If you’re looking at this article, it probably means that you want to sign up as a student for Superprof and begin learning with a tutor, but you have a few questions you want answered first before you commit.
That’s smart! It’s good to know the details of a monetary commitment before you make it!
In this article, you’ll find out everything you need to know about signing up for Superprof as a student, searching for tutors, and the payment structure you can budget for.
What is Superprof?
Superprof is a platform connecting private tutors to students in search of private tutoring. It’s that simple!
We are adding new categories of tuition all the time as more and more tutors in different subjects join the platform and express the need for a new category.
Students can arrange for lessons with tutors to take place via webcam or in-person, depending on their needs and preferences. If a tutor lives in your area, you can even ask them to arrange a mixture of both if you want!
The benefits of using Superprof are:
- A directory of vetted and approved private tutors, which means you can trust your tutor to provide you with the education you expect
- Guaranteed secure payments to your tutor with refunds available for legitimate reasons
- Reliable scheduling so you and your tutor never mix up your lesson times and dates
- A moderation team to help with any issues you may have using the platform or with your tutor - your safety and sense of well-being are paramount to us!
Overall, you can think of Superprof like a society: our tutors are our residents and shopkeepers, our admin and technical teams are our town’s governance and maintenance, and you, dear student, are a visitor come to learn from our knowledgeable inhabitants.
Superprof's Business Model
Caring — Involved — Utopic
Superprof Team Motto
Superprof's team motto includes these words and they drive the aims of our services. However, we also need to create an income as we are, after all, a business, with rent to pay and many employees on payroll.
The options we came up with for setting our fees and rates included:
- offer advertising spaces (for other companies) for sale on our site
- charge students a percentage rate for each lesson
- creating a subscription service for students.
The first option didn't align with Superprof's key goal to provide students with academic help, support and other learning opportunities. Nobody wants to be inundated with advertisements on a site where you’re researching different tutors and weighing your options. You already have enough to think about!
The second option also wasn’t ideal, since students like you come to Superprof to learn and we want to encourage this, not discourage it by adding an extra cost to your tutoring fees.
Our solution lay in the final option — a subscription service.
Plenty of companies use this method and we felt that a Superprof subscription gave the best value for money to our students.
Our subscription service is one of Superprof's key differences from other tutoring services, many of which require their tutors and/or students to pay fees.
The way it works is simple:
- Students can browse through tutors for free
- When a student finds a tutor they want to work with, they must purchase a Superprof student pass, which is a monthly subscription that only gets activated if the tutor accepts the request for a lesson, and that can be cancelled at any time
- Students then pay the hourly rate for tuition, which is 100% set by the tutor
- Students can then contact as many tutors as they want with their student pass
There are tutoring sites that don't appear to charge access fees but believe us when we say, you do pay for access: higher tutoring fees for you, a large cut of the tutoring fee taken from the tutor, intrusive advertising, data harvesting, etc.
Alternatively, some tutoring companies require students to sign a contract, locking them into a predetermined amount of time or, at the very least, charging you 'administration and maintenance fees.'
Essentially, Superprof provides a way for tutors to launch their tutoring business while allowing students access to a global directory of verified tutors at their fingertips and a safe, secure way to set meetings and make payments to tutors.
Superprof AU has...
verified English tutors
verified biology tutors
verified maths tutors
Reviews and Testimonials
We know the Superprof business model works.
How?
It's not only the growth in the number of students seeking help in all sorts of academic subjects — English, maths, science (including physics, biology and chemistry) — as well as non-academic subjects like cooking, fitness, and art.
Nor is it solely the ever-increasing number of tutors utilising our platform to offer their tutoring services with subjects like French (and other languages), economics, engineering, psychology, studying skills, gardening, singing, cooking, and saxophone.
The proof is in the pudding.
Students are able to leave detailed reviews on Superprof for their tuition after a lesson. The reviews are moderated so if there is a problem, someone at Superprof will immediately be made aware and can help sort things out if needed. This also cuts down on false negative reviews, which are rare but if you’ve ever read reviews for Airbnb or your favourite restaurant, you know some people can just never be satisfied.
