How to choose an online tutor for your child: the twelve questions to ask before you pay, what a good free class looks like, the five kinds of tutor and which your child needs, what a fair price is in the US, UK, Australia, Canada and the UAE, a section for Australian parents, and the three mistakes that waste a term

Choosing a tutor is one of the few decisions in a child's education that a parent makes alone, usually in a hurry, usually after a bad report, and usually on price and availability because nothing else is easy to compare. This page gives you something else to compare: twelve questions, a free-class checklist, and the five kinds of tutor, so that the decision takes an hour and lasts a year.

First, what does your child need?

A tutor is a tool for one of four jobs, and the right tutor differs by job.

Decide which job it is before you talk to anyone, because a tutor who is right for one is wrong for another. What works at each age, from 5 to 13, is in online tutor by age. If you are not sure whether a tutor is needed at all, signs your child needs a tutor has a one-conversation test.

The twelve questions

Ask every one. A good tutor answers each in a sentence; a tutor who cannot answer four of them is not the tutor.

1. What is your degree, and in what subject? A degree in the subject taught, shown to you. For a child under 10 a teaching qualification matters as much; for a teenager, subject depth matters more.
2. What exact course and exam board is my child on, and what is the next unit? The question that separates teachers from helpers. A tutor who knows the curriculum names the next unit without looking.
3. Will it be the same tutor every week, in writing? The working relationship is most of what makes tutoring work. A pool of tutors cannot build one.
4. Is every class recorded, and does the recording come to me? For safety and for seeing what is taught. The reasons are in is online tutoring safe.
5. How do I pay, and how do I stop? Monthly, after a free class, no package. Quarterly and yearly plans are where the refund complaints on review sites come from.
6. What happens in the first month, and when will I see a change? A real answer names a diagnosis in the first class, a plan, and a visible change in homework within three to four weeks and in a test within six to eight.
7. Can I sit in? Yes, any class, without notice.
8. Can I see a marked piece of a current student's work? It shows how the tutor marks: to the mark scheme, line by line, or with a tick.
9. Where were you trained, and how long have you taught this course? Years teaching the course, not years tutoring in general.
10. What do you do when my child is stuck? The right answer involves going back a step and asking the child to try again, not explaining again more slowly.
11. What do I get after each class? The recording, a note, the marked homework. A tutor who sends nothing leaves you guessing for a term.
12. What are your rules on contact with my child outside the class? The right answer is none; everything through the parent.

The free class: what to watch

Most services offer one. Treat it as the real test and watch for five things. For a child of 6 to 11 there are seven more specific checks, and three formats that fail young children, in best online tutoring for elementary students.

• Who does the writing. The child should be writing or working for most of the class, on a shared whiteboard the tutor can see. A class where the tutor talks and the child nods is a lecture.
• Whether the tutor diagnoses. A good first class finds the gap: a few quick questions going backwards until the child is sure, then the lesson starts there.
• Whether the tutor uses your child's own book or exam board. Not generic worksheets.
• How the tutor handles a wrong answer. A good one asks a question; a poor one gives the answer.
• What arrives afterwards. A recording, a short note, and a plan with the price. If nothing arrives, that is the service.

The five kinds of tutor, and which your child needs

The last row is us, and the honest caveat is the one in the table: a tutor abroad is only a good choice if they teach your child's own curriculum in its own order. Ask question 2 and listen.

For Australian parents

The Australian market has three particular kinds of tutor: the big online platforms (Cluey, Learnmate, Tutero), the local centres (Kip McGrath, Kumon, Matrix), and individual teachers found through school networks. The questions above apply to all three. Three things to add:

• For NAPLAN, ask whether the tutor teaches the online adaptive format and the four domains, not just "maths and English", and whether they use ACARA-style questions. Free practice tests by year level, with answers, are on our NAPLAN page.
• For Years 11 and 12, the tutor must know your state's course by name: HSC, VCE, QCE, WACE or SACE, and its study design or syllabus. A tutor who says "Year 12 maths" without the state is guessing.
• For time zones, an Australian after-school slot (4 to 6:30 pm AEST) is late morning to early afternoon in India, which is why online tutors from India are a practical option for Australian families; check that the tutor's slot is fixed and in your time.

The Australian prices above are from published platform rates in 2026. What tutoring costs country by country, and what each price buys, is in is online tutoring worth it.

Three mistakes that waste a term

1. Choosing on price first. A cheap tutor who does not know the exam board costs a term and then the money again.
2. Choosing on charm. The child liked the first class; three months later nothing has changed. Watch who did the writing.
3. Not setting a review date. Decide at the start what "working" will look like by week six (homework quicker, a test better, the child willing) and look at it on that date. If it is not there, change the tutor, not the subject.

Where to get help

A free 30-minute 1-on-1 class with a tutor who holds a master's in the subject, on your child's own curriculum and exam board, with you in the room. The twelve questions above answered before the class, the recording after it, and a plan with the price. Monthly billing, no package, the same tutor every week. For the US, UK, Australia, Canada, the UAE and India, from Grade 1 to the final school exams. The team page says who the tutors are.

Questions parents ask

See how we teach this, 1-on-1 online →