How to Start a Tutoring Business in the UK

Why Tutoring Is One of the Best Businesses You Can Start

If you've got expertise in a subject and the ability to explain things clearly, tutoring is one of the most rewarding ways to earn a living. The demand is enormous — parents invest heavily in their children's education, adult learners are upskilling constantly, and the shift to online delivery means you can reach students anywhere in the country.

Startup costs are virtually zero. You don't need premises, you don't need stock, and you don't need expensive equipment. What you do need is knowledge, patience, and a basic understanding of how to run the business side of things — tax, record keeping, and making sure you're set up properly with HMRC.

Let's cover everything from safeguarding to tax-efficient bookkeeping.

DBS Checks and Safeguarding

If you're tutoring anyone under 18, you need an Enhanced DBS check (Disclosure and Barring Service). This isn't technically a legal requirement for self-employed tutors — it's a legal requirement for organisations, and individual tutors exist in a grey area — but in practice, you absolutely need one. Parents will ask for it, tutoring platforms require it, and schools won't work with you without it.

You can apply for a DBS check through an umbrella body (since self-employed individuals can't apply directly). The Tutors' Association and several online services offer this. It costs around £40-£50 and takes 2-8 weeks to process.

Safeguarding Training

Beyond the DBS check, consider completing a Level 1 Safeguarding course. These are available online for £20-£30 and take a few hours. It demonstrates professionalism, gives you practical knowledge about recognising signs of abuse or neglect, and many tutoring platforms now require it.

If you're tutoring in students' homes, it's also worth having a clear lone working policy — let someone know where you are, keep your phone charged, and trust your instincts about situations that feel uncomfortable.

Online vs In-Person Tutoring

The pandemic permanently changed the tutoring landscape. Both models work brilliantly, and many tutors offer a mix.

In-person tutoring:

• Higher perceived value (you can often charge more)
• Better for younger children who struggle with screen-based learning
• Requires travel (but you can claim mileage)
• Limited by geography

Online tutoring:

• Reach students anywhere in the UK (or internationally)
• No travel time or costs
• Easier to fit more sessions into your day
• Requires decent internet, a quiet space, and familiarity with video tools

The tax implications are the same either way — income is income, and expenses are expenses, regardless of whether you deliver sessions on Zoom or at a kitchen table.

Registering as a Sole Trader

Once you start earning money from tutoring, you need to register as a sole trader with HMRC. This is free, takes about 10 minutes online, and should be done as soon as you start trading.

As a registered sole trader, you'll:

• File a Self Assessment tax return annually
• Pay Income Tax on profits above your personal allowance (£12,570)
• Pay Class 2 and Class 4 National Insurance — our NI guide for sole traders explains the rates
• Submit quarterly updates under Making Tax Digital from April 2026

If tutoring is a side income alongside employment, you still need to declare it. Your employer handles tax on your salary through PAYE, but your tutoring profits are declared separately through Self Assessment.

Allowable Expenses for Tutors

Tutoring might seem like a low-expense business, but there are more deductions available than you'd think:

Learning Materials

• Textbooks and workbooks — revision guides, past papers, reference books for your subject areas
• Stationery — pens, whiteboards, markers, printed worksheets
• Digital resources — subscriptions to educational platforms, question banks, or content libraries

Technology

• Software subscriptions — Zoom Pro, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, interactive whiteboard tools like Miro or BitPaper
• Equipment — a proportion of your laptop or tablet cost (based on business use), webcam, microphone, graphics tablet for maths/science tutoring
• Internet — the business proportion of your broadband bill

Travel

• Mileage to students' homes — 45p per mile for the first 10,000 miles, then 25p after that
• Public transport — train or bus fares to tutoring locations
• Note: travel between your home and a regular tutoring venue might be considered commuting, which isn't deductible. Travel to different students' homes is fine.

Working From Home

If you tutor online from home (which most tutors do at least some of the time), you can claim a proportion of your household costs — rent or mortgage interest, council tax, electricity, gas, water, and broadband. See our working from home tax relief guide for both the simplified and actual costs methods.