This way, you know every review you see on Superprof is fair and truthful so you can make an informed decision about working with a tutor.
We take pride in the reviews and testimonials our happy tutors and students place on sites like Trustpilot and Indeed.
When there are negative reviews, we find that the most common reason for them is that there was a misunderstanding of the subscription model - and that’s exactly why we are writing this article! To clear up these confusions and help everyone understand what’s going on when they join our platform.
You can find FAQs about finding a tutor, managing your lessons, making changes to your account, and learning more about the benefits of a Student Pass subscription here on our info page.
But we also have more to tell you in this article so don’t go away!
Fees and Payments
So, what is it about the subscription service that causes snags for some of our student users?
When we dig deeper into the negative reviews, we discover people have had the following experience:
The student
- browses through tutor profiles
- finds a tutor and clicks the button to make contact
- is directed to an administrative page where they are invited to enter details, including payment details
It is here that lies the issue.
Why?
We're all guilty of it — we don't read the terms of agreement or terms of use documents. These documents are where the subscription model is explained, including what the subscription consists of and how to end it.
To make things clear, there are three parties involved in the Superprof relationship:
- the student
- the teacher
- the Superprof platform
The platform is a vehicle for connecting a student with their desired tutor. As such, it is the platform that students subscribe to.
The Superprof Student Pass (aka: the subscription) fees are only activated and taken if and when a tutor confirms a student's lesson request. The Student Pass is $69 per 30 days.
The tutor's fees are separate from the Student Pass subscription.
Once you have found a tutor, you are free to take your tutor-student agreement off the Superprof platform. At this point, you can cancel your subscription. Note that this means you will not have Superprof’s secure payment service, refund guarantee, or other amelioration services.
You can also keep your Studnet Pass active and continue using Superprof as a secure way to contact and pay your tutor, as well as contact and pay any other tutors you’d like.
It's very important to note that if you do not cancel your Student Pass, you will be charged for your subscription every 30 days, regardless of how frequently you contact tutors and take lessons.
What about the tutors?
The Student Pass is how we can offer tutors a way to advertise their services, get connected with students, utilise our scheduling system, and receive secure payments for only a 10% commission, which covers all the services just mentioned.
Tutors can access and utilise the Superprof platform for free. Superprof does not charge tutors to set up their profiles, create listings for their services, or maintain their pages. If a tutor doesn’t make any money on our platform, they do not need to pay anything.
Tutors are able to avoid the 10% commission fee if they collect payments off the Superprof platform, but that can leave room for problems between you (the student) and the tutor if anything goes wrong (like if the tutor needs to cancel class at the last minute and doesn't get around to issuing a refund or rescheduling). It’s up to you (the student) if you want to work with a tutor who collects payments off the Superprof platform.
Tutors can also opt into a Premium account and pay 0% commission that way instead.
Finally, Superprof does not dictate tutoring fees. We do have a number of advice articles advising tutors on factors to consider when setting their fees, but ultimately the choice is theirs. The only exception to this rule is that new tutors who have not yet reached Super Tutor status are required to provide the first lesson free to each new student.
Factors that affect a tutor’s decision when it comes to setting rates include:
- Supply and demand: if there are a lot of tutors for the subject you teach, you will need competitive pricing
- Student teaching: if you (the tutor) are still a student yourself but you excel in the subject you’re tutoring, consider lowering your rates to reflect your real-world experience
- New career: if you’re inexperienced with tutoring others, even though you are knowledgeable in your subject, consider lowering your rates until you have more experience at how to be a tutor
- Years of experience: if you are highly qualified or experienced in your subject, you can increase your rates to reflect your years of expertise
What is the Superprof Student Pass?
To summarise everything above in plain words:
The Superprof Student Pass is the $69 recurring subscription that allows you to contact as many tutors as you’d like on the Superprof platform. The Pass is for 30 days and is automatically debited from the payment information you used to set up your account.
