Student tuition idea

[AyshaB]

Hello

I was a registered healthcare practitioner (same grade as a nurse) for over 10 years. I had to leave the profession & therefore give up my registration.

I would like to start a business offering students training to be an Operating Department Practitioner (my registered role) help with their essays, exam preparation, how to reference accurately etc.

I would charge a fee for this, not more than £15/hour or even minimum wage. I would need a website of course.
I just don't want 3 years studying & over 10 years of hard work in a hospital to go to waste.

Any comments, good or bad are most welcome.

Thanks

 

[fisicx]

A great idea! I’m assuming this is one-to-one training. If so you are way too cheap. After tax and other costs there won’t be a lot left.

And marketing may well be expensive as you will almost certainly be relying on advertising.

But I’d still give it a go. No point in putting all those skills to waste.

 

[Buryblue]

Don't give up your registration keep paying for it, and continue your CPD. If you ever wish to reregister you may find it hard to.

 

[WaveJumper]

I think the OP said they had already given up their registration. i also agree with @fisicx don't pitch yourself too cheap have recently been on a site looking at tuition services I was blown away by the work they seem to be pulling in (you can tell by the online booking calendars) and the prices they are charging so my advice would be do you homework first

 

[fisicx]

I’d expect my tutor to be fully qualified and registered with whoever. I’d also expect them to be aware of any legislative changes.

And even GCSE tutors are charging up to £50/hour. Saw one offer recently for physics undergraduate tuition at £110/hour

 

[eteb3]

Tutoring is one of my side-gigs - I can tell you straight way, there's no way should you be charging £15/hr. Have a look at TutorHunt for some example rates.

You need to be ferocious about not working unpaid. If the student comes to you, think arrival & departure: coats, tea, clearing your kitchen table, updating your accounts. If you go to them, all the travel time and other externalities. Messages between sessions, homework, rescheduling, etc too - all this eats time. You can easily find that for one hourly fee you've done 1.5 hours of work.

In my experience never, ever run a session while the payment for the previous one is outstanding. The pro firms take at least half a term in advance, and that wouldn't be a bad idea. If the market won't bear that, then one session prepaid and held on account, with payment weekly at the end of each session.

Business-wise what makes most sense imo is small group teaching: set your hourly rate for yourself, judge the rate students will pay, and calculate how many you need in a group. On my beat the market will bear ~60% of the individual rate for a group setting: 4 in a group gives you 240% of the wage.

 

[AyshaB]

Thank you all for your advice. I think I maybe need to clarify my 'business' & state it will be very small & ad hoc. My business model if I can call it that is as below.

If a student was having a issue with say an assignment (couldn't get started, not getting grades etc.) or not passing exams (exam prep issues). They would contact me via the email on my website. They'd tell me the issue & if I could help, we'd book a time/date.

Payment upfront by bank transfer.

A student may only require one hour, another more. I'm not offering a course as such.

My reasoning for my low hourly fee (£15/hr). The course is 3 years long (fortunately I didn't have tuition fees to pay back, now they are over £9,000 a year & need paying back)!
Also, the in hospital practice is a 37.5 hour week, in addition to assignments etc. I don't really think there's time to have a paid job as well as to train.
I realise I don't need to justify my price, however I doubt anymore would be realistic.

Thanks for your time. Any comments gratefully received.

 

[WaveJumper]

Think I am confused now are you currently working not working, taking a course yourself from your first post I thought you had given up work and was going to be passing on your knowledge through this online teaching etc

 

[fisicx]

And if you are not working you do really need to be registered to give credibility to your tuition.

£15 is still way to low. At best you will end up with £10 in your pocket.

And it could be a lot less as you will need to pay for marketing (and a website)

 

[AyshaB]

Think I am confused now are you currently working not working, taking a course yourself from your first post I thought you had given up work and was going to be passing on your knowledge through this online teaching etc

I did the ODP course some years ago & now want to help ODP students.
I was saying that the students have a lot of expenses I did not have when I trained (for example, I didn't have to pay the tuition fees back, when I did the course). I also automatically received a bursary. Time spent in the hospital plus the assignments etc. doesn't really lend itself to having a paid job as well as doing the course.
I suspect money will be tight for a lot of students & they wouldn't have more than the £15/hr I'm proposing.

