16 May 2026 · 4 min read · By Harriet
If you're considering leaving teaching to tutor, the first thing you want to know is the money. Fair. Here's the honest answer on how much tutors actually earn in the UK — and why the headline figures are misleading.
The 1:1 numbers everyone quotes
Most UK tutors charge between £30 and £60 an hour for one-to-one. Specialist subjects (11+, GCSE Maths, A-Level Sciences) sit at the higher end. Primary tends to sit lower unless you've niched.
Sounds great until you do the actual maths. Twenty hours of 1:1 a week is a lot of teaching, a lot of admin and a ceiling you'll hit fast. This is where most tutors plateau — and stop.
Where the real money is
The tutors earning serious money — six figures, in some cases — aren't doing more hours. They're using a completely different model. One that takes the same hour of your time and multiplies what you earn from it.
I won't lay the whole thing out here because it deserves more than a paragraph. But I'll say this — when I switched models, my hourly rate effectively quadrupled overnight. Same hour. Same effort. Four times the income.
What's actually achievable
Replacing an M6 salary on part-time hours is comfortably achievable inside 12 months if you do this properly. Doubling it within 18–24 months is realistic too. I'm not saying that to sound impressive — I'm saying it because I see teachers do it every cohort.
Want the exact pricing and earnings model?
I share the full earnings calculator, pricing structure and the model that took me from M6 teacher to six-figure tutoring business owner inside The Ultimate Teacher Exit Plan. Find out more about the course here: /the-course
Want the full step-by-step? See The Ultimate Teacher Exit Plan — the complete course for teachers leaving the classroom.