You will only be charged for the Student Pass once the first tutor you contact for a lesson accepts your lesson request.
per month
Does the Superprof Student Pass cover payments to tutors?
No.
Many tutors will offer their first class for free, but you must still get a Superprof Student Pass to schedule this free lesson.
The Pass allows you to contact tutors, schedule lessons, and make secure payments on Superprof. Lesson fees to tutors are a separate payment.
Why should I get a Superprof Student Pass?
Your Student Pass subscription ensures that you are able to securely connect with verified, vetted tutors; the website stays up-and-running; all the data in the site remains secure from hackers; you have mediators and admin at Superprof who can help you resolve any issues with your account or with a tutor, including getting you refunds if a tutor fails to meet their obligations; and that we can continue to make a better product and service over time.
It also helps keep the lights on at Superprof HQ and puts food on the table for our amazing staff. (We all say “Thank you!!!!!!!” by the way!)
Can I cancel my Superprof Student Pass?
Yes.
You can cancel your Superprof subscription at any time, and you will still be able to use the Superprof platform until you reach the end of your paid 30 days. Remember that you will not be able to communicate with tutors after your subscription ends. You will need to sign up again for a Student Pass if you want to reach out to a new tutor.
You and your tutor are free to continue lessons away from the Superprof platform, but just keep in mind that you (the student) won’t be able to resolve issues with the tutor through Superprof if you experience any. We absolutely do not expect or anticipate there to be issues with our trusted tutors, but it’s also important to be realistic and know that whenever payments are involved, there is an inherent risk. Superprof helps make sure you receive the promised services for your payments, or else get a refund.
Contact our team at any time with any questions, comments, or concerns at
gday@superprof.com
Now, Get on the Platform and Find A Tutor!
You have nothing to lose and everything (well, mostly education in your preferred subject, but I digress) to gain. We have so many different subjects on Superprof that we couldn't possibly list them all here — maths, English, physics, biology, chemistry, psychology, German, engineering, yoga, ceramics, painting, French cooking, swimming, basketball, guitar, cryptocurrency, IELTS… the list goes on!
Explore Superprof for the perfect tutor and begin learning today!
Enjoyed this article? Leave a rating!
Loading...
Hi, I want to know at point will I be charged? I have messaged a few tutors but want to attend the first class before deciding if they meet my needs or not? What happens if I attaned the first free class but I don’t like them and decide to no go ahead? and within a month cannot find a tutor I like? Will I still be charged the monthly $69
Hello, thank you for reaching out to us. We invite you to send your questions to our customer care team at the email gday@superprof.com. Have a lovely day
Hi. My name is Jenny Fujiyasu. I did pay a deposit to have violin lesson but we haven’t had the first violin lesson and the money was deducted. We are still in the process of getting a violin and have not arranged a date for the lesson.Please advise what to do and please sto[p all future payment.
Hi Jenny! It sounds like your Student Pass has been activated since a tutor accepted your request. I’ve reached out to the support team to contact you today, but don’t hesitate to reach out to them at gday@superprof.com for any other questions regarding your account.
Not sure hoe to cancel subscription, please cancel it if it hasn’t canceled by deleting my account.
Hello, thank you for reaching out to us. We invite you to send your questions to our customer care team at the email gday@superprof.com. Have a lovely day!
I had a tutoring session with Lynden and I want to leave a review but I cannot see where to write a review I have looked everywhere!!! Help me please.
Hello, thank you for reaching out to us. You can leave a review 7 days after your lesson request has been accepted by the tutor. To leave a review, click on the ‘Leave a review’ button in your chat. If you encounter any difficulties in this process, we invite you to send your questions to our customer care team at the email gday@superprof.com. Have a lovely day!
The teacher has agreed but they dont message me back on the first lesson. I have kept on communicating with them and no answer.
