30th September 2010 9:00
By Blue Tutors
We’re frequently asked about our method of charging tutors and students for lessons – how we make our money. Our system does initially appear to be quite complicated; taking a percentage of the tuition fee from each lesson requires detailed monitoring of the lessons a tutor is doing, and has the inevitable problem of when a tutor doesn’t declare lessons, and our relationship with them becomes a bit fraught.
The resolution which is often suggested, and which many other tuition agencies employ, is to charge our tutors a fixed fee for each student with whom the tutor is put in touch, or to charge a registration fee to each student before they can begin lessons with us. However, there are downsides to both of these ideas.
The first suggestion, to charge tutors a fee for each student they take on, creates a problem when a student isn’t very serious about having lessons. If they have no lessons at all then the tutor will feel quite reluctant to pay a fee. Obviously this is understandable; if we’ve given the tutor an uncertain student, then it’s really us who have done our job poorly, and we shouldn’t be rewarded for that. This is a relatively unusual situation, but it’s possible that it could happen two or three times to a tutor when they begin with us, and it’s foreseeable that the tutor could be unhappy, and not use our service again.
Many agencies charge a registration fee to their students before matching the student with their tutor. There is an immediate apparent benefit for the tutor because they can then keep the entire lesson fee received (it’s worth noting though, that agencies charging registration fees are essentially lowering the lesson fee that their tutors could receive). Also, it’s not possible to guarantee that a student will be happy with their tutor, or even that a suitable tutor will be found at all.
We should point out that if Blue Tutors were to adopt either of the above methods of charging for their services then it would be administrationally much easier for Blue Tutors, and possibly allow them to make more than they currently do. However, neither of these methods are considered to be ethically the correct way to do things.
By charging commission, it means that Blue Tutors only benefit if both tutor and student benefit, and the amount of benefit gained is proportional for everyone as the lessons continue. It means that it’s in Blue Tutors interests to find a great tutor, and a committed student, and ensure that they are perfectly matched. We benefit most from long-term successful periods of lessons, and don’t gain much at all from a tutor-student match that doesn’t work out. It means that we can be driven to work towards the best outcome for everyone, not just ourselves.