What Nottingham tuition actually pays
Direct numbers, no fluff:
- KS2: £22-£32/hr — high volume, primary parents, mostly local in-person
- KS3: £25-£38/hr — mostly maths and English
- GCSE: £30-£50/hr — broadest market, Edexcel and AQA dominant
- A-level: £40-£60/hr — sciences and maths command top rates
- 11+ Nottingham High / NGHS: £40-£55/hr — seasonal, Year 5 autumn to Year 6 spring
- NEA / coursework: £50-£70/hr — short block work, spring of Y13
After 5% commission, those numbers sit comfortably above any traditional agency. A tutor doing twelve hours a week at £45 keeps £513/week or roughly £20,000 across 40 academic weeks. Run that alongside a PhD stipend and you’re at £35,000+ total income.
Where the demand sits
Nottingham High, Nottingham Girls’ High and Trent College drive the independent-school 11+ market. State demand is heaviest around West Bridgford, Mapperley, Sherwood and Beeston where parents push for grade 7-9 GCSE results. The Nottingham Grammar Schools’ consortium (selective state) is a separate niche with its own entrance test, and tutors who’ve prepped pupils for it can charge £50/hr+ during the autumn-to-January window.
A-level demand peaks in October (year 13 panic), February (post-mocks), and April (final cramming). Maths, biology, chemistry, physics, economics and psychology are the steady earners. English Lit and history come and go.
What sinks new tutors
Three patterns repeat. Generic bios — “passionate, experienced tutor” without specifics. Replace with: “Maths PGCE, three years at Toot Hill teaching Edexcel GCSE, currently focusing on grade 7-9 prep for Nottingham High Year 11 cohort.” That gets messages. Second, premium rates without the experience — listing at £55/hr as a first-year tutor doesn’t book; start at £35-£40 and raise after fifteen reviews. Third, slow replies. Parents message three or four tutors simultaneously. The 90-minute response gets the booking; the three-day response gets ignored.
Setup and the platform fee
Sign up, build the profile, upload ID + DBS for under-18 work, go live. Most profiles activate in 48 hours. Set your rate, set your availability calendar, decide online/in-person/hybrid. Lessons book through our scheduler with payment held 24 hours after each session. We charge tutors 5% on payout — a £45 lesson means £42.75 to you. On Tutorful that £45 = £33.75. £9 per hour, ten hours a week, forty weeks = £3,600/year extra by being on the right platform. Free trial calls don’t get charged either side. Cancellation policy you set.
The maths is the pitch — list, set realistic rates, write a specific bio, reply fast. Most active Nottingham tutors are clearing £15,000-£25,000 in part-time hours alongside their day job or PhD. The 5% fee is the difference between worth-doing and not-quite-worth-doing.