.
  3. Ask about recent studentsHow many learners at your level an exam preparation tutor teaches this year, and what changed for them.
  4. Start with one sessionOne revision session online or at home, often in a holiday block tells you more than any profile; commit to an intensive block paid up front only afterwards.
  5. Get the terms in a messageBefore you pay for an intensive block paid up front: the number and length of sessions, what happens if the exam date moves, and the refund if the block is cut short. A message on Locufy is enough.

BEFORE YOU BOOK

Check before you book

No register applies

No licence or register applies to exam preparation tutors in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, and exam preparation can be taught by anyone, online or at home, often in a holiday block. What a tutor knows and has taught is a matter of asking and seeing evidence; there is nothing to look up.

Ask for the qualification and where it was gained, plus a reference from a current learner.

The check for teaching your child

An exam preparation tutor who works with your child once or twice a week before the exam is in regulated activity in England and Wales once it passes three days in any 30 (or any overnight session), and should hold an enhanced DBS check that includes the children's barred list. Supervision used to take some roles outside the rule; since 1 September 2026 it does not, whoever an exam preparation tutor works alongside. In Scotland the equivalent is membership of the PVG scheme, which mygov.scot says to expect for tutors or instructors a parent hires for a child. In Northern Ireland, an exam preparation tutor working for themselves applies for an enhanced AccessNI check through an Umbrella Body.

Parents cannot request the check themselves: an exam preparation tutor applies and shows you the certificate. Note the date on it; in Scotland ask for proof of current PVG membership, in Northern Ireland the shared AccessNI certificate. gov.uk →

Qualified teacher status and recent teaching

Qualified teacher status (QTS) is recorded by England's Teaching Regulation Agency, but its check-a-teacher's-record service is for employers, so a parent cannot search it. Experience with your exact exam — and marking for it — matters more than general teaching.

Ask an exam preparation tutor for the school they teach at, if any, and the levels and boards of their students this year. gov.uk →

The terms for an intensive block paid up front

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 requires an exam preparation tutor who trades to provide the teaching with reasonable care and skill. The Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 give 14 days to cancel when you book an exam preparation tutor at a distance or at your home; ask for revision sessions to start sooner and you pay for those already taught. Most arguments with exam preparation tutors are about an intensive block that ended before the timed papers.

Before paying for an intensive block paid up front, ask an exam preparation tutor to set out the number and length of sessions, what happens if the exam date moves, and the refund if the block is cut short in a message. legislation.gov.uk →

VAT

Exam preparation is exempt only when a sole trader or partner teaches it personally in a subject ordinarily taught in schools or universities; revision courses sold by a limited company or its employed tutors are standard-rated. Once its taxable turnover passes £90,000 a year it must register, charge VAT and print it as its own line.

Ask whether the exam preparation tutor teaches as a sole trader or for a course company, and for the VAT number if VAT is added. gov.uk →

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

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

“Have you prepared students for this exact exam?”

A good answer: The named paper and board, and recent students who sat it.

“How do you plan the weeks before the exam?”

A good answer: A timetable back from the exam date: gaps first, then timed papers.

“What does an intensive exam preparation block include?”

A good answer: The number and length of sessions, materials and any mock, in writing.

“How will you use past papers and examiner reports?”

A good answer: Timed papers, marked to the scheme, and the examiner reports used to target common mistakes.

“Can your exam preparation work alongside the school's teaching?”

A good answer: Yes — from the school's revision list and recent mocks.

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

A good answer: Something specific — for example 24 or 48 hours' notice — and the same rule applied to the exam preparation tutor's own cancellations.

Getting the quote right

  • Who actually attends to teach the revision sessions — the tutor named, or another from the company, employed or subcontracted
  • What a revision session costs and how many minutes it runs
  • Anything you must buy for the revision sessions, listed
  • What happens to an intensive block paid up front if you stop early, or the exam preparation tutor does
  • Travel, room or venue charges, if any
  • The VAT number if the course provider charges VAT, with VAT on the block as its own line

Walk away if

  • No vetting shown, though the exam preparation tutor would see your child once or twice a week before the exam
  • Promised grades: no honest exam preparation tutor guarantees a pass in a resit
  • An intensive block sold before they have seen any of the student's work
  • An intensive block paid up front demanded up front, with no written refund terms
LOW
£30
TYPICAL
£45
HIGH
£65

What an exam preparation tutor costs: £30–£65 per hour

Exam preparation is charged by the hour, either weekly through a term or as an intensive block before the exam. Exam Preparation 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

Exam preparation 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. DiagnoseA timed paper or recent mock read before the plan is made.
  2. Plan back from the dateA week-by-week plan to the exam.
  3. Target the marksTopics and question types that lose the most marks taught first.
  4. Timed practiceFull papers under time, marked to the scheme.
  5. Final daysLight revision, timing plans per paper, and rest.

Past paper
A previous year's exam, used for practice.
Mark scheme
The examiner's guide to awarding marks.
Examiner report
The board's account of common mistakes on each paper.
Mock
A practice exam under real conditions.
Resit
Retaking a qualification, often in November for GCSE English and maths.
Admissions test
A university entrance test for some courses, separate from school exams.

AFTER

When the job is done

Keep the recordsThe session plan and the marked papers are your record if anything goes wrong.
Test the progressCompare the first timed paper with one a few weeks in: fewer marks lost on the same question types.
The guarantee, honestlyA pass in a resit is not something anyone can guarantee; the agreed revision sessions, well taught, is.
Leave the reviewReviews on Locufy come only from booked revision sessions. A problem goes to the exam preparation tutor first through the make-it-right step.

STEP 1Tell the exam preparation tutor, in writingSet out the problem (an intensive block that ended before the timed papers is a common one) and ask for a fix or a refund by a date. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives you the right to have teaching that fell short of reasonable care and skill done again, or to a price reduction.
STEP 2Use the make-it-right step on LocufyLeave under four stars and you are asked whether to send it to the exam preparation tutor first; we follow it through, then the review is published.
STEP 3Get help from Trading StandardsNo regulator covers exam preparation 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 an exam preparation 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. The session plan and the marked papers will be your evidence.

Hiring an exam preparation tutor: questions people ask

Not by default. Regular teaching of a child is regulated activity in England and Wales, though, so the enhanced DBS check with the barred list is the one to see; Scotland uses PVG membership and Northern Ireland an enhanced AccessNI check.

There is nothing official to look up for this kind of teaching. Ask for experience with your exact exam, and references.

£30–£65 an hour, with £45 typical; admissions-test specialists cost most. For what moves the figure, see the exam preparation price guide; your town in the search box above shows tutors near you.

Usually not when an individual tutor working as a sole trader or partner teaches a school subject — that is exempt. A revision course or admissions-test programme from a company or its employed tutors is standard-rated and carries VAT once over £90,000.

For a whole-grade gap, a term or more. For technique on a subject already learned, six to eight weeks.

For practice and timing, often. For content never learned, weekly lessons over a longer period work better.

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: Biology TutorAll 701 hiring guides →

Exam preparation tutors near you

Exam preparation tutors in LondonExam preparation tutors in ManchesterExam preparation tutors in BirminghamExam preparation tutors in GlasgowExam preparation tutors in BelfastAll exam preparation 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