Interviews with Private Tutors To help you carve your own path, we’ve interviewed some of the UK’s most established tutors, asking them how they got started, the challenges they faced and what advice they have for new tutors. Victoria Olubi is a private tutor in Ealing, London. How long have you been a private tutor? 7 years What subjects and levels do you teach? I specialise in helping children to pass the 11+ school entrance exams. I teach English, Maths, Verbal and Non-Verbal reasoning to students aged 8-12. What qualifications do you have and how much do you charge per hour? BA Hons from Durham University and I charge £50ph. What circumstances led you to working as a private tutor? I fell into it by accident. Someone asked me to teach their child and I initially did it because I enjoyed teaching and working with students on a one-to-one basis. I quickly realised that I preferred it to traditional teaching and decided to start a tutoring business rather than go into the teaching profession. What skills and qualities do you believe are needed to be a successful tutor? I believe that you need to be incredibly passionate about teaching and education. You have to be a lover of learning. It’s important for tutors to be excellent at breaking complex subjects down and have the ability to communicate with students and be patient and understanding.
What do you enjoy most about being a private tutor? What I enjoy most is the fact that my career allows me to make a great impact in the lives of hundreds of children each year. Hearing the incredible success stories of my students never fails to astound me and I’m extremely proud of their accomplishments. What do you think is the most challenging aspect of running a tutoring business? I think juggling all of the elements is the most difficult thing. For instance,
The Private Tutoring Handbook
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