No, I'm not working. I was working as a registered ODP for a number of years but have recently given up my registration as per my first post.

 

[AyshaB]

And if you are not working you do really need to be registered to give credibility to your tuition.

£15 is still way to low. At best you will end up with £10 in your pocket.

And it could be a lot less as you will need to pay for marketing (and a website)

Registration is over £200 & requires me to undertake a number of tasks to even reregister. I won't be returning the profession any time soon, so this is a no go.

i appreciate your comments regarding the money & looks like it could easily end up with me out of pocket.

Re credibility, if have researched this thoroughly & found it's a matter of transparency & clear statements about my qualification & work etc.

 

[fisicx]

Are you still qualified with being registered? Don’t know how it works hence my question.

It’s likely you will be spending a chunk of cash up front so you need to work out the cost of acquisition. For example if your adverts are costing you a pound each day and you get one lead per week then it’s cost you £7 to get one student. If they pay you £15 and your tax/NI is £4 you end up with £4. Not a lot of income.

On the other hand you might be lucky and get loads of leads.

 

[eteb3]

Re credibility, if have researched this thoroughly & found it's a matter of transparency & clear statements about my qualification & work etc.

That chimes with my experience. In my experience students don't expect a tutor to be registered, but they do want to know the tutor has been registered in the past (if registration is what they're aiming for themselves). They also want to know that the tutor has plenty of relevant experience they can draw on: that you've walked they're walking.

I would need a website of course.

Are you sure? Are your potential tutees going to Google the service they're looking for, then find you? Are they even looking for the service you're offering? Or will they realise they need it when they hear what you're offering?

All my clients come through word of mouth. If you know the schools they're training at and can get a tiny handful of first students, you may well find you pick up more and more. I'd suggest posting on socials (make sure you get the right ones) would also work well. A single-page Google site is about the most I'd bother with.

My reasoning for my low hourly fee (£15/hr)...

If this is based on conversations with students about your service and what they'd pay for it, that's solid data. If it's your own speculation about how little money they have, I would try to get something from the horse's mouth. Education is an investment (and you should imo pitch it as one); it's not a consumption good like Netflix, which you might well cut if you have a small income.

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

I suspect money will be tight for a lot of students & they wouldn't have more than the £15/hr I'm proposing.

Poor students have no desire to spend money so whether you make it £15, £10 or £5 it will make little difference. Set it at £25 per hour, 3 lessons for £60 etc., money up front.

Will you be doing this online or face to face?

 

[AyshaB]

Are you still qualified with being registered? Don’t know how it works hence my question.

It’s likely you will be spending a chunk of cash up front so you need to work out the cost of acquisition. For example if your adverts are costing you a pound each day and you get one lead per week then it’s cost you £7 to get one student. If they pay you £15 and your tax/NI is £4 you end up with £4. Not a lot of income.

On the other hand you might be lucky and get loads of leads.

Thanks for the money breakdown. I don't understand the first question about being qualified though?

 

[fisicx]

Thanks for the money breakdown. I don't understand the first question about being qualified though?

Some qualifications are only valid if you are registered with the governing body. I don't know how it is with your profession. Just being able to show your certification and insurance may be sufficient. Maybe your clients won't even care. This is where market research will help as it will identify expectations and needs.

 

[eteb3]

Some qualifications are only valid if you are registered with the governing body.

I think this is to confuse qualifications with practice. The qual is a qual, regardless. It's the practice that's banned without registration (with ongoing CPD a condition of reg'n, usually).

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

What experience do you have in tutoring? Just being qualified in something doesn't mean you can/are any good at teaching.

A teacher with up to date qualifications/credentials is better than an unqualified teacher with practice experience and can charge more.

Set it at £25 per hour, 3 lessons for £60 etc

The absolute minimum you should consider.

I just don't want 3 years studying & over 10 years of hard work in a hospital to go to waste.

Why not get registered and go back to a working position? This would give you so much more credibility and value with the training offer.

You want to offer an hour or two here or there, so are reliant on volume - is there a large amount of people studying for this qualification? This points to the need to charge even more for the service.

 

[AyshaB]

Poor students have no desire to spend money so whether you make it £15, £10 or £5 it will make little difference. Set it at £25 per hour, 3 lessons for £60 etc., money up front.

