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What is Spires?
Spires is the most advanced tutoring platform in the world!
It provides a safe, powerful and stable all-in-one platform for online tutoring globally.
Spires has been built by tutors for tutors. We are building the best online tutoring marketplace for both tutors and students. We believe the platform is only as good as the online tutors that we have on it. This is why we only accept the top 4% of those that apply.
Tutors set their own prices by bidding on jobs. Average tutor pay is £40/$53/€45 per hour.
Spires only works with professional online tutors and experienced university-level tutors from top universities and institutions. Please only apply if you have tutoring experience.
How does it work?
Watch our overview video below to learn more about our fully integrated system, from creating a great profile to bidding on tutoring jobs, communicating with students, scheduling and having classes through Zoom and automated payments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qgr2qzF7BLA
A stable internet connection - the importance of this cannot be understated!
A decent computer – Online tuition can be heavy on your machine’s CPU and RAM, especially if you are screen sharing with your client. Tablets are in general not powerful enough to tutor online with. Old, budget laptops simply won’t cut it and will result in poor tutorials and bad reviews. You must invest in your tools.
Technical capability - A good degree of computer literacy is important. You should know how to reset a router and how to guide your student if they are having technical problems.
Good microphone and ideally an audio headset - Do not underestimate how seriously poor audio quality will undermine your tutorial. Get a headset with a built-in mic. Audio matters most, more so than video.
A way to write - You wouldn't teach without a pen/marker, nor should you tutor online without one. There are a few options but graphics tablets are the least expensive.
Quiet ambient environment - Background noise when tutoring can be very distracting for both the tutor and student.
Additional collaborative technology - as necessary, e.g. an online whiteboard, collaborative coding environments, google docs and so forth.
How do I become a Spires online tutor?
You must first submit an application using the 'Apply Now' button
Creating a profile should take approximately 30 minutes. Please fill out the application form carefully and fully, upload a professional photo and highlight your relevant experience and track-record as a tutor. Please also submit an up to date CV/resume that reflects the position you are applying for - Online tutor.
If we have sufficient demand for your skills and think you would be a good fit for the platform, we will invite you to a quick interview/mock tutorial on Spires. This will give is a chance to meet you, demonstrate the platform to you, and to give you a chance to showcase your skills to us.
Who can apply to be a tutor? | Who we are looking for
We look for online tutors in all subjects, for all age groups and levels of study. From Primary school right through to Professional qualifications. Spires is a global platform and we have tutors and students from all over the world.
Relevant degree or teaching qualifications - Degrees must be broadly in the area that you want to tutor. Teaching qualifications aren't necessary but will be a significant boost to your application.
Relevant teaching experience - Ideally as a teacher, lecturer or private tutor. We rarely accept undergraduates and recent graduates without previous teaching experience.
Online teaching experience - This can include on other remote online tutoring platforms, VLEs, online whiteboards and so forth. This is not essential but as online teaching has unique requirements and demands, we like to see previous experience.
That we have sufficient demand in your subject - The demand for remote tutoring is typically centred around sciences, technology, engineering, maths, social sciences, languages, humanities, professional qualifications, entrance tests and aptitude tests. There is always an excess of demand relative to supply of tutors in subjects such as economics, computer science and related subjects. There is typically an excess of supply in languages and humanities relative to demand. We will only invite people to interview if we think their skills will be genuinely utilised on Spires.
Tutoring is not the same as lecturing or classroom teaching. It revolves around 1:1 interaction, is personal and should be personalised. Building rapport and gaining the respect and attention of your student requires a more proactive and interactive approach to teaching. Emotional intelligence is as important as raw intelligence in tutoring!
Tutoring is all about being knowledgeable, positive, proactive, likeable, approachable and competent. In short, professional. These are the qualities we look for in our tutors.
Do you need a licence to tutor?
If you are in the UK and are intending to tutor students younger than 18, or those still at school, you must have an enhanced DBS check carried out and uploaded to Spires.
If you are not in the UK, you will need to obtain your own local equivalent criminal record or background check.
There are no legal requirements to work as a private tutor in the UK. The industry as a whole is pretty much free from official regulation, as there are no specific qualifications or certificates that you need to have.
That being said, quality and integrity are paramount to us as you will be working on our platform with our clients and representing the Spires brand of high-quality online tutoring.
Spires is a platform designed by tutors for other experienced, independent tutors.