Also, the fee should not be deducted yet because we haven’t done any tutoring yet. thanks
Hello! Thank you for reaching out to us. We invite you to send your questions to our customer care team at the email gday@superprof.com. Have a good day!
unable to contact tutors as it says “reached maximum number for daily” however i been getting this error message for last many days and am still not able to contact any tutor, can you please assist
Hello, thank you for reaching out to us. We invite you to send your questions to our customer care team at the email gday@superprof.com. Have a great day!
To whom it may concern,
Please cancel the current subscription as I have no wish to continue to use your services. Latest charge $69.
Thank you
Bill Henshall
Hello, thank you for reaching out to us. We invite you to send your questions to our customer care team at the email gday@superprof.com. Have a nice day!
Can someone from another country be a tutor or is this Australian based only?
Hi! Yes, you can teach online with Superprof even if you’re not in Australia. We operate in over 30 countries, so you may also be able to offer in-person lessons depending on your location! If you have any other questions, feel free to contact our support team at gday@superprof.com — they’re always happy to assist!
Hi, I’m so sorry
I was just a bit confused. I thought the fee was 49$, not 80$?
Hi Elizabrth! The Superprof Student Pass subscription fee is $69 (not $49 or $80). It gives you unlimited access to connect with tutors on the platform. If you have any further questions, feel free to reach out to our customer care team at gday@superprof.com. Have a wonderful day!
I would like to cancel the students pass . But not available to log in as the password never come.
Hello Youngmi! Thank you for reaching out to us. We invite you to get in touch with our customer care team at the email gday@superprof.com for any questions regarding your account. Have a lovely day!
Emailed few times. But there was no any responses as above. Please read my review.
Hi again Youngmi! Our customer care team confirmed your student pass was cancelled on 19 Feb following your email on the 18th. Sorry about the login hassles earlier. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you need anything else! 🙂
Be careful signing up, there is no grace period, they make money off the subscription, whether you find a suitable tutor or not.
Hello Mark! Thank you for sharing your experience. We understand your concerns about our subscription system.
Just to clarify, Superprof operates as a connecting platform rather than a tuition centre. Our $69 Student Pass enables you to contact multiple tutors and access their details, but this is separate from tutors’ individual lesson fees which you pay directly to them.
Many of our tutors offer their first lesson free, allowing you to try several options before finding your perfect match.
Additionally, if your accepted lesson request doesn’t proceed because the tutor was unavailable or unsuitable, you may be eligible for a first-month refund.
If you’re experiencing any difficulties or would like us to review your specific situation, please contact our support team at gday@superprof.com. We’re genuinely keen to ensure you have a positive experience finding the right tutor for your needs.
Absolute rort. Disgraceful. Cancel my non membership now.
Hello Andrea! Thank you for reaching out to us. I’ve checked our system and unfortunately can’t locate any account associated with your email address.
To ensure we can properly assist you with cancelling any membership and address your concerns, please contact our customer care team at gday@superprof.com. If you could provide them with the email address you used when creating your account on our platform, they’ll be happy to help you with the cancellation process.
I would like to stop my payment of 29 euro monthly because im not using it for more than 4 months and it still takes the amount
Hello! Thank you for getting in touch with us. I’ve checked our system but unfortunately can’t locate any account associated with your email address. I’d also like to gently clarify that our subscription fee is $69 AUD, not €29 euros as mentioned in your message.
To ensure we can properly help you stop any payments and resolve this matter, please do contact our customer care team at gday@superprof.com with the correct email address you used to create your account, and they’ll be more than happy to assist you. Thanks so much for your patience!
Your website is very glitchy. I cant get through anywhere. It looks very interesting but is not working. I was wanting to book Amy from Gordon for Maths, but now cant find her anywhere.
Hello Linda! We apologise for the website issues you’ve experienced whilst trying to book lessons. I can see that you’ve already been in touch with our customer care team and they were able to help you resolve the issues and assist with your booking. If you need any further assistance, feel free to reach out again!