Will you be doing this online or face to face?

Good point! Going to do this online.

 

[AyshaB]

What experience do you have in tutoring? Just being qualified in something doesn't mean you can/are any good at teaching.

A teacher with up to date qualifications/credentials is better than an unqualified teacher with practice experience and can charge more.


The absolute minimum you should consider.



Why not get registered and go back to a working position? This would give you so much more credibility and value with the training offer.

You want to offer an hour or two here or there, so are reliant on volume - is there a large amount of people studying for this qualification? This points to the need to charge even more for the service.

Firstly I'm not advertising myself as a tutor. Only a person with a qualification, who has worked in the job. I'm not a teacher but do have a level 7 (masters level) certificate in mentorship.

Reregistration is over £200 is not an option anyway.

 

[Mark T Jones]

I'd agree with most of the above.

£15 is definitely too cheap - might actually put people off. Also remember, the money you charge isn't the money you earn, there are costs to running a business, even a small one.

Be strict on costs & on payment - if you're going to them, have a clearly defined area included - over that, add a cost per mile.

In truth, I suspect a well-placed Facebook page will work as well as a website for you (assuming you know the communities to target)

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Apologies for the word I used - replace 'tutor' with 'training'.

Mentoring is great and should be part of your offer.

 

[AyshaB]

What experience do you have in tutoring? Just being qualified in something doesn't mean you can/are any good at teaching.

A teacher with up to date qualifications/credentials is better than an unqualified teacher with practice experience and can charge more.


The absolute minimum you should consider.



Why not get registered and go back to a working position? This would give you so much more credibility and value with the training offer.

You want to offer an hour or two here or there, so are reliant on volume - is there a large amount of people studying for this qualification? This points to the need to charge even more for the service.

Sorry, new to this & don't know how I sent half a post!

Firstly I'm not advertising myself as a tutor. Only a person with a qualification, who has worked in the job. I am simply offering help, not tuition. I'm not a teacher but do have a level 7 (masters level) certificate in mentorship.

Registration is over £200 & requires me to undertake a number of tasks to even reregister. I won't be returning the profession any time soon, so this is a no go. There are reasons for this but they are not competence related. With respect to numbers there are over 15,000 qualified ODPs, so the number of students are plentiful. ODP's work in excess of a 37/40 week in a fast paced patient centred role & I don't think adding further work to this would be benefical to staff or student.

On your final point I don't want to offer an hour or two here or there.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

"According to data from NHS England, there are approximately 2,550 active Operating Department Practitioner (ODP) students currently in training in the UK. "

Not the biggest audience, but very focused!

On your final point I don't want to offer an hour or two here or there.

A student may only require one hour, another more. I'm not offering a course as such.

 

[eteb3]

Firstly I'm not advertising myself as a tutor. Only a person with a qualification, who has worked in the job. I am simply offering help, not tuition. I'm not a teacher but do have a level 7 (masters level) certificate in mentorship.

In my view you def could advertise as a tutor if that was helpful to the business.

I’m a qualified teacher: respectfully disagree with Paul’s view that having a teaching qual is preferable. Definitely not in a very vocational field like this. And being non registered also fine: it’s your experience students will pay for

 

[fisicx]

Whilst the whole tuition idea is great. Getting your business in front of the students is going to be the biggest challenge. You first need to know where the students hang out online, then pitch the offer (with adverts). You may end up on multiple forums, SM groups, blogs, uni pages and other channels. And a single pitch won't be enough, you will need to keep posting and advertising.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

respectfully disagree with Paul’s view that having a teaching qual is preferable

So, being qualified in a subject is as desirable as being trained/qualified on how to teach (and qualified in the subject)?

For years I worked in retail where many good sales people were promoted into magement. Without knowledge, they failed as managers, because they didn't know how to or pass their sales skills on their staff.

Also, I got O levels at school and can do many calculations in my head. That does not mean i can teach maths proficiency to my children?

 

[WaveJumper]

I did the ODP course some years ago & now want to help ODP students.
I was saying that the students have a lot of expenses I did not have when I trained (for example, I didn't have to pay the tuition fees back, when I did the course). I also automatically received a bursary. Time spent in the hospital plus the assignments etc. doesn't really lend itself to having a paid job as well as doing the course.
I suspect money will be tight for a lot of students & they wouldn't have more than the £15/hr I'm proposing.