Given that Spires covers all subjects and levels of teaching, we understand that tutors with different specialisms, skills, knowledge and experience will command different tutoring rates.
Also, not all job requests are the same within a given subject/level of teaching so we needed to allow a lot of flexibility in job pricing. As such, we allow tutors to set their own rates on Spires via a bidding process on new jobs.
We trust that they will bid appropriately and sensibly in order to both be happy with their rate and our commission, as well as have some competitive pressure to actually win jobs at affordable prices for clients. Market economies exist for a reason - they tend to drive sensible outcomes.
Spires is a very open organisation and you can find many reviews by tutors past and present online. Here is a selection of our Trustpilot reviews over the recent period:
“The best platform for tutors I've worked with, and still do work with, a number of tutoring platforms. Spires is hands down the best. Everything is integrated very nicely into the website. Bookings are done super efficiently and clearly. Lessons are automatically scheduled into your calendar (Apple Calendar for me). Everything is just so snappy and clear. For those starting out, tutors can bid on jobs created by parents. This kind of marketplace encourages tutors to be the best they can be. It is also an opportunity for new tutors to get hours under their belt without any reviews etc... I would recommend Spires to any tutor who wants the best platform to tutor on.”
‘Tutor’, Spires Tutor - Trustpilot Review
“I've been tutoring on Spires for about six weeks now, having tutored on other platforms as well as independently for a while before. For tutors, the Spires experience is a pleasure. The bidding-for-jobs mechanism works well, allowing tutors to pace their acquisition of new students according to how busy they are. The students I've encountered have consistently been keen and enthusiastic, and it's been a pleasure helping them improve. Zoom consistently works well, the calendar integration is extremely useful and Stripe makes the weekly payments problem-free. The tutor metrics help you keep yourself, and particularly your prices, anchored into the wider marketplace. I would love to see an institutional subscription to a whiteboard website that could be integrated as well into the platform as the Zoom and file-sharing features are, so students could click on the lesson on their bookings page to pull up the whiteboard notes alongside the recording, automatically. That's pretty much my only feature request. For students, I almost cannot envisage there being a better place to look for a tutor than Spires. For tutors, likewise. Great work by the Spires team.”
Jim, Spires Tutor - Trustpilot review
“Working as a tutor for Spires has far exceeded my expectations. There is plenty of work to choose from and a very efficient system online. I have had absolutely no problems so far at all.”
Alex Townsend, Spires Tutor - Trustpilot review
“I’ve been using Spires for about a month, and I’m impressed by the platform and the support. The platform is easy to use and well automated, from finding students to sessions and post-session recordings. Very happy with my choice of online tutoring platform.”
Paul B., Spires Tutor - Trustpilot review
‘A great user and tutor friendly platform. I especially like that tutors have autonomy in how to approach and teach students and hence design the individual sessions required. The technology is fantastic and has worked well for me. My students like the ease of conversation, ability to share files and session recordings.’
‘Tutor’, Spires Tutor - July 2021 - Trustpilot review
“Excellent, easy to use platform with a highly professional staff team and plenty of clients. Would recommend any tutor looking for reliable, online work.”
Hugh Tutor, Spires Tutor - Trustpilot review
‘The Spires online system works extremely well as does the support and advice available for tutors.’
Elisabeth Riach, Spires Tutor - Trustpilot review
“I am a tutor on spires and I find the platform extremely easy to use. I get client details as soon as they post jobs and the booking system is effective and easy to manage. The site is professional and well managed. ”
Dr Cobb, Spires Tutor - Trustpilot review
“Teaching is not my job, it is my passion. Thanks to Spires for giving me an opportunity to fulfil my passion.”
Jonaid, Spires Tutor - Trustpilot review
“Spires is an excellent online tutoring service for experienced, professional tutors. I liked the fact that they interview you before taking you on. This way amateurs who undercut professionals with their cheap prices are ruled out. It also means that customers get value for their money because they know they will be getting expert help. Spires also makes it easy to teach online with the ability to click onto the session, attach documents and communicate with customers easily through the text messaging service.”
Karen, Spires Tutor - Trustpilot review
“It's a great platform for tutors as it gives them ample opportunities but also limits the number of bids a student can get so that every teacher gets a fair chance and fair pay.”
Spires Tutor - Trustpilot review
We offer tutoring in many hundreds of different academic subjects on our platform. Below is a list of the most popular categories of jobs posted.
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