What Leeds tuition pays — the actual numbers
Leeds rates by level:
- KS2: £20-£32/hr
- KS3: £25-£38/hr
- GCSE: £28-£50/hr (AQA dominant, Edexcel and OCR in pockets)
- A-level: £40-£60/hr
- 11+ GSAL / Leeds Girls’ High: £40-£55/hr
- NEA / coursework blocks: £50-£70/hr
After 5% commission, a £45 GCSE hour means £42.75 to you. Twelve hours a week, forty academic weeks: £20,520. Run that alongside a teaching job, PhD or other part-time work and the maths is straightforward. Same hours on Tutorful at 25% commission: £16,200. The £4,000 gap is the 5% vs 25% delta over a year.
Where Leeds demand sits
GSAL 11+ prep peaks Year 5 autumn through Year 6 spring. State GCSE demand peaks October (start-of-year diagnostic), February (post-mocks panic), and April (last-stretch). A-level Y13 demand peaks in October, post-mock, and April. Leeds Sixth Form College and Notre Dame Catholic Sixth feed steady A-level work. Boston Spa and Prince Henry’s Otley pull from broader catchments and have strong demand for grade 8-9 GCSE pushers.
Subject demand in Leeds skews to maths and sciences (always strongest), then English Lit, history, geography, psychology, economics. Modern languages are thinner but well-paid (£40-£55 GCSE French/Spanish, £50-£65 A-level).
What sinks new Leeds tutors
Three repeats. First, generic bio. “Experienced and dedicated tutor passionate about helping students reach their potential” is identical to fifty other profiles and parents skip it. Replace with specifics: “Maths PGCE 2019, three years at Allerton High teaching AQA GCSE, currently focusing on Y11 grade 7-9 prep. Recent results: 8 of 10 pupils achieved target grade or above in 2024.” That gets messages.
Second, premium rate without the experience to back it. £55/hr as a fresh PGCE just doesn’t book in Leeds — there’s competition from current secondary teachers at the same rate with five years’ experience. Start at £35-£40, raise after fifteen reviews.
Third, slow message replies. Leeds parents typically message three or four tutors at once. The two-hour reply gets the booking. The 48-hour reply doesn’t.
Setup and the 5% economics
Sign up, upload qualifications, ID and DBS, write the bio, set rate and availability. Most profiles activate within 48 hours. Lessons book through the platform scheduler with payment held 24 hours after each session. We charge 5% on payout — £45 lesson = £42.75 to you. Free intro calls aren’t charged either side. You set the cancellation policy (most tutors run 24-hour notice).
The differential maths matters. £42.75 vs £33.75 per hour, ten hours a week, forty weeks: £3,600/year more on TheTutorLink. That’s the entire pitch — a sustainable economic model for the tutor that’s also competitively priced for the family. List, write a specific bio, set a realistic rate, reply fast. The first booking lands inside two weeks for most.