No, I'm not working. I was working as a registered ODP for a number of years but have recently given up my registration as per my first post.

Ah got it now best of luck won't and will not hurt to give it a go but as mentioned now by several posters don't under value your skill set & time, wishing you the best of luck and let the UKBF know how you get on

 

[eteb3]

being qualified in a subject is as desirable as being trained/qualified on how to teach (and qualified in the subject)?

Yes: teaching qualifications are not that much use, and show only an indifferent relationship to skill in teaching. In a how-to field like this, practical experience counts for more. IMHO.

 

[AyshaB]

That chimes with my experience. In my experience students don't expect a tutor to be registered, but they do want to know the tutor has been registered in the past (if registration is what they're aiming for themselves). They also want to know that the tutor has plenty of relevant experience they can draw on: that you've walked they're walking.


Are you sure? Are your potential tutees going to Google the service they're looking for, then find you? Are they even looking for the service you're offering? Or will they realise they need it when they hear what you're offering?

All my clients come through word of mouth. If you know the schools they're training at and can get a tiny handful of first students, you may well find you pick up more and more. I'd suggest posting on socials (make sure you get the right ones) would also work well. A single-page Google site is about the most I'd bother with.


If this is based on conversations with students about your service and what they'd pay for it, that's solid data. If it's your own speculation about how little money they have, I would try to get something from the horse's mouth. Education is an investment (and you should imo pitch it as one); it's not a consumption good like Netflix, which you might well cut if you have a small income.

Sorry for the delay in commenting. Your advice is great & getting info from current students is in progress .
I had a look at the criteria for setting up a single page Google site but they seem to be only available to businesses with a product. Perhaps I misunderstood?

 

[fisicx]

Sorry for the delay in commenting. Your advice is great & getting info from current students is in progress .
I had a look at the criteria for setting up a single page Google site but they seem to be only available to businesses with a product. Perhaps I misunderstood?

You do have a business. Your product is tutoring.

But you will need a business name.

 

[eteb3]

In a how-to field like this, practical experience counts for more.

@Paul Kelly ICHYB Which is not to say *skill* in teaching is irrelevant - clearly not, as your sales manager shows. But teaching qualifications aren’t a very good indicator.

 

[eteb3]

But you will need a business name.

All my tutees come to me by own name: I have no t/a name

@AyshaB in Google Drive you can create a website. Google gives you a random web address but you can buy a domain name and connect it (I don’t know how but @fisicx must!)

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

I have tried to help my fair share of people with a skilled/qualified background start a business. Most of them fail in training/consulting because they do not have the skill to train/consult and they think their qualification is enough to carry them through. Qualified, educated, and experienced people are not always good communicators!

The OP has great training in mentoring, so I am sure they will do well, however, without it (or other skills) it is a tough ride.

,

 

[AyshaB]

All my tutees come to me by own name: I have no t/a name

@AyshaB in Google Drive you can create a website. Google gives you a random web address but you can buy a domain name and connect it (I don’t know how but @fisicx must!)

Thanks for your help, I've found the Google Drive one

 

[Porky]

Knowing something and Teaching it to others are two different things. If you are not doing the job it will be harder, how up to date are you as content changes?

You can register on sites for tutor services, Tutorhunt mentioned first tutors etc etc there are a few online. Register on these sites your services perhaps if you can teach.

Are there many others already doing this? If your target audience is only 2,500 and there are others already it will be hard to get business?

Just thinking of a different angle: Is it worth exploring making sets of training support videos? Or preparation help videos or something like that? Is there a different way to explore this?

 

[Newchodge]

Have you researched to see if you have competitors?

 

[FreddyG]

I would charge a fee for this, not more than £15/hour or even minimum wage. I would need a website of course.
I just don't want 3 years studying & over 10 years of hard work in a hospital to go to waste.

Hire somebody else who is actually working in that game right now to do the donkey work for you. Teaching people anything is hard work and over the years I have developed a severe allergy to work.

 

[fisicx]

Teaching people anything is hard work….

Not if you do it right. I find it very lucrative without having to do much at all.

 

[eteb3]

In my (if I may say so, considerable) experience, teaching people is only hard work if you don’t like people.