Professional Development

• Training courses — subject-specific CPD, teaching methodology courses
• DBS renewal costs — these need updating periodically
• Professional memberships — The Tutors' Association, subject-specific bodies

Other

• Insurance — professional indemnity insurance (recommended for all tutors)
• Marketing — website, social media advertising, tutoring platform fees or commissions
• Phone — the business proportion of your mobile contract

For the complete picture of what HMRC allows, check our full sole trader expenses list.

VAT Exemption on Education: What Qualifies?

Here's something many tutors don't know: certain education services are exempt from VAT. This is different from being zero-rated — it means VAT simply doesn't apply.

Under HMRC rules, the supply of education by an "eligible body" is VAT-exempt. Individual tutors aren't automatically eligible bodies, but the exemption does apply to tuition in subjects ordinarily taught in schools or universities, provided by an individual tutor acting independently.

In practice, this means most private tutoring of academic subjects (maths, English, sciences, languages, etc.) to individual students is VAT-exempt. This is genuinely good news — even if your turnover exceeds the VAT registration threshold of £90,000, you wouldn't need to charge VAT on exempt supplies.

However, the rules are nuanced. Tutoring in non-academic subjects, corporate training, and group classes may not qualify. If you're approaching the VAT threshold, it's worth getting specific advice. Our VAT registration guide covers the basics.

Setting Rates and Managing Payments

Tutoring rates in the UK typically fall in these ranges:

• GCSE level: £25-£40 per hour
• A-Level: £30-£50 per hour
• University level: £40-£70 per hour
• Specialist subjects (medicine, law, coding): £50-£100+ per hour
• London premium: Add 20-40% to the above

Many tutors offer a slight discount for block bookings (e.g., 10 sessions paid upfront). This improves your cash flow and reduces the risk of last-minute cancellations.

For payments, bank transfers are the cleanest option from a bookkeeping perspective — every payment shows up in your bank feed automatically. If you take cash, make sure you record it properly. Every pound of income needs to be declared, regardless of how it's received.

Having a clear cancellation policy is essential. A common approach is to require 24 hours' notice, with the full fee charged for late cancellations. State this clearly in writing before you start with any new student.

Tracking Income Across Multiple Students

Once you're tutoring 10, 15, or 20+ students across different subjects and levels, keeping track of everything manually becomes genuinely difficult. Who's paid for this month? Who owes you for last week's extra session? How much have you earned from maths versus English this term?

This is where having a proper bookkeeping system saves you hours. With Accounted, your bank transactions are automatically categorised, so you can see exactly how much tutoring income you've received without maintaining a separate spreadsheet. If a parent pays you in cash, just message Penny on WhatsApp — "Received £35 cash from the Patels for Tuesday's session" — and it's logged.

Tax-Efficient Tutoring with Accounted

The tutoring business model is beautifully simple — your time is your product, and most of your income flows straight to profit. But that also means your tax bill can be higher than you expect, especially if you're not claiming all the expenses you're entitled to.

Accounted helps you capture every deductible expense, prepare your quarterly MTD submissions without the stress, and always know your estimated tax position so there are no nasty surprises in January. Whether you need an accountant or want to handle things yourself, having clean, organised records makes everything easier.

You became a tutor because you love helping people learn. Let us handle the part you didn't sign up for.

Ready to simplify your bookkeeping? Try Accounted free for 14 days →

Related Reading

• Side Hustle Tax Guide: When Does HMRC Need to Know?
• Tax Guide for Window Cleaners: Expenses and Record Keeping

You may also find our Construction Subcontractor Insurance Guide helpful.

You may also find our Tax Guide for Private Tutors and Music Teachers helpful.

You may also find our Tax Guide for Uber and Deliveroo Drivers helpful.

You may also find our What is VAT and Do I Need to Register? Simple Guide helpful.

View our pricing and start your free 30-day trial today.

Accounted is built for UK sole traders — bookkeeping, tax, and MTD compliance in one place. See how it works →