As a student, if you always did well at school in various subjects, like science (particularly chemistry, physics or biology), maths and English, and were the person other students in your year turned to for help, you might find you enjoy teaching or tutoring.
Let's take a look at one of the most complex science subjects students struggle with — chemistry.
Chemistry tutoring is great part-time work for university students and teachers (or retired teachers) looking to supplement their income or for anyone else who has an interest in providing help to others.
In Australia, you don't need a formal qualification to work as a chemistry tutor. You do, however, need to obtain a police check and a 'work with children' check (if you plan on tutoring students under the age of 18). A Bachelor of Education degree can also be useful but is not mandatory. Of course, skills and experience in the subjects you are tutoring are a given, although a formal qualification in chemistry (or maths or English etc.) is optional.
As a tutor, it's important to be able to differentiate between the different types of tutoring. Knowing these differences will help you decide where to focus when you've decided to become a tutor.
- Tutoring agencies or learning centres: often group tutoring with anywhere from 4 students to 20 students and a set program of learning
- In-person, private tutoring: a program of learning is tailored to meet student needs and offered by a private tutor or through a tutoring agency
- Online tutoring: can be private tutoring or small group tutoring, and is offered by private tutors or through tutoring agencies
There are pros and cons to working as a tutor in each area, including the money that can be earned. If you work for a tutoring agency, your fees will be set for you and may be determined according to your experience as a tutor, your qualifications and possibly the subjects or student levels you are able to tutor.
If you decide to work as a private tutor — freelance — you will have to set your own rates; this is what some tutors find difficult, with questions arising such as how to set competitive rates and the fees that are needed to earn a profit.
Therein lies the focus of this article — how much can you earn as a chemistry tutor?
Amongst the subjects most sought after by students at all education levels, the call for chemistry tutoring is right up there, along with maths, English and the two other 'big' science subjects, physics and biology.
If you have a passion for chemistry and have completed a chemistry degree or a university chemistry major as part of another degree, then there is plenty of potential for both full-time and part-time work as a chemistry tutor for high school students, university students and adults who need to upskill in a specific area of chemistry. The flexibility of the work is one of the best things, with private tutors being able to set their own weekly schedules and the ability to tutor effectively both online and in person.
The Value Offered by a Chemistry Tutor
Many people see tutors as teachers who help students learn and get through their lessons. They may believe that tutors are only useful for students who are falling behind in their subjects or who can't keep up in class.
Both of these beliefs are true but only scratch the surface of the many purposes of tutoring.
As a chemistry tutor, you can help each student in a multitude of ways, including:
- comprehension of chemistry concepts
- confidence with chemistry theory or practice
- learning and study skills
- exam preparation and exam technique
- essay writing
- answering or investigating chemistry questions, such as those posed in assignments
- specific preparation for the Year 12 ATAR exam period, including HSC and VCE
- cross-subject connections (e.g. the links between chemistry and physics or biology, or chemistry and maths).
The main benefit of one-to-one chemistry tutoring is that private students get the individualised attention they can't receive in a regular chemistry class, often meaning they can achieve a lot more.
Also very important to know is that tutors help students who are struggling as well as those who need the challenge of advanced chemistry lessons; either way, if you want to help students achieve more, tutoring is for you.
How Much Do Tutors Charge?
That is one of the hardest questions to answer because there are so many caveats, including:
- your teaching or tutoring experience
- your level of education
- subjects you offer (if you offer chemistry as well as other subjects such as physics, biology or maths, you may be worth more)
- level of the students you can work with (i.e. high school through to university postgraduate level)
- whether you are tutoring online or in person.
Some chemistry tutors may still be studying chemistry at university, while others may be working in their field (there are many careers you can follow with chemistry behind you) and offering tutoring for extra income or because they love teaching. Both of these situations will also have an effect on how much you charge for your lessons.
The Australian Tutoring Association offers advice regarding tuition rates. They advise that a tutor who has a teaching qualification can charge within the range of $40 to $150 an hour for private lessons. If you don't have a teaching qualification, your fees should probably come in below $40 an hour; raising the price if you have extensive tutoring experience, a undergraduate or postgraduate degree in chemistry or extensive work experience in a chemistry field.
As a guide, the average price in Australia for chemistry tutoring through the Superprof platform is currently $17 an hour. A quick check at the time of writing showed the lowest hourly rate listed by tutors to be $11, while the highest was $80.
Remember that you will earn less if you are employed by a tutoring agency, although they take on the admin work and provide all the teaching and learning resources you need so you don't have to deal with that side of things.
Factors to Consider When Working Out Your Fees
Before you can set about finding students to tutor, you need to determine how much you are going to charge. There are a number of factors to take into consideration and your final rates should be carefully considered before you advertise them.
Your experience
As mentioned earlier, 'experience' can include:
- teaching experience as a qualified teacher
- tutoring experience
- 'on-the-job' experience in chemistry-related fields
- education background.
The more experience a tutor has, coupled with their qualifications, the more students should expect to pay.
It's important to remember that not every student will want a highly-priced tutor with years of teaching background and five degrees! Some students are looking for a tutor who is their age and who they can connect with. Other students need to find tutors who they can afford.
Student level
A tutor who is mainly working with primary or high school students does not need as much chemistry knowledge as tutors whose lessons are with university undergraduate or postgraduate candidates. Therefore, it stands to reason that tutors who require less specialised knowledge will also charge less.
Travel costs (and other lesson expenses)
If you are offering face-to-face lessons, a student should expect your fees to be higher than a tutor who gives online lessons. There are three possible scenarios here:
- As the tutor, you are travelling to the home of the student or another location.
If you are using your car, you should factor in the cost of petrol, parking and wear-and-tear on your car. If you are using public transport, this cost should be factored into your fees. Travel time is also a consideration.
- You tutor in person from your own home.
If students come to your house, you are advised to have public liability insurance, which should be factored into your fees. You should also consider electricity or gas costs, internet charges, plus any costs for upgrading or replacement of furniture and decor. (Students do not want to sit on your bed to study!)
- You tutor online.
An online tutor must have good quality computer hardware and a reliable internet connection — both of which should be covered by your rates.
Preparation time and resources
Good tutors (and successful tutors) put a lot of time into preparing lessons for each student. Within reason, you should definitely factor in your preparation time when setting your fees. Apart from planning lessons, preparation time may also include researching the focus topic, generating questions and activities, marking work and reviewing student progress.
There are many resources every tutor requires to conduct their lessons, such as computer hardware and software (particularly if you are tutoring online) and stationery items. Chemistry tutoring may also require the purchase of various equipment and consumables, particularly if your lessons involve practical activities. All expenses for resources should be covered by your fees, however, in the case of consumables, you may determine this on a student-by-student basis, depending on individual needs and lessons.
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