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Online tutor

Online tutors support students who are studying courses over the internet.

Annual Salary

variable

Working hours

37 to 39 variable

You could work: evenings / weekends; flexibly

2.9%
Future employment

There will be 2.9% more Online tutor jobs in 2027.
In your local area

What's it all about?

Day-to-day tasks

You could:

  • help students develop their study skills
  • set clear rules for online behaviour
  • act as a point of contact for students' or parents' queries
  • give support by email, webchat, social media and telephone
  • manage online discussion forums
  • set up audio and video conferencing
  • conduct 'virtual classroom' lessons using web technology
  • monitor students' progress
  • assess students' work and give constructive feedback

Working environment

You could work from home.

You can get into this job through:

  • a university course
  • a college course
  • working towards this role
  • applying directly
  • private training
University

You may need a degree in a specialist subject depending on the level of course you plan to teach online. For example, a degree in maths to teach A level maths.

You might also need to get qualified teacher status (QTS) if you're teaching academic qualifications. Some degrees include this.

If you have a degree in a subject without QTS, you can get it by completing one of the following:

  • a postgraduate teacher training course at university
  • a school-based training programme

You can search for teacher training courses on GOV UK.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths
  • 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree
  • a degree in a relevant subject for postgraduate study
For more information
College

You could do a college course like the Level 3 Award in Education and Training to get some of the skills needed for this job. This is suitable if you're not yet in a teaching role or have limited teaching hours.

Entry requirements

You may need:

  • 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, for a level 3 course
For more information
Work

You can usually take qualifications while you work. The exact qualification you do will depend on your job but could include:

  • Level 4 Certificate and Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training

Direct application

You can apply to companies directly if you've got the following:

  • excellent IT skills
  • teaching, training or tutoring experience
  • in-depth knowledge of the subject you're going to teach

Other routes

You can do a course with a private training provider, and some of these can be done online. You should check courses carefully to make sure they meet your needs.

Requirements and restrictions

You'll need to:

More information

Further information

You can find out more about training to teach online from the Education & Training Foundation.

You could move into other areas of online education, like:course development; management; private tuition; consultancy

Skills required and how your skills match up

What skills are required?

  • knowledge of teaching and the ability to design courses
  • the ability to create the best conditions for learning or teaching new things
  • knowledge of media production and communication
  • the ability to use your initiative
  • customer service skills
  • the ability to come up with new ways of doing things
  • to be flexible and open to change
  • the ability to work well with others
  • persistence and determination
  • to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently
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